Smoking A Ham

Jukebox · January 15, 2011, 12:50:50 PM

I'm new to smoking in a Bradley. I have a 15 lb fresh ham that I am in the process of smoking. Question, what temperature should I be smoking the ham at? And for how long? I brined the ham for 6-7 days, rinsed it well, let it air dry under a ceiling fan for a couple of hours first. I have it cold smoking at the moment coming up on two hours now. Gee, I wonder if I should have asked the questions first and then started smoking it ???

KyNola · January 15, 2011, 12:57:14 PM

Jukebox,
You want to follow 10.5 and FLBR's threads. It's a long process. You have to cure the fresh ham first. The drying, smoking, cooking process is long.

Read through this thread. It will give you what you need to know. http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=20336.0

Habanero Smoker · January 16, 2011, 02:19:36 AM

If it is fresh and you brined without a cure, it would be best to air dry it uncovered, in the refrigerator for 18 - 24 hours. If you still have the skin on the ham, it would be best to either crosshatch the skin, or better yet remove the skin and most of the fat at this time. This drying period will develop a pellicle, and give time for the brine to distribute equally throughout the ham. Then you can place it in the smoker and apply 4 hours of smoke at 140°F, then bump the temperature up to 200°F - 210°F and continue to cook until the internal temperature is 150° -152°F. Or after the smoke has been applied, place in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and in to a 300°F preheated oven. Roast until the internal temperature is about 140°, then remove foil, bump the temperature to 375° and continue cooking until the internal temperature reached 150°F - 152°F (during this stage you can add a glaze).

If you had a cure in the brine you can use the smoking directions in the link that KyNola provided, or use the smoking directions in the following link:
Smoked Cured Ham

Jukebox · January 16, 2011, 10:41:22 AM

Wellllllllllllllllllll, being the impatient sort that I am - of course I just went ahead and did what I do, smoke and cook. Will be very interesting to see what it tastes like tonight! I smoked it for about 12 hours. Certainly smells like a smoked ham ha ha. I cut off a bit of the end that actually cooked (just the very outside piece) and put it in some scones (that I made with the smoked flour I made while smoking the ham) this morning. My husband said the ham tasted great, I'm not so sure. Tasted kinda sour to me. Could be my taste buds acting up (I'm trying to quit smoking - cigarettes).

Habanero Smoker · January 16, 2011, 01:06:24 PM

I just have to know, was it cured or fresh? :)

FLBentRider · January 16, 2011, 01:12:03 PM

Quote from: Jukebox on January 15, 2011, 12:50:50 PM
I brined the ham for 6-7 days, rinsed it well, let it air dry under a ceiling fan for a couple of hours first.

Did the brine have cure #1 (sodium nitrite) in it?

Jukebox · January 16, 2011, 07:47:01 PM

It was fresh - it is awful LOL ;D It tastes sour to me. I roasted a chunk in the oven, with water in the bottom of the pan. My husband thought it was great - think he had one too many beers ha ha. I kept the rest of it in a vacuum pack in the fridge and will try it again in a few days. I just hope I didn't poison us! If you don't see another post from me, you'll know I screwed something up royally.

Jukebox · January 16, 2011, 07:50:32 PM

Yes, it had cure in it. The same cure I use for my deer sausage. Gag puke. I don't like it. Not salty enough, not sweet enough. But not bad enough to stop me from trying again! We can get hams for $0.99 a pound right now so it is cheap enough to experiment with. I actually put dark rum in the water bowl for a while - I love Rum glazed ham - maybe that is why it tastes funny to me - or I smoked it WAY too much.

Habanero Smoker · January 17, 2011, 01:39:11 AM

Rum can never make anything taste funny. ;D

I don't like my hams too sweet, but I really like the wet cure (pickle brine) that I use to cure my hams. If you want it a little sweeter, you can add another 1/4 cup of either the maple syrup or brown sugar. If you need it more sweet you can add more, but I would not go beyond a combine total of 1 cup of sweetener.

If you don't have juniper berries you can add gin. The most common equivalent is to use 1 teaspoon of gin for every 2 berries you plan to use (I should add that tip to my recipe). You cans start with that, and add more if you like. Just don't add the gin until the brine has cooled down.

Smoked Cured Ham

Jukebox · January 17, 2011, 08:11:33 PM

Just picked up another ham today - 23 lbs, but I'm cutting it up into 2 or 3 pieces. I don't want to do that entire ham until I figure out what I'm doing :) If I start it off tomorrow, I should be able to start smoking it on Sunday!

I certainly appreciate the help! Ham has got to be my favorite food - ok, second to lobster?

I still think the first one spoiled somehow...

Jukebox · January 20, 2011, 06:41:07 PM

Yes! that would be good to add to your recipe - I read your recipe about 12 times looking for the "gin" substitute and finally came on here to ask you ;D. I'm making the brine tonight and putting a 6 lb ham in it. Will be smokin all next weekend me thinks. I live in BC and am heading to Saskatchewan on Feb 3rd. Would love to take a piece of my own ham to show off!

Habanero Smoker · January 21, 2011, 01:22:19 AM

There are about 36 - 40 juniper berries in a tablespoon. So that would be 6 to 7 tablespoons of gin.

I wasn't on line last evening so I know I'm too late in replying, but for future reference; if you are only curing a 6 pound ham, I would reduce the recipe by half. Everything means to also reduce the cure by half. Making more than you need is a waste of supplies.