Got started on our Thanksgiving meal today. This year I am going to make pulled ham and smoked turkey. I've been reading the below posts from Pops6927, Woodcutter, Disco, and Bearcarver. Their ideas, recipes, and pictures look incredibly amazing and I am thankful this Thanksgiving for their willingness to share their creativeness.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/150624/ham-from-pork-butt-with-pops-brine-again
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/146616/final-result-pulled-ham-bearcarvers-recipe
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/138526/buckboard-bacon-and-pulled-cured-boston-butt-ham
The only difference in mine is I did not remove the bone. I elected to inject the roast all around the shoulder blade instead. Main reason being I didn't have any twine and didn't feel like running to the store.
My plan is as follows. Please feel free to give advice or point out better methods. I plan on allowing the roast to cure for 14 days. Take it out, rinse and let sit in a water bath for a while on 11/24. Do a salt test by frying up a couple of cut off pieces. If all is good, then let it sit uncovered in the fridge for the night to form a pellicle. I'll smoke it on Monday 11/25 over either apple or cherry, probably in the UDS which means I won't be using lower temps to start the smoke. When the internal is around 165°, I'll probably foil it and follow Bearcarvers method. I may try adding some honey powder and apple powder that I just got from Amazon to experiment making rubs with. I'll continue to cook the roast to internals of somewhere between 200° and 205°, rest it, pull it, cool it, put the juices back in it, vacuum pack it, and reheat it on Thanksgiving by dropping the bags in simmering water. Again, please feel free to leave pointers or correct mistakes. That's the reason I'm making this post so early. I've been learning from this site since 2007 and enjoy learning more each day.
Ok, so here we go. I couldn't find my old brine bucket, so I asked the friendly bakery department at BJ's for one of their frosting buckets. My old bucket was a pickle bucket and was a pain trying to get that smell out. This is much better. They not only gave me one with a lid, they also gave me 7 12lb buckets to go with it! While there, I picked up the boston butt as well.
Next, I made sure my beer fridge was sitting around 37° and made Pops brining cure.
1 Gallon cold water
3/4 Cup Sea Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Instacure #1
I stirred it together in one of the 12lb buckets until everything was dissolved and it had a brownish color.
Next, I trimmed some of the excess fat off of the roast and injected it every inch with my Cajun Injector.
Next, I put the roast into the 15lb bucket, dumped the brining cure over it, weighed it down with a ziplock bag filled with water, and put it to rest in the fridge. I'll be rotating it on a daily basis over the next two weeks.
Thanks for looking, and I'll be updating as time goes on!
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110799/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/150624/ham-from-pork-butt-with-pops-brine-again
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/146616/final-result-pulled-ham-bearcarvers-recipe
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/138526/buckboard-bacon-and-pulled-cured-boston-butt-ham
The only difference in mine is I did not remove the bone. I elected to inject the roast all around the shoulder blade instead. Main reason being I didn't have any twine and didn't feel like running to the store.
My plan is as follows. Please feel free to give advice or point out better methods. I plan on allowing the roast to cure for 14 days. Take it out, rinse and let sit in a water bath for a while on 11/24. Do a salt test by frying up a couple of cut off pieces. If all is good, then let it sit uncovered in the fridge for the night to form a pellicle. I'll smoke it on Monday 11/25 over either apple or cherry, probably in the UDS which means I won't be using lower temps to start the smoke. When the internal is around 165°, I'll probably foil it and follow Bearcarvers method. I may try adding some honey powder and apple powder that I just got from Amazon to experiment making rubs with. I'll continue to cook the roast to internals of somewhere between 200° and 205°, rest it, pull it, cool it, put the juices back in it, vacuum pack it, and reheat it on Thanksgiving by dropping the bags in simmering water. Again, please feel free to leave pointers or correct mistakes. That's the reason I'm making this post so early. I've been learning from this site since 2007 and enjoy learning more each day.
Ok, so here we go. I couldn't find my old brine bucket, so I asked the friendly bakery department at BJ's for one of their frosting buckets. My old bucket was a pickle bucket and was a pain trying to get that smell out. This is much better. They not only gave me one with a lid, they also gave me 7 12lb buckets to go with it! While there, I picked up the boston butt as well.
Next, I made sure my beer fridge was sitting around 37° and made Pops brining cure.
1 Gallon cold water
3/4 Cup Sea Salt
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Instacure #1
I stirred it together in one of the 12lb buckets until everything was dissolved and it had a brownish color.
Next, I trimmed some of the excess fat off of the roast and injected it every inch with my Cajun Injector.
Next, I put the roast into the 15lb bucket, dumped the brining cure over it, weighed it down with a ziplock bag filled with water, and put it to rest in the fridge. I'll be rotating it on a daily basis over the next two weeks.
Thanks for looking, and I'll be updating as time goes on!
Last edited: