The First Ham

[Jim_C]

Took a shot at a ham. Put on brine Sept. 05, pulled from brine Oct. 08. Almost a month. Pink all the way through, which is a good sign. Didn't feel like setting up the smoker so it went into the oven, with the probe inserted. Started oven at 325, and ended up at 350 to move things along. Ham was 42 degrees IT to start and two and a half hours later it hit 145. As a result the skin was rubbery, so it was removed prior to carving.

My thoughts...........I am disappointed in the ham, but need to give myself a break since it's the first one. I'm ready for round two.

For the amount of honey and sugar in the brine it wasn't prevalent in the final product. I may increase the amount of honey and sugar. The wife thought it was a bit salty, but I thought it was much less salty then the store bought stuff. I cannot mess with the amount of cure (.25%), obviously, but I am wondering how much I can play with the salt (1.25%).

The ham had a bit of an "off" flavor. The kind of flavor where you know the meat is not bad, but you tell yourself; "I'm glad I didn't let this go any longer". Not sure where it came from. Perhaps too much time on brine, or the formula is off.

Here's the formula I used:

Injection Brine
SmokinEdge Recipe		Ingredient	Unit of Measure	Percentage by Weight		Based on Actual Weight
Ham - 3 pounds (1362g)		Ham	Pounds	100.00%		2.70	<< Enter Weight in Pounds
Water - 10% (136g)		Water	Grams	10.00%		122.58g
Salt - 1.25% (17g)		Salt	Grams	1.25%		15.32g
Phosphate - .4% (5.4g)		Phosphate	Grams	0.40%		4.90g
Cure #1 - .25% (3.4g)		Cure #1	Grams	0.25%		3.06g
Honey - 3x Amount of Salt (51g)		Honey	Grams	3.75%		45.97g
White Sugar - .5% (6.8g)		Sugar	Grams	0.50%		6.13g
NaE - .05% (.7g)		NaE	Grams	0.05%		0.61g

Thoughts and input is appreciated.

 

[smokerjim]

I dont think adding more honey will do anything, I dont think it will get sucked into the meat like you think, better off just making a honey glaze when your cooking it. As for the formula I can't comment on that I usually just use pops brine.

 

[Jim_C]

I dont think adding more honey will do anything, I dont think it will get sucked into the meat like you think, better off just making a honey glaze when your cooking it. As for the formula I can't comment on that I usually just use pops brine.

Thanks for the input..........this is an injection brine, so I would hope I would be able get some honey into the meat?

 

[chopsaw]

wondering how much I can play with the salt (1.25%).

You're already to low in my opinion . Some things need the salt content to bring the flavor .
I would also lose the honey .
Use unsalted veg stock in place of the water .
White sugar at 1%
Add some smoke
Take your finished IT to 150 / 160 .

Phosphate works at your amount , I use .5%

Edit: I see you went a month . 14 days is good . I would watch that long hold time at low salt levels .

 

[zwiller]

First off, looks good. 1.25% is a pretty good number for salt on the low side ( chopsaw beat me on most all of this). You can go lower but I wouldn't unless you are aiming healthier product over quality. Needs smoke to taste like ham and can be gamey otherwise. IT a little low for me as well. You are gonna need to cheat a little to get honey flavor in that bad boy. Flavor extract is what the pros use use but a glaze at end might work.

 

[chopsaw]

Can certainly adjust the salt level , but I would not go a month and 3 days at that rate .
Texture will suffer at lower levels too . Won't be as tender as it would with say 2% .

At this point do it the same , but go 14 days and smoke it . Glaze at the end . Take the IT higher .
I bet it's a better result .

 

[Brokenhandle]

I'm just gonna follow along to see your progress on the next one.

Ryan

 

[SmokinEdge]

The ham sure looks good. The formula is right. I’m not sure why you went so long on the cure though? I use 10 days as minimum and 14 as maximum all depending on my schedule at the time. I think smoke will make a big difference and to bring more honey flavor use a honey glaze towards the end of the smoke/cook. If it’s a picnic cut shoulder (usually has skin on) skin it first, this makes injecting easier and will let glaze stick to the meat.

You can lower salt but I suggest not going below 1%, with cure added you will be 1.25% total salt (you are 1.5% salt now) you can raise the sugar as well if that’s your preference. Sugar at 1/2 the total salt amount gives good balance but some like the sugar much higher and forward of salt.

The honey flavor is there it just doesn’t hit you in the face. Flavors like honey and maple are difficult to bring to the front flavor wise, this is where a glaze or finishing sauce can really help. You were successful at the hardest part for most new ham makers and that was getting a complete cure, now you just need to adjust the flavors to your liking.

