I am brand new on the whole forum thing but i think this will be the best way to get certain answers/tips with this so i will go ahead and put out my whole project. I bought two 28lb hams raw from the smithfield packing plant here in VA and used the cure that they gave me, salt,sugar,salt peter, and let them cure in the fridge for forty days. I removed them,washed them, and oiled and peppered them and let them hang for forty more days in my garage which stays around 70-80 degrees. While they were hanging i built a smoke house in the backyard and just began smoking them saturday. I had smoke running to them for about five hours on three diferent ocassions. My main questions are 1.how thick do you guys normally want the smoke to stay around the meat. and 2.how many hours do you usually smoke inbetween breaks. I am not done with the house i still want permanant piping instead of the flew duct i have now, i am also wondering if a smoke stack should be installed. I left small gaps at the corners so it would vent but i feel with a damper and a stack i could control the smoke/temp better. any input is appreciated.
