On a recent trip to Texas a friend got a wild hog. Yesterday we injected two hams (8.5 and 5 lbs lost part to a bullet) and a 3 lb loin with Sausage Makers brown sugar ham cure. We have it all in the brine in the fridge and plan on smoking next weekend. The instructions say to cook at 120* for 12 hrs, 140* for 8 hrs with smoke and 165* till IT is 152*. My concern is that these times seem excessive for pieces of meat this small, should I cut back on those times? Thanks
Those smoking directions that are on the jar, are for the common smoke house setup. If you are smoking the ham and loin in the Bradley, the drying time and smoke application time can be reduced a lot. I'm not familiar with wild hog, so I don't know want the recommended IT is.
For the drying part, I would only dry the ham, and not the loin. I air dry my large ham 8 hours or maybe less. For that small of a ham, you may want to start checking within the first 2 hours. During the drying period have the vent wide open. What you are looking for during this drying period is for the meat to take on a nice brown color. While the ham is drying, air dry the loin in the refrigerator uncovered.
You can skip the drying period in the smoker altogether if you are concerned with a small piece drying out, but the ham will not fully develop that nice mahogany color. If you are going to skip the drying step in the smoker, you should air dry it either in the smoker or on the counter until the surface becomes tacky, before applying the smoke.
I only apply 4 hours of smoke to my hams, and will lightly spritz the ham with water every hour or two while applying smoke. During the smoking and cooking period I adjust my vent to 1/2 - 3/4 open. When you start to apply the smoke, remove the loin from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. Two hours into the smoke add your loin to the smoker. Continue to cook both until each piece reaches it's ideal IT.
I've cooked a lot of wild hog but haven't cured one yet, I am planning on doing some trial runs next time I get some good looking hams. When I cook them uncured I usually look for an IT of about 148-150 just to be a little safer from some of the potential micro bug issues with wild hog.
I forgot to mention you can bump the final temperature of 165°F up to 180°F or higher. After the smoke has been applied I raise my cabinet temperature to 210°F
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on March 17, 2014, 02:11:02 AM
Those smoking directions that are on the jar, are for the common smoke house setup. If you are smoking the ham and loin in the Bradley, the drying time and smoke application time can be reduced a lot. I'm not familiar with wild hog, so I don't know want the recommended IT is.
For the drying part, I would only dry the ham, and not the loin. I air dry my large ham 8 hours or maybe less. For that small of a ham, you may want to start checking within the first 2 hours. During the drying period have the vent wide open. What you are looking for during this drying period is for the meat to take on a nice brown color. While the ham is drying, air dry the loin in the refrigerator uncovered.
You can skip the drying period in the smoker altogether if you are concerned with a small piece drying out, but the ham will not fully develop that nice mahogany color. If you are going to skip the drying step in the smoker, you should air dry it either in the smoker or on the counter until the surface becomes tacky, before applying the smoke.
I only apply 4 hours of smoke to my hams, and will lightly spritz the ham with water every hour or two while applying smoke. During the smoking and cooking period I adjust my vent to 1/2 - 3/4 open. When you start to apply the smoke, remove the loin from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. Two hours into the smoke add your loin to the smoker. Continue to cook both until each piece reaches it's ideal IT.
Habs thanks for the feedback. I am thinking about 2 hrs at 130* then 4 hrs at 150* with smoke (adding the air dried loin for the last two hours), then bump up to 175*. I will monitor the IT of all three pieces and remove at 152*. This is my first attempt at ham and I want to go into it with a plan best suited for success. Thanks again, I really feared I would end up with jerky if I followed the instructions on the label!
That looks like a great plan. Just keep an close eye on the loin, it will get to 152°F way sooner than the ham.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on March 18, 2014, 12:48:40 PM
That looks like a great plan. Just keep an close eye on the loin, it will get to 152°F way sooner than the ham.
Thanks again, I will keep a close eye on everything and try to get some pics!
Well, all turned out very tasty and surprisingly tender. Habs, you were right the loin was done in six hours and the hams took sixteen to reach 152* IT.
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Wow those look good. Never had wild hog, they don't like the climate up here in South Dakota. Maybe thats a good thing, looks like they can be pretty destructive and the population can get out of hand from what I've read. Hard for me to see free pork as a bad thing though.
Nice work. Even without the mahogany color they look great. That six pound ham looks larger than I had expected.
I would suggest 8 hours of smoke on your next one to get that dark mahohany color that you expect to see with Hams
The majority of the dark mahogany color is created during the air drying time. More smoke will add some additional color, but not that dark mahogany color, as you will obtain by air drying around 8 hours or longer. I only give my hams 4 hours of smoke and get a nice mahogany color.
Guess I should have air dried the hams but as always time restraints. I dried the hams at 130* for two hours then 140* for four hours of smoke. The loin was in the fridge uncovered for four hours before being added to the smoker in the middle of the smoke at 140*. I would like more color for hams and loin but think smoke flavor was about right in both and I like smoke. Next time will air dry overnight and possibly add smoke according to the size of the ham. All and all, a very successful first voyage that only makes me want to sail further west!!!! ;D
Your finished product looks great. If it came out the way that you liked it; texture and flavor; continue to use the same procedure. You are not sacrificing any flavor, and if you are concerned about it drying out, the you can skip the air drying time all together, and will pick up more smoke flavor. If you reheat and use a glaze, it is going to take on a darker color anyway. I will rarely air dry in the cabinet over 8 hours. I have smoked bone-in hams as large as 20 lbs. and only use 4 hours of pecan smoke no matter what size the ham is, and that give my hams a nice mellow smoke flavor.
"Your finished product looks great. If it came out the way that you liked it; texture and flavor; continue to use the same procedure". I would agree 100%. Wouldn't hurt to still tweak a few things maybe, but if you're happy with the way it turned out I wouldn't mess with it to much. Like the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!!! ;)