 

[Jim_C]

The ham sure looks good. The formula is right. I’m not sure why you went so long on the cure though? I use 10 days as minimum and 14 as maximum all depending on my schedule at the time. I think smoke will make a big difference and to bring more honey flavor use a honey glaze towards the end of the smoke/cook. If it’s a picnic cut shoulder (usually has skin on) skin it first, this makes injecting easier and will let glaze stick to the meat.

You can lower salt but I suggest not going below 1%, with cure added you will be 1.25% total salt (you are 1.5% salt now) you can raise the sugar as well if that’s your preference. Sugar at 1/2 the total salt amount gives good balance but some like the sugar much higher and forward of salt.

The honey flavor is there it just doesn’t hit you in the face. Flavors like honey and maple are difficult to bring to the front flavor wise, this is where a glaze or finishing sauce can really help. You were successful at the hardest part for most new ham makers and that was getting a complete cure, now you just need to adjust the flavors to your liking.

Thanks for the input Eric.........

The 30 days was because I put in on brine 12 days before we headed off for vacation, and then forgot about it for a few days after we got back. I happened to look in the garage refrigerator and had one of those "oh yeah....I forgot about that" moments.

You answered one of my questions I was going to send in the conversation; skin on or skin off.

I may cut back a bit on the salt and up the sugar a touch as you mentioned.

 

[tallbm]

Took a shot at a ham. Put on brine Sept. 05, pulled from brine Oct. 08. Almost a month. Pink all the way through, which is a good sign. Didn't feel like setting up the smoker so it went into the oven, with the probe inserted. Started oven at 325, and ended up at 350 to move things along. Ham was 42 degrees IT to start and two and a half hours later it hit 145. As a result the skin was rubbery, so it was removed prior to carving.

View attachment 725428


My thoughts...........I am disappointed in the ham, but need to give myself a break since it's the first one. I'm ready for round two.

For the amount of honey and sugar in the brine it wasn't prevalent in the final product. I may increase the amount of honey and sugar. The wife thought it was a bit salty, but I thought it was much less salty then the store bought stuff. I cannot mess with the amount of cure (.25%), obviously, but I am wondering how much I can play with the salt (1.25%).

The ham had a bit of an "off" flavor. The kind of flavor where you know the meat is not bad, but you tell yourself; "I'm glad I didn't let this go any longer". Not sure where it came from. Perhaps too much time on brine, or the formula is off.

Here's the formula I used:

Injection Brine
SmokinEdge Recipe		Ingredient	Unit of Measure	Percentage by Weight		Based on Actual Weight
Ham - 3 pounds (1362g)		Ham	Pounds	100.00%		2.70	<< Enter Weight in Pounds
Water - 10% (136g)		Water	Grams	10.00%		122.58g
Salt - 1.25% (17g)		Salt	Grams	1.25%		15.32g
Phosphate - .4% (5.4g)		Phosphate	Grams	0.40%		4.90g
Cure #1 - .25% (3.4g)		Cure #1	Grams	0.25%		3.06g
Honey - 3x Amount of Salt (51g)		Honey	Grams	3.75%		45.97g
White Sugar - .5% (6.8g)		Sugar	Grams	0.50%		6.13g
NaE - .05% (.7g)		NaE	Grams	0.05%		0.61g

Thoughts and input is appreciated.

The ham looks good.

You mention brining it, but did you also inject the brine/cure solution into the meat ALL OVER and especially parallel to the bones and perpendicular at bone level in addition to any injections at meat level?
The injection will ensure the cure travels fast enough deep into the meat and speeds up the curing process in general. It is actually a mandatory step for meats that are thick like this to ensure everything cures safely.

Next, yeah remove the skin (removal is best option) or smoke/cook uncovered at the 350F+ temp the entire time if you want skin to behave better. I would remove the skin before curing and then turn the skin into oven baked cracklings.

Next, the honey is buying you nothing in the brine/cure so feel free to base that on at the end when the ham is done cooking and save you time and get max flavor from it.

I take my hams to like 152F internal temp so that may help a little as well when it comes to texture and more ham flavor.

Finally, I do my hams out of pork butt/shoulder (boston butts) because the price can't be beat, they are often on sale here, they are readily available, AND they make great ham just like if you used a back leg.
The pork butts I get have no skin on them either and the fat cap makes for an excellent extra flavorful ham!

Mine is as brine/cure is as simple as the proper amount of cure, 1.65% salt, 1% sugar, a small amount of clove and star anise for aromatic flavor and that is it. They come out great see the full step by step thread here and the proof in pictures below :D

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