boneless ham

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josiegirl

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2020
17
4
hi all, im feeling a little lazy and would like some suggestions on how to smoke my boneless ham. its off a pig i butchered, its been in the brine around 2 weeks, its an 11 lb ham. i used a cure mix from a local shop around here because when i went ot make my own i realized i only had cure #2 and no where in a hundred miles sells nitrites arrggh!so had to get it in the brine and couldnt wait to get it in the mail. i ordered 5 lbs to avoid that issue in the future. anyway, it had a very low amount of nitrites in it but the ham looks to be curing nicely, its nice and pink. dont know the exact measurements though. what temp and how long do you recommend i smoke it for? should i smoke it til its cooked? the ham chapter in my book is a litle confusing and im too lazy to do the internet research right now! any suggestions?
 
oh and im smoking it on a neighbors bradley smoker. nifty little thing, much easier than my stick smoker lol.
 
Rinse thoroughly... Dry the surface... Put in the refer for a day to form a pellicle....
Then I would warm the ham to just above ambient temp and cold smoke using very thin blue smoke for a day or so.... at 70ishF temp... then up the temp to 110-120 and smoke for about 12 hours... Up the temp to 150ish and smoke for about 12 hours.... Close the exhaust and use the smoker as an oven or move into the kitchen oven.... Hold smoker/oven at 150 ish until the ham gets to 130 ish... Then follow the pasteurization table below to insure it is pasteurized... I like/prefer pork done to 135 for appetizer slices... sandwiches etc... It can be cooked to a higher temperature, later, as you use it...

The pasteurization times for beef, lamb and pork are listed in Table C.1. Table C.2 lists the pasteurization times for chicken and turkey.
Temperature... ....... Time.... ....... Temperature... ........ Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)
130 (54.4)........... 112 min
131 (55.0) ......... 89 min...........
132 (55.6).......... 71 min............
133 (56.1).................. 56 min............
134 (56.7).................. 45 min...........
135 (57.2).................. 36 min............
136 (57.8).................. 28 min...........
137 (58.4)................. 23 min............
138 (58.9).................. 18 min...........
139 (59.5).................. 15 min ...........
140 (60.0).................... 12 min............
141 (60.6).................. 9 min..............
142 (61.1).................. 8 min.............
143 (61.7).................. 6 min
144 (62.2).................. 5 min
145 (62.8).................. 4 min
Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).

Below is a Canadian Bacon pork loin I cooked to about 135... It is so tender and delicious... Best loin ever..
001.JPG


Here's my recipe I use for pork... Makes the best ham I've ever eaten......


..
 
oooh wait i just understood the pasteurizing thing. so if i pasteurize it i can eat the ham as is even though it only got to 135? how would i hold it there without it increasing? just lower the smoker to 135? this is a boneless ham from the rear leg, reckon 135 is the best then? i haven't decided what to use it for yet... i was going to vac seal it then freeze it for a holiday ham but we'll probably just eat it lol maybe on sandwiches? sorry im such a dummy!
 
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just pulled it out oft he brine and am soaking it before i put it in the fridge. there's a big ole bloodshot spot. we didn't bleed her out well enough i think so the ham looked bloodshot throughout. think it'll still be ok? a friend of mine said he thought the brine would pull it out. hoping its ok otherwise i wouldve grinded it all.
 
Here's Baldwins tutorial about sous vide... Interesting stuff....


One particularly interesting note in his tutorial...
++++++++++++
Sous vide processing is used in the food industry to extend the shelf-life of food products; when pasteurized sous vide pouches are held at below 38°F (3.3°C), they remain safe and palatable for three to four weeks (Armstrong and McIlveen, 2000; Betts and Gaze, 1995; Church, 1998; Creed, 1995; González- Fandos et al., 2004, 2005; Hansen et al., 1995; Mossel and Struijk, 1991; Nyati, 2000a; Peck, 1997; Peck and Stringer, 2005; Rybka-Rodgers, 2001; Simpson et al., 1994; Vaudagna et al., 2002).
++++++++++++

oooh wait i just understood the pasteurizing thing. so if i pasteurize it i can eat the ham as is even though it only got to 135? how would i hold it there without it increasing? just lower the smoker to 135? this is a boneless ham from the rear leg, reckon 135 is the best then? i haven't decided what to use it for yet... i was going to vac seal it then freeze it for a holiday ham but we'll probably just eat it lol maybe on sandwiches? sorry im such a dummy!


I lower the smoker/oven temp and watch the thermometer... If the temp crawls upward, which it will, at least in my stuff it has, not a big deal....
Evaporative cooling, of the meat, will rapidly reduce the meat temp... I close down the MES30 exhaust to about 5-10% open to reduce the air flow and evaporative cooling effect....
I also hold the recommended temperature for up to an hour longer than recommended to add insurance..
 
well i wouldn't have had enough smoke brisquette things for the smoker so i just smoked it all day today then stuck it in the oven. its reached 138, and i'm trying to hold it there for 18 minutes. that's right? hopefully it won't be dry! i'll update tomorrow. one day i'll smoke properly lol. not enough time in the day!
 
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Update: ham was very tough and dry, so I called up a friend and he said if I wanted to get a holiday style ham I could boil it for a few hours. Of course that was what my book told me but I didn't think that sounded right so I didn't use the recipe lol. Anyway I soaked it overnight in a pot of water in the fridge, changed the water, and boiled it til it was 200, which my friend recommended although the book says 156. I let it it cool off in the water and took a slice off. It was delicious! didn't keep together very well probably cuz the collagen had broken down but it was so tasty. And I was so happy it had cured all the way through, I didn't think it would. I had a few slices on some homemade sourdough slathered with some homemade butter( Josie's my cow, my username's namesake!) topped with my ham. I felt so sophisticated :emoji_grinning: . My toddler loved it too. Then I went out to trellis my tomatoes before we got a storm, went back in and my two pups had jumped onto the counter and eaten damn near the whole thing. I screamed my head off for about half an hour :emoji_pensive::emoji_sob::emoji_rage: Poor hubby only had a bite too. At least I know it was a success, even though I didn't enjoy much of it. Thanks for all the input guys, it is a complete mystery to me how you smoked your ham for 3 days and got such a tender ham!!
 
Josie... Sorry about the ham.... BAD DOGS !!!!... I've had that happen only it was a momma cat feeding her kittens....
Anywho... try my 5 days from picnic to ham method.... Dave
 
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