Really big ham questions

[Habanero Smoker]

Wow Habs, that sounds like fun food for sure. Let me know what you end up doing brine wise.

I'm beginning to get a little nervous, because of the time frame, I'll let you know what method I will use. I'm more interested in Karen's experiment.

I really don't want to use the Tender Quick, because I do not have any specific information for curing ham with it; other then a Tender Quick pickling brine. If I can't get this done before Christmas, there is always New Years.

ADDED:
Today I should be recieving my order for Suasage Maker. Do to the time restrains, I may be preparing this ham by using the method posted by pipsqueek.

[Habanero Smoker]

Karen,

Have you given any thought on how you are going to smoke/cook the ham. I was thinking of smoking it at around 200°F applying 4-5 hours of either pecan or maple; bring the internal temperature to about 120°F-130°F. Then take it out of the smoker, and allow it to cool enough to be handled. Then I was thinking about wrapping it in plastic wrap, place that in a 2 gallon resealable bag, and let it "age" for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. When I am ready to finish cooking it I plan to finish it in the oven, so I can apply a glaze, and cook until an internal temperature of 140°F-145°F.

[Habanero Smoker]

Well I received my order, and the cure only requires 7 days for ham, but I will give it 10. I may follow most of the smoking instructions on the cure label. The instructions are to place ham in preheated 120°F smoker for 12 hours vent wide open,  close vent to 1/2 and increase heat to 140°F and apply smoke. Then increase heat to 165°F until meat reaches 152°F. I'm planning on following this except; after I apply 4-5 hours of smoke (probably at 135°F), I'm going to take it out of the smoker when it reaches 130°F-135°F.

[smokeshack]

Hi, Karen(cooks),

Legs should be 12-16 lb. Legs up to 22 lb are acceptable, legs less than 10 lb are not.

If not using cure accelerators or hot curing, legs MUST be cured 7 days for each 1" of thickness but not less than 40 days for dry curing, or 9 days for every 1" of thickness at 85°SAL or 11 days for each 1" of thickness at 75°SAL or 13 days per each 1" of thickness at 60°SAL for wet curing.

If legs are dry cured, after curing is finished, you have to allow 2-3 weeks for salt to evenly distribute (holding or distribution time). If legs are wet cured (brine or pickle) no holding time is applied, but have to leave legs in water (2-15 hours, depending of SAL strength. Water is allowed to be changed just once). If legs are dry cured, they'll benefit if flatten. If legs are dry cured, meat juices should be discarded every 3 days and overhauled each seventh day. Cure should be divided in 4 equal parts and applied every 3rd or 5th day. If legs are wet cured, brine/pickle should be adjusted and legs overhauled every 7 days by changing 50% of brine/pickle with new one. If there is sign that brine/pickle getting sour, thoroughly wash legs with cold water and completely change brine/pickle. If you pumping legs with 80°SAL brine solution in the amount of 10% of green weight, curing time will be 1/3 to ½ less.

Smoking of legs should last AT LEAST 3 days, at temperatures NOT HIGHER 90°F (cold smoking). If smoking is done on higher temperatures, legs will probably get rancid after 2-4 months of drying. Recommended smoker temperature is between 79-85°F. Smoking at those temperatures will allow ageing aroma to develop and to enhance taste and texture of a ham. Smoking for 7-21 days (6 hours of smoking and 18 hours of holding per day will produce ham of exceptional qualities).

For Virginia, Smithfield, Westhfal, etc. hams, skin and bones stays. Same goes for Proscuitti hams. However, some Italian hams do goes boned and skinned, in which case they should be tied and placed in stockinet or muslin bags. But as a general rule if you bone and skin the ham, you have to cook it.

Hope this will help.

[winemakers]

holy hamgod smokeshack!

::) ::)

[ceeuawlsune]

holy friggin' crap, maestro smokeshack...let's talk about shipping me a ham?  by the way, "friggin'" would have been an expletive if i didn't think i'd get in trouble.

[KARENCOOKS]

 ;D

Thought I'd update you on the big pig progress. First one came out of the brine on Tuesday of this past week, air dried until thursday, and according to the packaged cure from Sausagemakers.com, roasted for abour 7 hours at 200 degrees. Then it went into the smoker for about 6 hours. Interesting thing in the smoker, it reached 151 degrees internal rather quickly, then reversed direction, dropped about 5 degrees then sloooowly crept back up. Took it out at 155, let it rest and come to room temp, them wrapped well in alum foil and is in fridge until Friday, when I'll glaze it and have dinner. I did sneak a bit off the end  ;), just to see how it tastes, as I had another one waiting in the fridge, if this one screwed up, I didn't want to do a repeat performance. Hot off the smoker, it was a little salty, but at room temp, its terrific.

