First ever cure project

[justin in pdx]

Sooo, I have an 18lb pork leg that's been in wet cure for 3 weeks and need to pull it out Saturday. I'm worried it's not long enough in the brine but hungry people must be fed or I'll be drug through the house like a united passenger!

I've read the past threads on fresh pork legs so not a ton of questions but would appreciate any quick tips...

I guess just to be safe, I'll bring the temp to 160 instead of 145. Should I pull it from the cure a day early? Transfer to a brine? Let it dry out and rub it?

Thanks in advance! Happy Easter

 

[daveomak]

What is the wet cure recipe you used ....     I'm trying to figure why you would remove from the cure and put into a brine....

 

[justin in pdx]

It's just salt, Prague #1 and distilled water. My thought was only to remove from cure and brine for flavor. Maybe too late or not necessary...

 

[daveomak]

Finish your project as is....  Next batch, add spices as you wish to the proper salt, cure mix...  removing the meat now and placing in another liquid will only reduce the salt and cure inside the meat by dilution...  not good...

You can rub seasonings on the outside of the meat now to add flavor... 

Below is a method I use for hams...  It works very well...  you can add flavoring to the injection liquid and you will have a ham in 6 days ....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/236375/ham-from-fresh-picnics-update-10-21-money

 

[justin in pdx]

Thanks Dave, I left it in the cure until this evening.

Pulled it out of the fridge and happy to see clear water in the bucket

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 15, 2017

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 15, 2017

Trimmed off a little more of the mushy fat. Looks pretty nice so far I guess.

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 16, 2017

Put a good coating of rub on this thing and she's off to the smoker at about 11pm.

Rub is:

Dark Br Sugar

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Ground Mustard

Onion Powder

Sweet Smoked Paprika

Pinch of Cumin

Pinch of Garlic Powder

Pinch of Cayenne

Ground Black Pepper

 ("pinch" is subjective but less than the others...)

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 16, 2017

Going for a 4-5 hour low temp smoke around 150 degrees then turn up the heat to 225 until the stall then crank it to 325 to finish at 160-165... thinking about 10-12 hours total then into the coleman to rest for a couple hours before hitting the table...

Wish me luck and I'll be up all night if anything I've said sound completely ridiculous please let me know.

Cheers!

 

[justin in pdx]

Well ended up taking 11 hours all according to the above plan. It's now wrapped in tin foil and resting in the cooler. It looks pretty good and the glaze/crust tastes really nice... we'll see!

Happy Easter all!

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 16, 2017

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• justin in pdx
• Apr 16, 2017

 

[daveomak]

 

[justin in pdx]

Final note. Success! Ham was cured nicely all the way through. I could have stopped at 145 deg but this ham was still super juicy with great flavor. Devoured!