Smoked Ham help

[Graham.C]

I was going to smoke up a ham for some folks kicking around here this weekend. Any advice? I have never smoked a ham before. I was thinking 6-8# bone in leg, but I am open to suggestions. ~8 hours at ~230F over maple wood.

Rub ideas and brine ideas are always welcome too! I have a mild that would probably make a tasty brine right now, but I also have and IPA and a current mocha stout.

I'll post pics when and if it comes to be.

[Graham.C]

Also, where is a good butcher in HRM to source a ham?

[mr x]

Chater's in dartmouth. They have local ham there that Greg said is excellent.

http://www.chatermeatmarket.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NASH]

"Ham" as we know it is already brined so I wouldn't do anything to it in that respect. "Ham" is actually the cut, not cured/smoked/cooked stuff. To brine is to perform osmosis with salt, hams are already salty enough generally speaking. Marinating is something entirely different but really doesn't do much to meat that's already been cured and cooked. Since "ham" has already been brined and cooked, proteins are broken down meaning the meat is a lot more tender already. So, if you do a lengthy low'n slow cook on a "ham" the meat can turn to an awful, mushy texture. The way I smoke a "ham" is basically the same as roasting it in the oven old-school, only with smoke; hot-smoke 'em in the grill, indirect at 325 - 350 F until it hits ~ 170 F internal at most, if you take it much higher it'll start getting mushy to the tune of pulled ham only with less desirable texture than pulled pork. At 160 - 170 F it should be getting pretty freaking tender. It'll come out almost black with luscious bacon-like flavours and be oh-so-good. How long it takes is totally dependant on the size of the ham but a few hours will do it.

As for rub, I LOVE cajun on 'em = awesome. Chater's Meats in Dartmouth sells Brandy Wine Ham (no brandy or wine used in them), very low in salt and tastes like no other store-bought-style ham you've had, MUCH better. Given the time of year I'd call ahead and place your order. Whole hams are around 15 lbs or so but they'll gladly sell you 1/2 of one, and they're prices are great! The hams are done by Tony's Meats in Antigonish:
http://www.tonys-meats.com/page.php?page=20&menu=17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you start with a fresh ham aka pork roast you'll need to inject and brine for at least a week, or dry-cure for long while.

ham 170F internal.JPG

IMG_0842.JPG

[Graham.C]

Damn Nash... you win.

Thanks for the tips and education. I will contact them when I get out of teaching this lab.

[LeafMan66_67]

What Nash said! The pork picnics come out looking like little meteors but man are they ever delicious!

[RubberToe]

OMG, I haven't ever wanted to cook a ham so bad in my life! Come on Costco Kamados....

[LeafMan66_67]

DEpending on the outer texture of the picnic, it sometimes helps to give it a little mustard rub to help your dry rub to stick. Injecting with straight apple juice also adds a nice twist.

[NASH]

Good ideas! I hit 'em with olive oil before the rub

Transmitted from the hop-phone.

[NASH]

Okay so all this ham talk got me on the ham-craving so I dropped by Chater's, it was 5 mins after their 6 pm closing time and they had most of the meat counter shut down. He still had boneless ham from somebody else out, he said he liked it better than Tony's so I grabbed a piece, it was 3000g / $17. I think Tony's bone-in is $1.50/lb.

Regardless, I took it out of the meat paper and had a taste, it's delicious! I cut it in half since I'd be hard pressed to eat nearly 7 lbs o meat. When I went to the checkout to pay they had this sitting there for $2 / bottle, I had to grab one....

bacon bourbon mustard.JPG

Here's the beast....

boneless ham.JPG

If anybody wants to buy 1/2 of it you're welcome to it. Otherwise I'll either smoke it and shave it for sandwiches or cut it into steaks.

Half ham.JPG

Also, about the Cajun rub, or any rub you decide to use, mix up your own sans SALT

[Graham.C]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1364840806.699996.jpg

So it disappeared before I could take any pics of the finished beast. An hour and fifteen or so from it being finished I started moping it with a pineapple-honey-IPA reduction. Damn it was good. I over cooked it a little, but all the fat just melted so it was super moist although a bit rough for slicing. Served it with The homebrewed chefs triple risotto, buttered fresh beets and a veggie melody with a balsamic-Pom reduction.

There was also a spring green salad.