The 2nd one was air drying while the 1st one was smoking, and I did the 2nd one a little different, it didn't roast quite as long, I took it out of the 175 degree oven about 10 degrees cooler than the 1st one, 135 vs 148, so it could stay in the smoker a little longer, and the first one I left the skin on, the 2nd, took the skin off. I think skin off if the way to go, more smoke penetration and easier carving. The 2nd one did not do a reversal in temp like the 1st, just kept creeping up.

For the 1st one, now I have to skin it before I can glaze it, should have thought of that a little bit ago.....

So all in all, a pretty good experiment, I don't think I messed either one of them up, the fridge smells incredible,  and may even do another one come Easter. At 19 lbs each, its definately not dinner for 2.

Thanks for the input along the way, very helpful.

Karen

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm taking mine out of the brine this afternoon. I am using the Maple Ham Cure from Sausage Makers, but in the future I will probably make my own pickling brines, using the recipe/formula that pipsqueek posted a link to. I did add more herbs and spices to the cure mix to give it more of a unique flavor. The directions on that container call for air drying in the smoker at 120°F for 12 hours, but I'm going to cut that down to 8 hours. I did a much smaller ham 10 pounds prior to trimming, 8 pounds after removing the skin and fat.

At this time I am planning to smoke/cook until an internal temperature of 137°F is reached, then later finish it in an oven. How much smoke did you apply, and what type?

Smokeshack;
Thanks for the information, detailed instructions and time you put into your post, but with the Bradley Smoker I am curing and smoking for flavor. The ham is for consumption within a few days after curing, and is not meant to preserve the ham for any length of time. I did copy your post, and may try it some time in the future. Another project on an never ending list.

[Habanero Smoker]

Well it is now 1 am, and here's an update on my ham. I took the ham out of the smoker 40 minutes ago. Before smoking/cooking I sliced a small test piece off and fried it. From the test sample it tasted real good. So now I have my partially cooked ham. I am waiting for it to cool down, and hoping to vacuum seal it and refrigerate it until Christmas morning. If I can't vacuum seal, I'll tightly wrap in a couple of layers of plastic and cover with foil.

It looks good and smells good. It was in the smoker for 18 1/2 hours; 8 hours @ 120°F to "air dry" (highest internal temperature reached during drying was 91°F); 4 1/2 hours @ 140°F while smoke was being applied (IT reached 113°F); then turn the smoker up to 165°F until the IT reached 137°F; 6 hours.

Christmas morning I plan to apply a glaze and finish it off in the oven.

[ceeuawlsune]

Habs -

It's good to see I'm not the only one who's been driven to sleepless nights on account of the smoker...

Where did you get your pork for this ham?

Also, how long did the entire process take, including brine time, etc.  Did you regulate humidity inside the BS during "dry-cure" phase?

[Habanero Smoker]

I got the ham from Stop & Shop in Rhinebeck, that is the only place in the area I can regularly go to and they will have either picnic cuts, or fresh ham cuts on display. Shop Rite stores generally have them out on display also, but they are generally more expensive.

Using the Maple ham cure from Sausage Maker, with ham that has the skin and fat removed, it is recommended to brine for 7 days, after you inject the ham. With the 8 pound ham, after trimming, I injected 2 cups of brine. After brining I soaked it for two hours, and sliced a piece off to test. I pan fried the test sample, and it tasted pretty good at the time, but I now have concerns that it may be more salty then I thought. The juices coming from the ham when I pulled it out of the smoker had a very strong salt taste.

During the drying process, I just left the vent wide open, with no water in the water pan.

I will do a more detailed write up after Christmas when I have a chance to sample the final product. Also I did add more flavorings to the brine that I got from Sausage Makers. There are still a couple of unknowns; 1) was 7 days long enough for the cure to reach all areas of the meat; and 2) did I soak it long enough to get the strong salt taste out?

[Habanero Smoker]

Just a short note to report that the ham was delicious, and cured all the way through. The only issues with the ham were that I should have soaked it longer, and I should have fully roasted it in the smoker instead of pulling it out at 137°F. It was a bit too salty for me, but the others enjoyed it. In the future, when I have time, I will make this again. It makes store bought hams seem bland. Though it is pricey; I may stick with the commercially made Maple Ham Cure from Sausage Makers.

I don't have the time right now, but will post more details later.

[Habanero Smoker]

Here's what I did. Most of the instructions are common practices in curing, but I wrote this so that those who have less or no experience would feel comfortable making this recipe.

