Homeade Ham question

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indycolt13

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 14, 2013
29
10
Eloy, Arizona
Recently I have been trying to cure and smoke my own ham.  Where I seem to be having success in the taste department, there is one problem that seems to keep arising.  There is ALWAYS a spot in the middle of the ham that is slightly discolored (it looks like normal pork rather than having the pinkish hue the rest of the ham does).  I first thought I wasn't soaking the pork in the brine long enough, then I thought I wasn't smoking it long enough.  I lengthened the time of both, but to no avail.  I first used the calculation of bringing the pork 1 day per 2 pounds but the spot in the center was about the size of a baseball.  I slowly lengthened the time of each every time I made a new ham but I still have that spot.  It is a little smaller but I am afraid of bringing it for to long.  My brine consists of kosher salt, pink curing salt, turbanido sugar, fresh ground all spice and cloves and water.  The last roast I just did was 10lbs.  It was in the brine for 11 days and I smoked it for 9 hrs at 225 with hickory chips.  Any suggestions? 
 
I am not injecting the pork.  All of the receipes and tips that I have read up on or seen never mentioned injecting,  But that is a good thought.  Thanks!
 
Its good to inject a thick piece of meat. Cure from the inside out too.
 
@ Farmer....I think I may try that next time.  The only thing that I was worried about was putting holes in the meat and the juice leaking out.
 
I use a basic brine receipe : 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar (I use turbanido sugar) per 1 gallon of water. To that I add 2 teaspoons pink curing salt (aka cure #1) for every 5lbs of meat, fresh ground all spice and fresh ground cloves and whole black peppercorns. I think I am sold on the injecting idea. I inject a lot of other meats when I smoke them, sometimes it's the obvious that we don't see! Next time I do a ham I will post how it went.
 
Improper curing can be dangerous. Too much or too little cure, or curing times can be lethal. There are some great threads here and the search tool works fantastic. I would suggest that you read this thread: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine. It is by far the simplest method for curing a whole slew of meats. You can adjust the seasonings as long as you keep the cure the same. You will want to inject anything over 2", and you want to make sure you inject all around and as close as you can to the bone if doing a bone in.

For a more complex process Mr T has several great threads here, this is just one of them:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/134415/country-cured-ham-from-go-to-show-q-view-updated-6-10-13

I would also recommend that you look at this thread and use Martins Calculator when using dry rub curing:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124590/universal-cure-calculator
 
I use a basic brine receipe : 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar (I use turbanido sugar) per 1 gallon of water. To that I add 2 teaspoons pink curing salt (aka cure #1) for every 5lbs of meat, fresh ground all spice and fresh ground cloves and whole black peppercorns. I think I am sold on the injecting idea. I inject a lot of other meats when I smoke them, sometimes it's the obvious that we don't see! Next time I do a ham I will post how it went.
Here is a link to Pop's Brine. It is amazing!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine

Inject about every inch. I have read that you should inject 10% of the green weight of the meat by weight. It ends up being about as much a piece of meat will hold. You will have brine squirting out of previous holes or the ends but do the best you can the holes themselves will help the brine get to the center.

When you pull your ham out of the brine rinse with water and let dry. The pellicle will form while it is drying and will seal up the injection holes.
 
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