Jersey Pork Roll (aka 'Taylor's Ham') with Pix

[Kevin A]

My wife & her family are all from New Jersey and practically every time her relatives come west to Calif, they bring several rolls of tangy pork roll (a.k.a. "Taylor's Ham"). You cant get it out here so for my wife & sons, its a real treat. One can order online & have it mailed, but the shipping is killer ($$!). So.....I decided to give it a try. I know a number of members have used Len Poli's recipe so that's the one I used.

Onward.....

Got the pork. Ten pound batch so got plenty of pork shoulder plus 3 pounds of good hickory-smoked bacon; both well-chilled.


Not a lot of ingredients. Deviation from the recipe: I used ECA for the 'tang' rather than a culture.


Ground the bacon with a fine plate (3mm); the 7 pounds of pork shoulder went through a 4.5mm plate.
Ingredients in & well-mixed.


What to stuff? I have a few synthetic casings on hand, but came across several never-been-used muslin bags I use when I roast coffee beans. The size of one is approximately the size of the Taylor hams. "Sweet Maria's" is where I buy my green coffee beans (local). Wound up with one muslin chub and a 24" long syn. red roll.


Plan was to give the rolls about 90 minutes to 2 hours of hickory smoke (like the bacon) and slowly increase the temps until the IT reached 155°. Note to SELF: keep rolls under 24" or they wont fit in the smoker! As it was, a tight squeeze...


Put the pork rolls in about 8:00 am. Temp at 120°. Added smoke after about 90 minutes & gave it about 2 hours of hickory. Increased temps progressively up until I hit 165°. Kept it there until the IT reached 155°—which happened 16 (!) hours later about 1:00 the following morning. Next time may do a poach & cut my time waaaaaaaay down.
Into an early morning ice bath:


Let the rolls sit overnight in the fridge.
Next morning, time to slice 'em up!



Into the pan for a quick fry:


The Results: The flavor is VERY close to the target 'ideal' (Taylor's Ham); probably NOT as salty as the commercial brand; nice tanginess to the slices and tasty smokiness ("bacon-y"). Makes a great sandwich in the morning and a HUGE step above products like SPAM & the like. So far, it's been well received by the family taste-testers.

—Kevin

[Caribou]

Great job and great pics, too. :)
Less salty is probably more healthy anyways, that alone is a good reason for making your own.
Carolyn

[ghost9mm]

kevin... that really looks good in the frying pan...and I too do not like the extra salt, again a really good job...

[pikeman_95]

Hey that looks great Kevin. It sure sounds like it sure would make a good sandwich or fried for breakfast. Good job

Kirby

[NePaSmoKer]

That looks good.

The Taylor poke roll you get in the stores around here sux.

[Kevin A]

The Taylor poke roll you get in the stores around here sux.

In my limited experience with this 'regional treat' the one type I liked the best was the "Taylor Pork Roll" product.

But 4.5lbs of this stuff cost $35/whole; $38/sliced)—nearly $8.00/pound.

Add shipping from back east (approx$30-40) & it adds up quick.

I spent about $25 for ten-pounds of pork; about $20 for a decent bottle of port (6 tbl for the mix; the rest for the chef & future batches :D), and am very happy with the results.

[OU812]

Them there pork rolls look GREAT!

I also sub ECA for the culture and it turns out prefect for me.

Makes for a really good ham, egg N cheese muffin,,,,have em for breakfast often.  ;D

[grnhs]

nice work Kevin, would the 24 incher fit in your "new" poacher?
I had the same problem the first time I made SS, forgot to check cabinet dimensions before stuffing :-\

[Kevin A]

nice work Kevin, would the 24 incher fit in your "new" poacher?
I had the same problem the first time I made SS, forgot to check cabinet dimensions before stuffing :-\

Nope.....not unless I folded it in half... ;)

One of the reasons I had to keep it in the smoker for a zillion hours to bring it to temp.
Live & learn. NEXT time, smaller chubs so I can food-saver bag 'em first (water-proof) & then poach in about a hour to 90 minutes.

[pikeman_95]

nice work Kevin, would the 24 incher fit in your "new" poacher?
I had the same problem the first time I made SS, forgot to check cabinet dimensions before stuffing :-\

Nope.....not unless I folded it in half... ;)

One of the reasons I had to keep it in the smoker for a zillion hours to bring it to temp.
Live & learn. NEXT time, smaller chubs so I can food-saver bag 'em first (water-proof) & then poach in about a hour to 90 minutes.

Kevin

Great Idea.

I bet you could vacuum seal any sausage and add it to the water tank and get the job done. I bet you could stick a  thermal pen or pocket thermometer in with the sausage and poach them torether. This would solve the waterbath and collagen casing and water problem. Same goes with the sausage stuffed in cloth casings.

[La Quinta]

Wow Kevin....well done...I haven't had taylor ham since I was a kid in New Jersey...looks awesome...and you're right we can't get in in California...(unless thru the mail)...We had it all the time for breakfast when I was a kid...yummy!!!  :)

[Kevin A]

Wow Kevin....well done...I haven't had taylor ham since I was a kid in New Jersey...looks awesome...and you're right we can't get in in California...(unless thru the mail)...We had it all the time for breakfast when I was a kid...yummy!!!  :)

Thanks, La Quinta.

I ordered a bunch of Taylor ham for my son's birthday (a surprise) from back east; about 15 lbs of it ($60+) & the shipping was $45 (!!!).
The steep cost made the decision to try & make the pork roll at home much easier... :)

Kirby: Particularly after watching your 'poaching' video, I'm convinced my time is too valuable to keep babysitting hanging chubs in a smoker for endless hours. A good 1.5-2 hour smoke followed by a poach may just be the answer. It worked great on the kielbasa I made a while ago. I just need to keep the chub size reasonable to fit the 'poacher.'

[Tenpoint5]

Good Looking Pork Roll Kevin.

[pikeman_95]

Wow Kevin....well done...I haven't had taylor ham since I was a kid in New Jersey...looks awesome...and you're right we can't get in in California...(unless thru the mail)...We had it all the time for breakfast when I was a kid...yummy!!!  :)

Thanks, La Quinta.

I ordered a bunch of Taylor ham for my son's birthday (a surprise) from back east; about 15 lbs of it ($60+) & the shipping was $45 (!!!).
The steep cost made the decision to try & make the pork roll at home much easier... :)

Kirby: Particularly after watching your 'poaching' video, I'm convinced my time is too valuable to keep babysitting hanging chubs in a smoker for endless hours. A good 1.5-2 hour smoke followed by a poach may just be the answer. It worked great on the kielbasa I made a while ago. I just need to keep the chub size reasonable to fit the 'poacher.'

Kevin

I sure love your roaster. I am keeping my eye out for one. I would like to have it for doing smaller batches. I would still bring out the big tank for larger jobs but having something like you have would be great also. I think it is a great idea and I hope others take note.

Kirby

[Bigbirdoffroad]

I love the poaching in a food saver bag idea. Would probally work great with the collegen cases.