SmokinAl
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We were at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago & were hungry for ham sandwiches. Instead of buying a few slices in the deli I found a real nice boneless half ham. No trimming needed, already cooked ready to slice. Sliced it up & it was a very good ham, but it didn't have much smoke flavor. We ate it & I decided the next time we buy one I'm going to cold smoke it. It was way to lean to hot smoke, I'm sure hot smoking would have dried it out. So here we go!
Here's the ham.
All meat, no waste, but a little pricey.
It had a very thin layer of fat, no need to trim any off.
Ready to go into the smoker. No rub, just the ham.
Into the MES on the bottom rack, no water pan.
I got this Weber cold smoker for a present a couple of years ago & haven't used it much.
I ran out of dust for my Amazen, so I thought I'd give the Weber a try, using hickory chips.
It's getting good TBS.
Instead of rye bread, Judy made some rye bread rolls.
After 4 hours of smoke she's done. No noticeable change in color, but I can smell the smoke on it.
I wrapped it up & put it in the freezer for about 1 hour.
Then got out our small slicer, perfect size for the ham.
Sliced her up.
Got 2 nice layers of meat, still very juicy.
Judy also made some scalloped potatoes.
Now to make the sandwiches.
Nice & thick with plenty of ham. Scalloped potatoes, pickles, & olives.
I'm ready to eat.
The verdict is I definitely will do this again. The smoke flavor was just perfect.
I have never hot smoked a ham that was this juicy & had this much smoke flavor.
The only reason that I can think of is, it absorbed the smoke much quicker & deeper because it stayed moist & the meat stayed cold.
Don't know the science behind it, but I urge you all to try this.
Next time I think I may try it on a bone in ham & see how that goes.
One note: I asked Chef Jimmy about cold smoking a fully cooked ham & he said it's safe if I only smoke it for 4 hours, unless I can keep the smoker temp below 40 degrees.That's not possible in Florida, but the good news is 4 hours is plenty. I wouldn't go longer than that even if I could. The flavor was perfect.
Thanks for looking,
Al
Here's the ham.
All meat, no waste, but a little pricey.
It had a very thin layer of fat, no need to trim any off.
Ready to go into the smoker. No rub, just the ham.
Into the MES on the bottom rack, no water pan.
I got this Weber cold smoker for a present a couple of years ago & haven't used it much.
I ran out of dust for my Amazen, so I thought I'd give the Weber a try, using hickory chips.
It's getting good TBS.
Instead of rye bread, Judy made some rye bread rolls.
After 4 hours of smoke she's done. No noticeable change in color, but I can smell the smoke on it.
I wrapped it up & put it in the freezer for about 1 hour.
Then got out our small slicer, perfect size for the ham.
Sliced her up.
Got 2 nice layers of meat, still very juicy.
Judy also made some scalloped potatoes.
Now to make the sandwiches.
Nice & thick with plenty of ham. Scalloped potatoes, pickles, & olives.
I'm ready to eat.
The verdict is I definitely will do this again. The smoke flavor was just perfect.
I have never hot smoked a ham that was this juicy & had this much smoke flavor.
The only reason that I can think of is, it absorbed the smoke much quicker & deeper because it stayed moist & the meat stayed cold.
Don't know the science behind it, but I urge you all to try this.
Next time I think I may try it on a bone in ham & see how that goes.
One note: I asked Chef Jimmy about cold smoking a fully cooked ham & he said it's safe if I only smoke it for 4 hours, unless I can keep the smoker temp below 40 degrees.That's not possible in Florida, but the good news is 4 hours is plenty. I wouldn't go longer than that even if I could. The flavor was perfect.
Thanks for looking,
Al
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