Smoked Cured Ham

Cure (Pickle Brine)
1 T    Juniper Berries; bruised
1 T    Black Peppercorns, cracked
1 T    Mustard seeds
1/2 T    Coriander Seed, toasted and crushed
1/2 T    Red Pepper Flakes
3    Bay leaves, crumbled
3    Garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

10-12 pound fresh ham; shank end
1 pound Maple Ham Cure, by Sausage Makers (See note under curing)
5 quarts Water (See note under curing)
Cheese cloth
String
Injector or meat pump

Glaze (and roasting instructions are a variation of a recipe by America's Test Kitchen)
3/4 C. Maple Powder Sugar
3/4 C. Pineapple Juice
1/4 C. Brown Sugar, or 1 cup if you are not using the Maple sugar
1/3 C Dijon Mustard
1/4 C. Whole Grain Mustard

Curing
In a sauce pan add one quart of water. Measure and prepare the first seven ingredients, and wrap in a double layer of cheesecloth and tie off at the top (bouquet garni), and add to the pot. Bring the water to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remover from heat and add the cure mix, stirring until the entire cure is dissolved. Add ice water to bring the amount of pickle to 5 quarts. Before using the pickle, it has to be between 38°F - 40°F. You can skip the step of making the bouquet garni; but you will later have to strain enough of the pickle to use for injecting.

Remove ham from the refrigerator and trim off the rind and all outer fat. Weigh out the amount of pickle needed to inject the ham; this will need to be 10% of the weight of the ham. Inject ham at the shank and around the bone. If the ham can not hold any more pickle around the shank and bone, then start injecting further away from the bone, until all the measured pickle is injected. Place ham in a non-reactive container; I used an eight quart Rubbermaid clear plastic container I got from Sam's Club. Discard bouquet garni, and cover ham with the rest of the pickle, making sure that the ham is fully submerge. If you are using the Rubbermaid container, place ham in shank end down. Cure for 5-7 days, at 38°F - 40°F.

• NOTE: To calculate how much brine you will need, place the ham into the container you will be curing it in. Add water until the ham is completely submerged, remove ham and measure the amount of water that is in the container. That is the amount of water you will need to make the pickle cure. If it is more then 5 quarts, you will need to adjust the amount of cure according to the package instructions.

Remove ham from the pickle brine, and rinse off surface salt. Make sure ham is fully submerged, and soak ham in about 3 gallons of cold water for two hours to remove some of the salt taste. To sample the saltiness, slice a small piece off and fry it. If you like your ham with less salt, changed the water and soak for an additional 2 hours. From my experience, the test sample tastes a less saltier than the finished product, so you may want to keep that in mind.

Smoking:
Preheat your Bradley Smoker to 110°F – 120°F, making sure that the vent is wide open and there is no water in the bowl. Remove ham from the soak, and pat dry with paper towels. Place ham in the middle position of the smoker, and "air dry" for eight hours, rotating the ham from front to back after four hours. Next increase the temperature to 130°F - 140°F; add warm water to bowl, and apply 4 hours of smoke; I used maple. I could have probably used another 2 hours of smoke, but 4 hours gave it a nice mellow flavor.

After smoke is applied rotate ham once more, insert meat temperature probe, increase the cabinet temperature to 210°F-220°F and roast until internal temperature is 152°F (I suppose you can finish this last step in an oven). After ham has reached an internal temperature of 152°F, remove from the smoker and allow to rest. When ham is cool enough to handle, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, then cover with foil and allow it to "age" in the refrigerator for at least four days. Don't be worried if the other layer of the ham is tougher than leather. It will crisp up nicely after applying the glaze and roasting.

Roasting:
Remove the ham from the refrigerator, and line a 9x13 pan with a double layer of aluminum foil long enough to wrap the ham in. Make the glaze by combining all ingredients and whisking together. Place ham in pan, and liberally brush with glaze. Wrap tightly in foil, and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 hours. Adjust oven rack to the lowest level, and preheat the oven to 300°F. Bake until the internal temperature is 100°F. This will take about 2-3 hours, calculate about 17 minutes per pound.

Remove ham from oven, and roll back the foil to expose ham. Increase oven temperature to 450°F. Brush ham liberally with glaze and return to oven. After 15 minutes, apply another liberal coat of glaze and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes; until glaze becomes a golden brown and sticky. Remove ham from oven, apply another liberal coat of glaze and loosely foil. Allow to rest 30-40 minutes before carving. During resting time, you can baste the ham with its juices once or twice.