Smoking an unsmoked country ham.

[BryanMaloney]

I've got a country ham source that makes North Carolina salt-and-pepper hams, which are unsmoked and very old school. My normal means of cooking them is to soak for 3 days with several changes of water, then simmer for many hours, with a couple changes of water. I finish with a glaze and bake. It's good ham but still salty.

Were I to want to use a smoker, how would I do this? I've seen advice for "double-smoked hams", but they start with what look to me to be very wet meat. Would I want to soak, simmer, then finish in the smoker? Would I want to soak extra long then smoke?

 

[pineywoods]

I'll take it that it's already cured probably why it's so salty. Personally I would soak changing the water out every half hour or hour then cut a little slice off and fry test it and see if it's still salty. If it is then back into the water and do it all over again until the fry test comes out without so much salt. Then smoke it and I personally would cold smoke it a couple times or at the least start out cold smoking for several to a few hours before raising the temp to finish

 

[SmokinEdge]

I would soak it changing water over several days. When you think it’s good, dry it and smoke it however you like. Pulling the salt out of a big ham is a reverse osmosis action and I doubt you can get the salt out or balanced in a soak because of the thickness.