Pork Butt and my "ham injection"... Pork butt is my new go-to ham... seriously good....

[daveomak]

Looks great. What makes you think it was never frozen?

Use by date, texture and it was in the refer case..

That’s a work of art! I love the color on it. That brings me to this question. I’ve made a lot of hams over the years and none of them have had a smoke ring. Any idea why they don’t develop a ring? I have a feeling @indaswamp will know the answer.

Off gassing from the wood burned.. Electrics generally don't give smoke rings,,.

Outstanding! Beautiful color... I can see from the pick how moist it is.... Bookmarked and will try to smoke the same this month....
Dave, if you don't mind - what brine recipe did you use?

Check my older ham threads also...

(12) ~5 days from Picnic to Ham.... | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Smoking Meat Forum On Earth!

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Love pork butt hams and yours is first class!

 

[SmokinAl]

That looks killer good Dave!
Nicely done!
Al

 

[JLeonard]

Dang that looks great! Now I'm craving eggs and ham.
Jim

 

[robrpb]

Looks great Dave. Nice job. I'm going to have to try it.

Rob

 

[bauchjw]

That looks incredible! Wow!

 

[Bearcarver]

That’s a work of art! I love the color on it. That brings me to this question. I’ve made a lot of hams over the years and none of them have had a smoke ring. Any idea why they don’t develop a ring? I have a feeling @indaswamp will know the answer.

I would say, when we cure a Ham, the whole thing is a Smoke Ring, so there is no little ring to see.
But I'm just a Dumb Old Bear, so what do I know.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Fantastic, Dave!!
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear

 

[tropics]

Dave that looks great all the hams I have made over the last few years were Butts.
Richie

 

[mneeley490]

Looks great, Dave! What kind of wood/dust did you use?

 

[Sven Svensson]

I’d have to go dig in my notes, but this is why different woods give deeper color to meat than others. Cherry and pecan stand out as more heavy in NO And CO. The more the tree was fertilized, or the more rich in nitrogen the ground was where the tree grew, the more pink ring effect From it. Fruit wood from an orchard is always better than fruitwood just on the property where it may not get fertilizer. Kind of the same as vegetables being high in nitrate, which is what the wood can be high in, but converts to NO through heat in the burning process.

That’s really interesting about the wood types. So the cherry tree in the neighborhood all the dogs have been “marking” for years is going to be gold when wanting a great smoke ring. Ha!

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

That looks phenomenal Dave, nice job! I need to do one of them!

 

[daveomak]

Looks great, Dave! What kind of wood/dust did you use?

My tri mix of dust...

 

[AlexLaki]

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This is a WINNER !!!!

Yep, I used my go-to ham injection... I do not think this butt was ever frozen... Makes a BIG difference when injection curing.. The difference is definitely noticeable... In picnics also....
typical 10% injection... 14 days in the refer being cured... Light cold water rinse... In the smoker at 100F for about 45 minutes to dry the outside and form a pellicle.. Then a full tray of my 3 dust mix... Twice... each tray smoked for 6 hours... exhaust CLOSED to about 5% open.. Then upped the heat to 145F.. When the internal temp was about 128F, I lowered the heat to 135F... The IT stalled at about 132F so I upped the heat to ~140F.... The internal temp came up to 133-134F.... I held it there for about 4 hours.... (I'm following poultry pasteurizing times + an hour or more, just to insure salmonella death.. I'm too old to get sick) Then pulled it and sliced into it to see how it turned out... Looked pretty good.... The flavor was better than any picnic I've done... I attribute that to all the fat in a butt... Fat is definitely flavor... Moist and tender.... almost fall apart tender...

The reason I tried this butt... I bought a small hunk of ham at the store... I think it was a chunk from a leg... About 5#'s... It was dry and tough... I can make better ham drunk and with my eyes closed...
All they had in the cooler was a butt.... So, now you know...


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This looks truly amazing my friend! Well done!

 

[smokinjoe52]

This looks great. Is there a detailed recipe somewhere? I bought an injector a few years ago, and have not used it. TIA -Joe

 

[pc farmer]

This looks great. Is there a detailed recipe somewhere? I bought an injector a few years ago, and have not used it. TIA -Joe

Check this out

~5 days from Picnic to Ham....

I use non enhanced picnics... enhanced is OK but I cut the ingredients in half (1/2), to accommodate all the stuff processors add... Gently heat 10% the weight of the picnic, of Low Salt Vegetable stock, to about 100F.... 9# picnic ~400 grams of stock.... Once warm, ADD IN ORDER and...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Wurstmeister]

Great looking piece of pork/ham my friend. Thanks for the walk-through and pictures. I was thinking how to make my own deli ham. This looks like a way to go for me to do this. I can't stand the inflated costs or "flavor?" of "deli ham" found in the supermarkets. Dang, I'm fussy! LOL!
John

 

[Hijack73]

Over on a site called amazing ribs dot c.. there is a really great read on smoke rings (amongst other many great reads) and the science behind the deliciousness we get when we mix meat and smoke.

Bet that butt sliced up about a quarter inch thick and seared off quick in a hot CI pan would be the stuff!

 

[smokinjoe52]

So, how different is the final product, butt in this case, from one that is in Pop's brine for a couple weeks. How does the taste, texture, etc, differ between a Pop's brine and injection. Can you do a butt ham with Pop's brine? Need educated on this a little. -Joe

 

[archeryrob]

Really nice work Dave!!!