Smoked gammon/ham exterior very dark

[Kyleblun]

I have decided to make a gammon/ham for Christmas this year, so I made a test one recently and had some friends over for an early Christmas dinner. We call it gammon on my side of the world so I will refer to it as gammon from now on

I used the equilibrium dry-cured method and then smoked it with a combination of oak and apple wood. Finished it off with a traditional honey, mustard and sugar glaze. The end result tasted incredible but the exterior that was exposed to smoke got really dark. It was this dark before I put the glaze on. Usually gammon has a more golden brown color?

As I said there was absolutely nothing wrong with how it tasted. At the risk of "tooting my own horn" It was the best gammon I ever had, but the color seemed weird to me. Could it have been the oak wood, reaction to the cure or something else? Or is home smoked gammon supposed to have a darker color? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks

 

[SmokinEdge]

Sugar + heat + time= dark exterior. Cook the ham however you please but once the sugar glaze goes on the heat needs to be already lowered and time just enough to set the glaze.

 

[Kyleblun]

Sugar + heat + time= dark exterior. Cook the ham however you please but once the sugar glaze goes on the heat needs to be already lowered and time just enough to set the glaze.

Thanks. It was very dark before I put the glaze on. Maybe too much sugar in the cure? Once the internal temp was 135f, I put the glaze on then bumped the temp up to 300f. Then 2 more coats every 15 minutes and then took it off around 147f internal temp which climbed to 150f while resting.

How do you do your glaze? Time, temp etc?

 

[Kyleblun]

Thanks. It was very dark before I put the glaze on. Maybe too much sugar in the cure? Once the internal temp was 135f, I put the glaze on then bumped the temp up to 300f. Then 2 more coats every 15 minutes and then took it off around 147f internal temp which climbed to 150f while resting.

How do you do your glaze? Time, temp etc?

Actually it was dark but not near black so maybe the glaze was on too long and made it super dark. I am going to try another one with a more conservative glaze temp and time and a milder wood. I made some killer bacon with plum wood and I still have some so maybe I will use plum wood next time

 

[gmc2003]

Did you smoke it with indirect or direct heat? Also what tempt was your smoker running?

Chris

 

[Kyleblun]

Did you smoke it with indirect or direct heat? Also what tempt was your smoker running?

Chris

I used a heat deflector which I use every time I smoke something. Temp was 220f and then 300f for the glazing at the end

 

[gmc2003]

I used a heat deflector which I use every time I smoke something. Temp was 220f and then 300f for the glazing at the end

Well that should eliminate to high a direct heat.

Chris