I’m not a fan of butts for ham either for the same reason you posted, fat. I use hind leg, shoulder picnic (below the butt on the front leg) or loins. The picnic is great, they are inexpensive, lower fat and are usually 8-9 lb. They are common to find with skin on. I remove the skin and make make pork rinds, and inject the roast. It’s a two-fer.The only complaint I have is the amount of fat, so it's not real easy to get decent slices, but mostly just chunks. And silly me didn't get any photos...doh!
Use the picnic. I usually skin them first then inject. I then make chicharrones with the skin.I guess I'm going to necro this great thread.
I think I have the main parts of the injection now, though if I don't have it right, please let me know. The wife is a huge ham fan, and I am not. Granted I've only had flavorless, salt lick ham from the grocery store. Now that I'm looking to make a ham from scratch, it appears as though word has spread to my wifes extended family and interest is growing all around. I'm hoping that this will be the ticket.
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I've seen PhosThis! (Amesphos) mentioned in other threads and got my order this afternoon. I was happy to find the Kitchen Basics vegetable stock locally, which is rare in a small town. I did pick up a meat injector as well. Now I believe all I need is the ham... I do have two skin on picnic roasts in the freezer that I've also seen mentioned as being used. I've also grabbed the spreadsheet that was posted earlier in this thread.
Is there a better cut to start with than the frozen picnic shoulder that I have on hand?
Neil
Picnic will work great. Boneless butts work good to and no bone. Oh, don't add the mini eggs.
Use the picnic. I usually skin them first then inject. I then make chicharrones with the skin.
There really shouldn’t be more than about 1/4” fat cap after skin is removed, they are surprisingly lean the picnics , part of why they make such great ham.I assume you want to trim off any large, thick fat cap/pockets on the surface?
There really shouldn’t be more than about 1/4” fat cap after skin is removed, they are surprisingly lean the picnics , part of why they make such great ham.
Also pay close attention when injecting and get along and around the bone, very important step.
You are making too much out of the process. It’s simple and straightforward. Seems you’re looking for a bogeyman. Don’t do that. Your sourcing advice from to many places. Follow DaveO’s original post. It’s straightforward and very detailed on process. Just focus and do DaveO’s recipe. That works perfectly. It’s the only way I do hams.I've been pouring over the threads posted here as well as reading through the Marianski book on this. It would be nice if there was a clear write up all in one place.
It took a fair amount of digging to figure out if PhosThis! would work since I had to order it online and not everyone will ship to Canada. I'm glad I was able to find the excel table for the brine mixture. Now I'm looking into how to inject the brine into the roast - where, spacing, how often etc. Same with the cuts that will work. Some are happy with the picnic, others like butt, while others say it's a tad fatty for ham. I assume that the traditional cut for ham is the preferred cut for, well... ham.
Very informative and interesting for sure. TyView attachment 368236
I've been injecting hams to cure for some time... decided I needed a needle to get to all parts from one side... No flipping, no turning, here it its.... 5" , #14 gauge blunt/sharpened needle..
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Found this picnic at w-m that has NOT been injected...
The paper towel is sprayed with vinegar... I'm sanitizing the
outside of the vac-packed leg so I can inject through the
plastic....
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Roughly a 10#, 4540 gram leg....
For a 10% injection, I'm using ~450 grams of vegetable stock.....
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18 grams of STPP, Ames company variety....
nepas suggested using this when he made sticks...
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45 grams of white sugar......
90 grams of pickling salt......
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11 grams of cure#1......
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Add the ingredients to the soup stock one at a time...
Thoroughly mix to dissolve each....
......IMPORTANT.......
Mix in the order listed....
1.... STPP
2.... sugar
3.... salt
4.... Cure#1
Placed the picnic on a tray and inject from one side only and near the
high side of the leg... Soooooo, when you put it in the refer, on the tray,
the holes, from injecting, will be up... Now insert the needle deep but do not penetrate
the opposite side of the bag... inject about 10-15 mls... (every 1 to 1.5"..edit) pull the needle out to about 1/3rd depth of the leg and inject another 10-15 mls.... refill the syringe... insert back into that hole... inject a different direction... same deal... NOW, when you find the leg bone, inject below, down the other side and inject below.. relocate the needle to a different position and inject again... repeat.... keep moving the needle to locate a new section to inject UNTIL you feel the entire leg has curing liquid in all parts.... You might be able to inject the entire leg by making as few as 4-5 holes in the bag....
.....IMPORTANT....... once you mix up the curing brine/marinade...... ALL of it must be injected to get the proper cure, salt and sugar into the meat.....
Leave the plastic wrapped leg, holes up on the tray... In the refer for 6 days minimum to 2 weeks... make sure your fridge temp is 34-38 deg. F..... USE A THERMOMETER ....
One note.... I found leaving the ham in the vac-bag.... It is tightly wrapped and sort of a PITA to get the liquid from the syringe into the meat... I think it's worth the effort so as to not have to re-bag, or put the ham in a bucket and waste salt, sugar, cure, not to mention the time...
45 minutes from the time I got home from the store, the prepped picnic was in the refer on a tray...
Others have used this method and found the ham to be of a very good quality....
I have found them to be MUCH better than store bought...
May I suggest you follow this method exactly... try it once... then on #2, #3, #4 etc... mess with the flavor profile... if you think it's necessary... This is my ONLY recipe I have not adjusted... I don't know what would make it any better.. the no-salt vegetable stock adds incredible flavor... many replies I have received note... their families have said it's the best ham they every tasted... take that for what it's worth...
See y'all later.....
This will work for loin ham, butt ham, any type of meat.... I use a modified version on turkey and chicken...
Dave
If you're using a bone in cut , make sure you get in and around the bone the best you can . Then do as shown in this thread . Inject in a grid pattern around the rest of the ham .I'm looking into how to inject the brine into the roast - where, spacing, how often etc.
Several cuts work for a " ham " The texture of the picnic is what I like , but use pork butt the most .Same with the cuts that will work.
Picnic shoulder or pork cushion comes the close to the texture of a ham leg .I'll be doing this one again. I'd love to find an uncured ham and do one up for the family since the in-laws are big ham fans.
I don't think it's so much the size of the needle as it is the amount of injection per stick. I have a metered injector and I can dial down the amount of liquid from a spurt to a stream for each squeeze of the handle.After doing mine, I can see why Dave was looking for a smaller gauge needle. I'd inject, a bunch would drip out. I'd do it again and the same thing would happen.
I just use a standard turkey injector that holds 60mlI LOVE ham. My dad always bought the cheap, salty Sugerdale ham growing up and I must say I still love that ham. I have always wanted to make one but was too ascared. This thread has given me some courage and gotten me off the ledge. So thankful for the recipe and the very detailed instructions. I have a question on the injector. Can I use the smallest needle on my injector(which is still pretty big) or should I look for more of a medical syringe with a small needle? I see 10 inch Luer Lock needles in various gauges and up to 60 mm syringes. Should I stick with 16 mm? 10 inch too long?? stick with 5 inch?