Whole front leg . Ham , sausage and some bacon .

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chopsaw

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Dec 14, 2013
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OFallon Mo.
I bought this at GFS when other stuff was out of stock . They don't normally have them , so I figure they were putting out what they could get .
This was a at least 3 months ago . Maybe more . 99 cents a pound .
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Cleaned it up and boned it out . Tied up part of the picnic end and did Dave's injection .
I've started letting them cure longer . I think it improves the taste / texture . I say " longer " because this method can be ready in 6 to 10 days if injected
correctly . I went 14 days as I do for other ways of curing whole muscle meats .
MES 30 , took the internal temp to 165 since I had it opened up .
Intact I go to 152 ish .
I used beech on this . Fantastic smoke flavor from the beech .
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Slices . This ham is the best . It never last long .
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If the fat cap side of the butt end looks like bacon , I trim it off and cure it up .
Makes great bacon . This was Tender quick and brown sugar .
Pics are sliced after smoked , again with beech pellets . And cooked up . I hot smoke this to 145 .
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I took what was left of the butt end , and some of the picnic and made a few pounds of
Italian herb and cheese sausage . That's a Sausage Makers pre-mix .
Great sausage . A lot of spice in this but it's not a sweet sausage . No fennel , no anise .
Motz and parm for the cheese .
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Linked up , it goes on my jerky racks and under the fan for 30 minutes . Then I stack the trays and into the freezer
before vac packing .
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Just something to look at . I like making more than one end product , because I enjoy making it as much as eating it .
Thanks for looking .
 
That looks fantastic Chop!!! A lot of work, but enjoyable work I'm sure.

Point for sure
Chris
 
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That looks fantastic Chop!!! A lot of work, but enjoyable work I'm sure.
Thanks for the comment Chris .
It's really gotten to be second nature for me . I'm all set up and have everything at arms reach . Plenty of work space in my kitchen . Clean as I go .
I can't bring myself to pay store prices for sausage or lunch meat anymore .
Thanks again .
 
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Looks great Rich! I recently did this with a belly I got from the slaughterhouse. The ribs were attached so I got bacon, ribs and the leftover trim turned into smoked andouille.

It’s really a great feeling when nothing goes to waste, it’s work but worth it.
 
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Looks great Rich!
Thank you sir .

It’s really a great feeling when nothing goes to waste, it’s work but worth it.
Yup . When beef was cheap , I bought a bunch of eye's and knuckles .
After cleaning them up I took all the clean trim and made sticks . Super lean , but they were fantastic .
 
Most excellent! Great job all around. Dave’s injection produces the best ham I have eaten (city ham) I will try going longer like you have on my next one. Point for sure.
 
That looks really good hams the one thing I want to try. I keep telling myself to make smaller batches but it's always 120 lbs and five different things which can get to be a little too much.
 
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Nice Chop! you got me at .99 a lb...these days it seems like 99 a lb...

That's called the 3 squares for the day meat!
 
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Dang! Fantastic job!
Thanks . It really gets easy the more you do it . I have everything I need . I do sausage over 2 days , sometimes 3 . I have a dedicated fridge for this stuff . 36 degrees . If I get tired , into the fridge it goes .
 
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That looks really good hams the one thing I want to try
Thanks bud . Well you're in the right place . I never did any of this before I joined here .

I keep telling myself to make smaller batches but it's always 120 lbs and five different things which can get to be a little too much.
Yeah , if it feels like work , you need to adjust something . Not in the habit of telling people what they " need " to do .
One thing that helped me was this . Size the batch of whatever you're making to the size of your work space , fridge space and equipment .
 
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OMG!!
Everything there looks Outstanding, Rich!!
I say Outstanding because Awesome & Fantastic were already taken!
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear
 
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