Camp Chef pellet smoker

[Oakarms]

Hi all! Has anyone smoked a ham on a pellet smoker? I attempted my first smoke on my new camp chef pellet smoker yesterday and it was a bust. My ham looked great but was so dry. Also, the ham like texture wasent there...it was more like a dried out pork butt. I had it in a brine for 4 days and used the proper amount of sodium nitrate but after the cook I cut into it and it wasent pink all the way through...the center was white like a pork butt as well. It was a 9lb bone in ham. Not sure what went wrong. I was wondering if the pellet smoker dried it out because of the fan or not?...I took the ham off a 145 and let it rest for 30 min.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Not likely anything wrong with the smoker. Curing brine penetrates about 1" every 7 days. So an 8" thick ham needs to soak for 2 months. Unfortunately in that long a soak the meat near the bone will likely start to rot. This is why we always recommend injecting curing brine into any meat thicker than 4". If you still have the meat, toss it in a crock pot with a cup of cola, 1/4 cup Cider vinegar and 1 TBS Rub. 4 hours on high, covered, will give some tasty pulled pork...JJ

 

[Oakarms]

Thanks for the info! Appreciate it.

 

[nerd]

Also I have had good luck keeping the meat moist by wrapping it for a large portion of the smoke. You can always glaze and torch for a nice crust following...

Neal