Curing Fresh Home for Smoking

[indaswamp]

Question for ya Dave-

Do you sterilize the needle prior to injection to prevent the introduction of bad bugs?

 

[james211]

Question for ya Dave-

Do you sterilize the needle prior to injection to prevent the introduction of bad bugs?

I'm not sure if he does, but I ran vinegar through the needle and inside the injector several times, also rinsed the inside of the bag with vinegar

 

[daveomak]

Sterilize the needle prior to the first "suck" of the brine / cure mix... along with the syringe... Then it don't matter... If your injection stuff is contaminated, ..... oh well..... Cooking should kill any pathogens in the brine....

 

[james211]

So I'm trying to figure out which day to cook this ham for thanksgiving to make sure I get the best flavor. I know most of the time when I cook things on my egg they usually taste the best a day after, is it safe to assume for the ham? Or do you think it needs more than a day to rest? I'm going to do it on a rotisserie with a maple / sugar glaze.

 

[james211]

@daveomak @chef jimmyj are dark spots at injection points common? The ham smells amazing!!

Also, I left the skin on with hopes of getting some good crispy skin while cooking it on rotisserie, but after reading that no smoke will penetrate I’m going to remove it today before cooking.

I presume that since the meat was injected, leaving the skin on will have no ill effects on the curing?

 

[daveomak]

You got it... All the necessary stuff to cure the meat, has been weighed and is inside...

 

[chef jimmyj]

^^^^^ X2 ^^^^^ Good luck and enjoy...JJ

 

[james211]

Well I failed, there was a big brown ring on the putter edge

Off to buy a ham. Still going to do it on rotisserie even though it’s smoked already. Can I still do the injection recipe without the Prague#1?

 

[baboy]

I used pops brine the first time with a deboned ham that i had netted. Did not inject and cured for about 25 days. Did the smoke and looked good until i cut it in two and there was a grey uncured center. Threw that one out and the next time I deboned the ham and did not net it until after the brine was completed. I also injected it twice during the brine which was about 1 month.
Turned out fabulous

 

[chopsaw]

Well I failed, there was a big brown ring on the putter edge

Off to buy a ham. Still going to do it on rotisserie even though it’s smoked already. Can I still do the injection recipe without the Prague#1?

I'd like to see a picture if you still have it .

 

[indaswamp]

X2 chopsaw...

 

[daveomak]

At a 25 day cure, and penetration of 1" per 7 days, that's about a 3 1/2" outer ring that would have been cured... All things being perfect... Anything over 2" thickness should be injected with the brine cure solution.. especially around the bone and joints... Inject as much as you can unless you can calculate the amount of cure you are injecting...

 

[james211]

I already threw it out, it was grey on one end, and about a 1/2" around the entire base was grey. I wasn't going to risk it. Picked up a smoked ham today, going to do @Bearcarver 's method with this one. I'll try another raw fresh ham after Thanksgiving. I picked up a better injection kit with long needles and such. And I'll be better prepared next time. Learn from mistakes...thats all there is to it!

 

[chopsaw]

Well , bears dbl smoked ham is a good one . Not sure if I missed it above or not , but make sure of your fridge temp before you do the next one . I have mine at 36 degrees .

 

[daveomak]

Try my method.... You weigh out the correct amount of stuff... Dissolve in a 5 or 10% amount on liquid based on the weight of the meat, and inject ALL of it... You know it's all in there..
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/ham-from-fresh-picnics-update-10-21-money.236375/

 

[james211]

@daveomak

Picked up a much better injector, long needles as well. Going to try this again, hoping not to miss any spots this time.

What are your thoughts on injecting your cure and submerging in a solution (yet to be determined) at the same time?

 

[daveomak]

When injecting by my numbers, everything the meat needs is inside... Submerging will only screw up the cure... either taking away or adding to the calculated necessities... Once injected, place in a zip bag to catch any leakage... then the drippings can be reabsorbed... If you don't, no biggie as a loss of up to ~20% is still acceptable and withing guidelines from the USDA.... 0.80 x 156 Ppm = 125 Ppm...

 

[james211]

Got it! Guess I’ll try it again! I’m determined to succeed on round two. Appreciate your patience with my stupid questions.

 

[daveomak]

No questions are stupid... We are all here to learn... If you need anything else answered, we are all here....