Mmmmmm Ham!

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payson

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Nov 17, 2006
261
10
Columbia SC
Here's a pic of a ham I recently did using the Sausage Maker's honey cure. Rave reviews from my family. Can't wait to start the next one. Cured about 6 days, then smoked with cherry and basted with a mustard pineapple glaze.
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Naw, that's the work of an electric carving knife! Cut it right before serving.
I'll gladly divulge the whole process although my cookbook/notes are at home. I'll drag 'em out and post them tomorrow. Thanks to the good folks on this site it's basically an amalgamation of different techniques I've read about here.
 
Thanks Payson, I got some of that honey cure at home, just have to get my stuff together to do a ham. What part of the pork did you use?
 
This was a picnic shoulder. I've also done a large pork roast and ended up with a pretty good boneless version. I like both although the bone-in version seems more authentic.
 
looks pretty good!
I wondering about curing for only 6 days. Depending on the size of the cut, I cure for 10-14 days.(8-10lb shoulder or butt)

I'm interestedd in the process you used.
I love to cure hams. I have one curing now!
 
Now that you mention it, I believe it was cured for more like 10 days. I then let it sit in the fridge for 6. Damn memory!!
 
OK, here's the process: (My apologies to the original author(s) of this recipe. I can't recall where the bulk of it initially came from. I'd love to give credit where credit is due because the results are fantastic! I've changed some of the process to suit my tastes but otherwise someone else initially provide the stepping stones so "thank you" whoever you are/were!)


Cure
1T Juniper berries, slightly crushed
1.½ T black peppercorns, coarse grind
1 T Mustard seeds
½ T Coriander seed, dry fried and crushed
1T red pepper flakes
3 crushed bay leaves
3 crushed garlic cloves

1 pound cure. (In this case Honey from Sausage Makers.)
5 quarts water

Bring the first 7 ingredients to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Remove from heat and add the cure mix. Once fully dissolved add ice water to bring the volume up to 5 quarts. Cool to 38 – 40F.

Weigh ham and inject 10% of the hams weight with strained pickle solution. Place injected ham in a non-reactive container and fully submerge in the brine/pickle. Cure for 7-8 days at 38-40F

Remove ham from the pickle brine and rinse. Soak ham in cold water for 2-3 hours to remove some of the excess salt.

Remove ham from water soak and pat dry. Place in a smoker with no water and vents fully open for 8 hours at 110F. Rotate ham occasionally. Increase temp to 135F and apply 4 to 6 hours of smoke. Add water to smoker pan if applicable. I used 5 hours of apple. After smoke, rotate ham, insert temperature probe and increase temperature to 210 – 220F and roast until the internal temperature is 152F. When temperature is reached remove and allow to cool slightly. When cool enough wrap tightly with Saran wrap and then cover with foil. Refrigerate for at least 4 days to “ageâ€.

Glaze:
1 cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup whole grain mustard
Combine all ingredients and whisk together

Remove ham from refrigerator and line an appropriately sized pan with aluminum foil. Liberally brush with glaze. Wrap tightly in foil and allow to sit at room temp for 1.5 hours. Adjust oven rack to the lowest level and preheat to 300F. Bake until internal temp is 100F. This will take approximately 17 minutes per pound.
Remove ham from oven and roll back foil to expose ham. Increase oven temperature to 450F. Brush ham liberally with glaze and return to oven. Apply another coat of glaze after 15 minutes. Bake until glaze become golden brown and sticky. (around 30 – 40 minutes) Remove from oven, apply more glaze and loosely foil. Allow to rest 30 or so minutes prior to carving.
 
Very interesting.

Here is the ham process I use.
I developed the recipe from some different resources and personal experience.

I like to give the hams a good mustard slather, Smoke at 225º till it reaches 160º, Rest and slice.


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Ham is a pretty simple process. Brine, pump and smoke/Cook.

Important:
As for all brining, use food safe containers!
I use a stainless steal pot.
Be sure to let the brine cool to 40°!!!!

The brine:
Pretty basic
(Quantities are based on per gallon)
1cup kosher salt
½ cup brown sugar
1Tbs pork seasoning (premixed or your choice)
2TBS lemon pepper.
2 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
1Tsp adobo seasoning.

1TBS of Morton's Tender per pound of meat.

NOTE:
Flavor brine consists of water and salt. Other ingredients may include sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup, fruit juices, beer, liquor, bay leaves, pickling spices, cloves, garlic, onion, chilies, citrus fruits, peppercorns, and other herbs and spices. Many recipes call for bringing the ingredients to a boil to dissolve the sugars and bring out the flavor of herbs, then cooling the mixture to below 40°F before use.

The pump:
I use Morton's Tender quick.
1cup Mortonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s tender quick to 4 cups water.
Boil until all the salt is dissolved.
I like to add ½TBS lemon pepper and ½TBS brown sugar to the pump as well.
Cool it to 40°!

I use a 4oz Stainless steel meat pump for the pickle.

The cut of meat should be pumped to 15 % of its "green weight".
So if it's a ten pound shoulder it should weigh 11.5 # after pumping.
(That's just a rule of thumb.)

Make sure you pump close to bones to prevent bone sour.

Let it sit in a fridge for 10-14 days.
When it is ready wash it thoroughly to remove any excess salt.
Soak it in clean water for about 2hrs.
Change the water and soak for 2 more hours.
If I have time I may soak over night 8-10hrs
If you don't soak it the ham will be too salty.

Now youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re ready to smoke/cook.

Here are a couple of links that helped me out.

http://www.dizzypigbbq.com/recipesHam.html

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Lives...ring-Pork.aspx

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