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Looking for ideas on pork shank

inferno12

inferno12

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I have been put in charge of smoking the ham for my office Christmas party and I'm looking for ideas on how to get the job done. This is a pork shank from a wild pig and the guy who killed and processed it brined it before freezing. I have always done double smoked hams but never a raw one. Do you guys have any suggestions for me as for prepping, temps and length of cooking?
Thanks!
 
tropics

tropics

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inferno12 said:
I have been put in charge of smoking the ham for my office Christmas party and I'm looking for ideas on how to get the job done. This is a pork shank from a wild pig and the guy who killed and processed it brined it before freezing. I have always done double smoked hams but never a raw one. Do you guys have any suggestions for me as for prepping, temps and length of cooking?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Unless you know how he brined it,was it with cure #1 ?
Did he inject it?
Richie
 
tropics

tropics

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inferno12 said:
I don't and he's not around for me to ask.
Click to expand...
I think you could probably hot smoke it,200* or 225*
I am not sure on a wild pig of the IT for finish hope someone else can answer that for you
Richie
 
tallbm

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It sounds to me that if you have 8.3 pounds of meat that you likely have the whole back ham with the shank on it and not just the shank lol.

This post will direct you to Internal Temperature (IT) needed for while game:
https://smokingmeatforums.com/threa...-cooking-guidelines-and-documentation.262677/

In short I have and would smoke that thing to an IT of 165F to ensure that all parts have reached the necessary 160F to kill off any parasites the wild pork is carrying.

Now as tropics mentions, since you don't know how/if the guy cured the meat properly (using cure#1) your only option is to cook hot. I would think that you want to go 225F or higher so that you are over 140F within 4 hours. I did 8.9 pound of feral hog hams for Thanksgiving and I think I did them around 225-250F but didn't record it all down. See my experience here: https://smokingmeatforums.com/threads/feral-hog-hams-for-thanksgiving-with-qview.270690/

Before you put this thing on a smoker do a "fry" test. Cut a slice or a few pieces and fry up in a hot skillet to see if the meat is too salty. If so then soak in ice water for 6 hours and repeat the fry test. If still too salty, change water and repeat until not too salty. Since someone else "cured" it you have no idea how much salt they may have added and how long the salt has been penetrating.
Also if you do a fry test and it taste like a pork chop and not ham then the guy didn't really use cure #1 when he "cured" it so you should expect it to come out more like pulled pork rather than ham.

If you go 275F an 8 pound ham should be done in less than 8 hours, I'm not sure at about 225F.
Again, take to an internal temp (IT) of 165F and NO LOWER!!!!

For glaze and prep I would suggest you do that a little before serving.
If the guy used cure#1 when "curing" the meat then you will know because it will look like ham. If not it will look like pulled pork butt lol. This will let you know how you should proceed with preparation :)
If the ham is going to come off the smoker and go to be eaten you can do it at the end of the smoke. If not then do it in the oven before you serve.
I personally don't care for much other than a light brushing of straight molasses or local honey but others go all out so I'm not much help here if you plan to do something more complex.

Applying smoke for at least 6 hours is a good idea. If the ham shows signs of getting too crusty or too much bark then wrap in foil and finish it that way. This was a lesson learned from me doing little 4.5 pound wild hog hams in that link I posted above. They were so small that the crust layer took away from the amount of meat available and there wasn't enough meat for me to have room to play with.

I think that's all I have for ya :)
 
tropics

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tallbm points to you for helping him Thanks
Richie
 
inferno12

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Thank you so much Tallbm! This is the information I needed. I will go forward tomorrow with the best intentions and hopefully it turns out well for me. :) I will keep you guys posted on how this turns out
 
tallbm

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inferno12 said:
Thank you so much Tallbm! This is the information I needed. I will go forward tomorrow with the best intentions and hopefully it turns out well for me. :) I will keep you guys posted on how this turns out
Click to expand...
Best of luck and keep us informed. Pictures would be awesome :)
 
mdboatbum

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If I were in your situation, I think I'd spring for a $15-$20 store bought ham and double smoke it in lieu of the "mystery ham". I mean, you have no idea if it's cured, how it was handled etc...

When cooking for a crowd food safety is pretty important.
 
inferno12

inferno12

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Joined Dec 25, 2014
mdboatbum said:
If I were in your situation, I think I'd spring for a $15-$20 store bought ham and double smoke it in lieu of the "mystery ham". I mean, you have no idea if it's cured, how it was handled etc...

When cooking for a crowd food safety is pretty important.
Click to expand...
I get what you are saying but I will be cooking it to the highest temp protocol just to safe. They all know this is somewhat an experiment since its kind of unknown but I would never put anyone at risk. It will be going up to 165 no matter what was done to it before hand just to be safe!

I fry tested it this morning and it tasted like ham and it was good. Not too salty and had good flavor.

here are a few photos of before and now about 4 hours in

IMG_8528.JPG
IMG_7073.JPG
IMG_8251.JPG
 
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