[NASH]

Wicked! My half of that ham was wicked good too

[Graham.C]

Thanks again for supporting my BBQ habit and all the pointers. I did go with the mustered blended with the rub on the exposed ends. Seemed to work awesome.

[NASH]

Very good! Happy it worked out.

I rubbed mine with EVOO and put it in a cast skillet as we discussed. Later I used the drippings in the skillet for a sherry bourbon mustard reduction to serve alongside the ham. It was freaking amazing



Transmitted from the hop-phone.

[TimG]

Bringing this back from the dead! Gonna smoke me up a ham this weekend for a crowd.

Do I want the "butt/rump" or the "shank" ham? I'm planning bone in from the grocery store (no inside info here yet on who has a good ham).

Tim

[NASH]

Bringing this back from the dead! Gonna smoke me up a ham this weekend for a crowd.

Do I want the "butt/rump" or the "shank" ham? I'm planning bone in from the grocery store (no inside info here yet on who has a good ham).

Tim

The butt is actually the blade roast / front shoulder portion. The other common type is the picnic. I prefer the butt/blade by far since it has a lot more marbling and fat

Sent from the Hop-Phone

[TimG]

There seems to be lots of different names for this shit, ha. I think most of the wet-cured hams I've seen in the stores around here are labelled using section 6.0 here:

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/meat-a ... 4480749#a6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Maybe cut 6.6 "Shank Half" or 6.7 "Butt Half"?

Little more Googling turned up this:

Fully Cooked, Bone-In Smoked Ham - Butt Portion:
The butt half comes from the upper portion of the leg. It's frequently available semi-boneless, where the aitch (or pelvic) bone has been removed, but the femur remains intact. This cut is flavorful and tender, has less connective tissue than the shank, and is relatively easy to carve.

Fully Cooked, Bone-In Smoked Ham - Shank Portion:
The shank half is from the lower portion of the leg. It's shaped a little like a funnel and retains its portion of the femur, plus a shank bone. It's very flavorful and not hard to carve, but it does tend to be a little tougher than the butt half.

So maybe the butt portion is ideal?

Or I guess I'll also keep an eye our for the usual 'pork shoulder' cut (butt/blade same same, Section 5.8 above) in wet-cured uncooked fashion (not sure I've seen these around though).

[TimG]

Ha, so after all that.. the "picnic shoulder" uncooked 'ham' (not really ham is it.. wet-cured pork shoulder is more accurate) is what I ended up finding. They had both the shank and butt hams, but they were 'fully cooked' which I wasn't really looking for.

[TimG]

Ha, so after all that.. the "picnic shoulder" uncooked 'ham' (not really ham is it.. wet-cured pork shoulder is more accurate) is what I ended up finding. They had both the shank and butt hams, but they were 'fully cooked' which I wasn't really looking for.

[LeafMan66_67]

That cured picnic cut does very well on the smoker for a few hours (I allow 4 to 6 to get it up around 190ish). Not a true ham, but delicious. I get one every time they are on sale.

[TimG]

Do I need to worry about 'over' smoking it? Seeing as it is already smoked..?

Tim

[NASH]

Do I need to worry about 'over' smoking it? Seeing as it is already smoked..?

Tim

Pretty much all 'ham' available through regular channels is fully cooked. If you found raw anywhere other than a specialty butcher that's great news! If it is raw I'd expect it's not been smoked. If it is cured, no matter wet or dry, it's now "ham" as we know it, not fresh pork. Sooooo.... If you have a ham that's already been smoked I'd guess it's also fully cooked.

Anyhow, to answer your question, I sure wouldn't worry about over smoking it. I hammer the smoke right to them when I do them. I usually only take them to 160 or 170 F max internal temp, since it's fully cured it's been tenderized and can get mushy if you take it into pulled pork territory.

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[TimG]

Thanks for the lesson on the 'hams' Nash. I got 'er on there now at 300ish and I'll look to pull it around 160-170 as you suggest. Should take 3-4 hrs I take it?

Tim

[NASH]

Thanks for the lesson on the 'hams' Nash. I got 'er on there now at 300ish and I'll look to pull it around 160-170 as you suggest. Should take 3-4 hrs I take it?

Tim

Not sure how long brother, I'm sure you'll figure it out! I usually do them a little higher, more towards 375f or so, creates some epic bacon bark!!

Sent from the Hop-Phone

[LeafMan66_67]

If it helps, I did one today, somewhere around 300F or so, after almost four hours, it was probe tender, and taken off at 170ish