Newbie question on ham

[glued2it]

I have a real dumb question

(dumb questions are ones that are not asked)
I have never cooked a ham in any form or fashion. I assumed that if I bought a ham and cooked it, The meat would be red like when I bought it from the store. However after smoking 20lb ham it was all white meat.

Now don't get me wrong, It was awsome!

So I'm guessing in order to get the red meat I have to cure it first?
I thought maybe I should have got shoulder instead or I just don't have any idea what I'm doing.
(maybe I should stick to brisket)

So basicly the dumb question is:
How get the red meat without a long term process?
(cut of meat and smoking process ect.)

Thank you in advance for your patience and input.

 

[crewdawg52]

I'm no expert, but try brining the ham before smoking/cooking it. I believe the hams from the store are red because they inject it with a salt/brine solution.

And I stress again, these are just my .02cts worth. No expert here.

 

[salmonclubber]

the ham has a red color caused by the cure a fresh ham does not get the red coloring hot smoking a fresh ham is ok without cure but if you are gonna cold smoke it you need to cure the ham first if you buy a ham at the store that is cured and brined you can stick it in the smoker at 225 and smoke the ham until it reaches a temp of 170 it will be done and have a red color to the meat and it will taste real good if you are interested in cureing a lot of your own hams fresh from the farm then i suggest you get the book from rytek kutas great sausage recipes and meat curing other wise just buy a brined ham from the store and hot smoke it they are awesome now i have to go find a ham for myself hope this helps if you got any more questions just ask
hueu

 

[deejaydebi]

Yeppers it's all in the cure! You can make a shoulder or even chops taste like ham if you cure them.

 

[bigarm's smokin]

I have just been buying a regular store bought, ready to eat ham, spiral sliced. I put it in a bakeing pan and put real maple syrup over it and smoke at 225 for a few hours. It is pretty darn good that way.

Terry

 

[glued2it]

Thanks for all the input I did some resaerch on brine, hot smoke and cold smoke. per all the responses. I've learned alot and am starting to get REALLY HUNGRY!


The 20lb fresh ham was too much meat. I gave away more than we ate.
What would be a good cut cured or fresh (I could cure myself) that's not so big?

on another subject:
as far as pork loin, should I just charcoal or smoke them too? (no cure)

Thanks again for all the responses.

I have a small barrel type smoker with a fire box I don't know what it's called

 

[pigcicles]

When I do hams usually I will get a ready to cook, bone in ham. Smoke it in cherry to 160º internal temp and it's pretty good stuff.

Pork loins are very good smoked. Try Dutch's Mohogany sauce with it.. yummy.