Pulled Ham from Bone In Boston Butt

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flyboys

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Oct 14, 2007
603
42
Southeastern PA
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!
 
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The only thing worse than waiting for that brine to cure the shoulder will be deciding what to put in the bucket next. You're gonna love your ham!
 
Tell me about it!  I'm already eyeing up some loins to do Canadian bacon.  By the way, thank you for your post about your daughters birthday party, that is what got me thinking about this to begin with.  Also, I accidentally wrote out Woodcarver in my original post instead of Woodcutter, I must have been looking at Bears name!  Sorry about that, I have edited it.
 
Thats going to be a great meal. Cant wait to see it finished
 
I think you are on to something good here!

Don't think you need the fry test with Pop's brine.

Qview will be very welcome on this one!

Good luck and good smoking.
 
There is nothing so sad as an empty brine bucket!

Ok, I am comfortable now.......let the Q-View start.
110.gif
 
Thats going to be a great meal. Cant wait to see it finished

Thank you bmudd, I can't wait until it's finished too!

I think you are on to something good here!

Don't think you need the fry test with Pop's brine.

Qview will be very welcome on this one!

Good luck and good smoking.

Thank you Venture, I will make sure to have plenty of Q-view!

There is nothing so sad as an empty brine bucket!

Ok, I am comfortable now.......let the Q-View start.
110.gif

I know Foamheart, I have seven empty ones now!
 
After two weeks, I took the butt out of Pops Brine. Still had that iced tea look and had no funky smells.

I rinsed it off and let it soak in some fresh water for an hour, changing the water half way through. Once that was done, I did the taste test. Nice red color and tasted good!

Next I patted it dry and let it rest uncovered in the fridge all night to form the pellicle. This morning I awoke to temps of 18 degrees, so I filled my chimney basket to the top with briquettes and mixed in chunks of hickory and sugar maple. I lit about 20 pieces of charcoal in my chimney and dumped them on top of the basket when they were good and grey.
While the UDS was dialing in, I put the roast in front of a fan to finish up the pellicle. After about 45 minutes, I seasoned it with pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and honey powder. With the exception of the honey powder, I followed Bearcarver's recipe because he is an absolutely amazing cook. I have copied many of his recipes and continue to be amazed more and more!

Once the UDS settled to 300, I put it on and dialed it down to 250 for the remainder. I'm going to foil at 165 and bring it up to 200-205. I'll be back with more later!
 
Cant believe I missed this tread.

Ham is on my very soon list to do.

Lookin good.
 
Mmmmmm.......... gonna be a nice day at your house!

Thank you Foamheart, it's for Thanksgiving but I have a feeling some of it may go missing tonight!

Cant believe I missed this tread.

Ham is on my very soon list to do.


Lookin good.

Thanks c farmer, it's actually going pretty easily on the UDS! I think you'll like it!
 
This is the first I saw this!!!

Glad I didn't miss it completely!!

Looks good already.

You're gonna love it !

Don't get anxious---Wait until 200*-205*, so it pulls good.

I gotta make more of that. It's one of the best tasting things there  is!!

Bear
 
I'm with Bearcarver. I can't believe I missed this till now. It is going to be incredible. I don't have the smoking chops of Bear or Pops but I can warn you of one thing. When you try this, you will want more!

Disco
 
Nice color forming already!

Thanks woodcutter!

This is the first I saw this!!!

Glad I didn't miss it completely!!

Looks good already.

You're gonna love it !

Don't get anxious---Wait until 200*-205*, so it pulls good.
I gotta make more of that. It's one of the best tasting things there  is!!


Bear

Thanks Bear! Patience is a virtue. I followed your method with the pineapple slices and juice, then added a few more seasonings. As a famous singer said, the waiting is the hardest part!

I blame mice, mine can ever open a bottle and the reefer!

Yeah, that's it, the mice did it, the stinkin mice!

I'm with Bearcarver. I can't believe I missed this till now. It is going to be incredible. I don't have the smoking chops of Bear or Pops but I can warn you of one thing. When you try this, you will want more!

Disco

If it's half as good as the ones you guys did, I'll be happy! I got plenty more cure left!
 
About 7 hours in, the temp hit 163. I decided to foil because I had some chicken for dinner just itching to get in there. Following Bearcarver's meathod, I placed pineapple pieces on the bottom of the pan then on top of the roast. I then poured pineapple juice over it. Not being able to leave things alone, I added some cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves. It smells great! Sorry, I only got 1 pic because I was rushing to get it back in. After it was back in, it stalled for nearly 2 hours. I'm cruising again and almost to 180.
 
After 13 and 1/2 hours, I finally pulled it at 203 degrees. I got about 12 hours out of my UDS, so I had to finish it in the oven. Dont't know if I did anything wrong, but the charcoal basket was pretty much empty. Either way, I still love that thing!
The roast is now taking a nap all tightly wrapped and under some old towels in a cooler. Some fell off of the bottom as it was making its transition, and it was good! My bride actually ordered me to get it back out of the cooler. She lost. Here's a teaser until I pull it later tonight. Making ham is the coolest thing!!!
 
All of these ham posts just might make me do it.

That looks great.
 
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