Smoked Ham

[ratherbboating]

Smoked Cured Ham
I smoke a whole ham following Habanero Smoker's recipe, Friday.  The ham weighs 29.5 lbs and was so big I had to cut the end off so it would fit in the cooler to brine.  Brined for six days.

I put it on at 8am, and took it off at 12:30, 16.5 hours (made for a long day).  The small part that I cut off went into red beans and rice Friday night.  While the ham was cooking I was pouring 1200 lbs of concrete (80lb bags, one at a time, my back still hurts) for the new and improved pig pen for my next ham. 

I sliced and packaged most of the ham.  Saved the bone for beans and rice at a later date.  Tasted it today and tasted good, a bit on the dry side near the surface.

I will note that if you look at the picture you can see that it was still undercooked a little around the bone.  I guess because it was so big, next time will try a smaller ham.  I still have the other ham in the freezer, but I am running out of sausage again, so it will become sausage.

[mikecorn.1]

That's one big azz ham. Nice job!


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[Habanero Smoker]

Hi ratherbboating;

That is a large ham. I often have to cut the hock off a large whole ham so it will fit in my brining bucket. Around the bone looks alright, but I see some brownish coloring towards the center of the meat. This indicates that the cure didn't reach all parts of the ham. It is still good, since you froze it, but I would treat it as fresh ham in your recipes.

Since it was so large; curing it another day or two would have helped. What was the length of the needle you were using to inject the brine. For that size ham you need a large needle. My needle is 5-inches long, and will reach the bone from anywheres I inject the ham.

[ratherbboating]

My needle is about 3" long (cajun injector).  I think I hit every where around the bone.  I injected till the ham could not hold any more (coming out of other injection sites). Will try brineing a little longer next time.
The part around the bone, I cooked some this morning (fried in bacon grease).  Tasted more like fried pork than ham, but was good.
When I was checking for IT, it said between 150-158 every where I tested.
Next time I will try a smaller ham (I am going to look at my next hams today, be mid summer before they are ready).

[Habanero Smoker]

Getting the ham to hold 10% is hard, I have the same problem with getting the full 10% in.

Your internal temperatures sound right on the mark.

You may want to get a larger injector. Not only is the needle larger, but they hold more of the brine, and makes the injecting a lot faster.

I forgot to mention that was a lot of concrete you mixed by hand. I mixed eight 80 lbs. bags one day and I was feeling it for a month.