Ham Help, please

[dreegle1]

Hi all,

I have been mucking around with hams...with some success. I recently got a brine injector, so am curing a bigger piece, it is almost ready, as in the next day or two....Now my problem. It is the first time that the ham I am curing has skin, and I can't find Pops ham recipe (which inspired me to try hams...much easier and tastier than my attempts at bacon). So, will my ham need to dry for a time to form a pellicle, or can I just drop it straight into the smoker (after fry test of course)? In peoples opinion would a long slow cold smoke be better than a shorter hot smoke to 150degrees F?

Thanks.

p.s. If you happen to know where it is, could someone please give me the link to Pops' ham recipe? I just spent two hours looking, and can't find it

 

[chef jimmyj]

Here you go. With a Cured meat Low and Slow building the Temp is best and forming a pellicle first with give better flavor and make the ham prettier. Pops keeps his best at the bottom of his posts...JJ http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/89979/from-hog-leg-to-easter-ham

 

[dreegle1]

Thank your for that...I didn't follow those instructions at all :( Still have fingers crossed for a decent outcome, though. Basically, I put the pork on to brine 4 weeks ago, but only got a brine injector last week, so, immediately that I got it, I injected...This is only a smallish ham, though, so I may still have success...but won't really know until I carve it, and see if it is cured through...Dear, oh dear, the mistakes that I have made...

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• dreegle1
• Aug 29, 2012

Straight out of the brine...I included some pickling spices and cloves, just for a bit of flavour.

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• dreegle1
• Aug 29, 2012

1 hour in smoker, when I was adding chips....

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• dreegle1
• Aug 29, 2012

Bleeding...I don't think that is a good sign :( Still...there is no strange smell, or sliminess, and a nice pellicle has formed...Coin toss for success...will post pics once it is carved...

 

[pops6927]

That's blood that's entrapped in the joint is all, it should stop by internal of 135°.  But, it shows that brine should be in there instead.

Ham skin does not affect curing that much, all hams usually have at least some skin on them.

If cured 4 weeks it should have sufficient curing time as it is only the shank half.

 

[dreegle1]

Thanks, Pops...I just pulled it out at 160, after about 10 hours...I know the temp was a little high, but I was worried that if the brine hadn't cured right through, I would heat past microbe survival temperature...I was aiming at 170, but it plateaued...I didn't know that pork plateaued, but it stayed at 160 for 2 hours...Needless anyway, because I did get a partial success...

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• dreegle1
• Aug 30, 2012

I gotta say it...the skin is like leather, but, boy does it look good that golden colour....If you look closely, I didn't have a brine injector, so I slid a thin blade boning knife down the bone, and split the skin, to help brine penetration

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• dreegle1
• Aug 30, 2012

There isn't much of a "ham pink"...There is a pink tinge, and the "ham" has a smooth texture....

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• dreegle1
• Aug 30, 2012

Well...No bad smell, No sliminess, even brine penetration, heated to a decent internal temperature...Looks like we're having ham and eggs for breakfast... :D

 

[chef jimmyj]

Looks good to me...JJ

 

[pipesdaddy]

http://southernfood.about.com/od/hamrecipes/a/Ham-Recipes.htm follow this link here you can find ,what are looking for.
 

 

[dreegle1]

Pipesdaddy I had a look...Not sure what I was looking for, but thank you for the variety of recipes....basically, what I tried to do was turn a $4 a kilogram pork roast, into a $15 a kilo ham (divide by 2.2 for per pound rates), with some limited success...with no equipment. My big sticking point was making sure that the end product is edible, and not going to poison myself and my family (pork is a bit tricky to work with...not so much now, that sties are regulated, and salmonella levels are measured, and countered prior to knocking the pig over, but still, pork is prime material to culture salmonella in). Basically, this was the first time that I tried a skin on, bone in piece of pork, and, although it was successful...It isn't what I would call ham, so will need extra cooking. I have had great success with boneless/skinless pieces...But as the old saying goes, "I could fill a book with things that I have forgotten, and a library with things I have yet to learn..." Of course, there is a chance that the traditional pink ham colour may come through, tomorrow in the frypan :D

 

[dreegle1]

Well....Apparently I got a visit from the gods of pork, last night ( They are like the gods of war, only tastier), and they said "Let there be ham!"...I forgot that resting and cooling is important....Nice evenly cured, slight taste of cloves, and boy I am lucky...This could have gone wrong in so many ways....

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• dreegle1
• Aug 30, 2012

Homemade ham and bumnuts...breakfast of champions :D

 

[dragonmaster194]

Good looking ham, glad it turned out for you.  We can, however, learn more and improve our products.  Keep on keeping on.  Steve

 

[pops6927]

Great success!  Make a simple curing brine (1 gal. water, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp. curing salt), and if meat is 2" thick or thicker then inject so it's curing from the inside-out as well as the outside-in, immerse in enough brine so that it floats, weight down to keep it immersed, and let cure 2-4 weeks.  Remove, let dry, smoke to 146° internal minimum (I usually go to 155° - 160° myself) and enjoy!  It is fully cooked at that internal temp, serve immediately or re-cook by heating, frying, boiling or steaming to temp and enjoy!  It is no more difficult than that, just keep everything under refrigeration and use all sanitary procedures.  So glad you enjoyed your foray into ham; keep experimenting and improving your skills!  You an cure rib end, loin end and center cut roasts, pork picnics, necks, pig's feet, hocks, spareribs (cured and smoked are bacon-on-a-stick), bellies, pork butts (buckboard bacon), chickens, turkeys, fowl, geese, ducks, beef plate, brisket, roasts for corned beef (cured) and pastrami (and smoked), lamb, mutton (I've been wanting to do cured and smoked lamb breasts); virtually most all products that are cured and/or smoked!

 

[scarbelly]

That looks like it really came out well. Congrats on a great success