Whole Fresh Ham

[Habanero Smoker]

I ordered a 10 - 12 pound fresh ham, butt end. I'm planning to cure it for Easter. It came in yesterday, but when I arrived at the store, they had a whole fresh ham weighing 22.5 pounds. They said they could separate the butt from the shank end, but it would be about one hour before they could get to it. At $2.00 per pound, I decided to take the whole ham.

I'm going to cure at least the butt end, but I'm now thinking of deboning it, and curing the whole ham. I use to know how to separate a whole ham, but for this one - it appears if I do separate it the two parts will be oddly shaped. There is almost no part of the hock left on the shank end. I couldn't find any videos, or written instructions on how to separate a whole fresh ham into it two parts. My goal is to separate this ham into the butt and shank ends. Cure the butt end, and use the shank for a fresh smoked ham. If anyone knows of a video or written instructions on how to separate this whole ham, I would appreciate if you could post a link.

I'll make my decision by Sunday on which way I will go with this. I'll keep everyone updated.

[TedEbear]

Will these help?

How to Debone a Ham, part 1

How to Debone a Ham, part 2

Debone and trim whole ham for salting and smoking

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the links.

The first link; that is how the two proportions will be like, if I separate the butt from the shank, because the hock was almost completely removed. I'll end up with a shank portion way to small. That may leave me with a butt end too large to hang in the P10. Once I take the ham out of the cryovac I'll have a better idea of what it will look like, if I separate the two parts at the joint.

If I decide to debone it, the last link you provided is very helpful. It provides much more details in trimming than other videos I've found out there. Also there are trimming tips I will be using even if I don't debone the ham.

Thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

I got caught up in a few projects, so I didn't get to cure the ham until the 21st. According to a Tuffy Stone (BBQ Champion and trained French Culinary Chef) rib video, the pork industry guarantees it's bone-in product for 21 days after harvest. When I picked up the ham, the butcher told me the pack date was the 3rd  (the pack date and harvest date is usually the same). When I opened the cryovac, I was relieved that the pork smelt fresh. I was going to take pictures, but my phone was charging, and the battery in the camera also needed to be charged. I do have PhotoBucket (again), they sent me an offer of $3/month; so I'll try them again – at least for a while. I will probably post some pictures later.

Once I got a good look at the unpackaged ham, I decided to debone it; removing the aitch bone, femur bone, and what was left of the shank. The starting weight was 22.5 pounds, The debone ham that is going into the smoker was 10 pounds 14 ounces (precured). One of the reasons the end weight was that low, was because I decided to remove the sirloin roast tip, and smoke that later as fresh boneless roast. The weight of the roast is 2lbs. 14oz., the shank is1lb. 4oz, which is good enough for an Osso Buco. There is also 1lb 3oz. of scrape meat that can be used for stir fry, and/or ground pork.

I used the below video as a guide to debone, and remove the sirloin roast. The butchering of the ham begins at 21:12 minute mark. The removal of the sirloin tip roast begins at around the 22:00 minute mark.

How to Butcher a Pig | Step by Step by the Bearded Butchers!

I also used one of the videos that TedEBear provided. This was helpful in not only deboning, but for trimming; especially the tendons.

Debone and trim whole ham for salting and smoking

I generally will save the fat and render that into lard, and try to make crackling out of the skin, but this year I don't have the time, so those parts were discarded.

For curing I am basically using the method I always use. Though I doubled the amount of garlic, left the bouquet garni in the brine during curing, and left about 1/4 inch of fat on the ham. Because it is boneless, I may reduce the brining time. One other thing; I now use 2 quarts of water in the first step of the curing process.

Here is my brining recipe. When I find my original post I'll include that:

Ham Cure Brine

More to come.

[mybad]

Looking forward to it!

[Habanero Smoker]

It's been curing for about 5 days. I may take it out of the brine tomorrow. I'm hoping the weather holds up, but I do have popup tent I can setup if needed.

I'm smoking the 2lb. 14oz sirloin tip as I'm writing this. That should be done within the hour.

[Habanero Smoker]

I took the ham out of the curing brine this morning. Again, I forgot to take pictures, until I got the ham into the netting. To get the boneless ham into the netting I had to tie it in two places, to get it to keep its shape. Once it was in the netting, I gave some thought to taking the netting off, to take a few pictures, but quickly came to my senses.  ;D

Prior to injecting, and brining - the weight of the ham was 10 lbs. 14 oz, and 11 lbs.7 oz after being injected. After being removed from the brine it was an even 13 lbs. A little more trimming prior to placing it into the netting, the weight was 12 lbs. 13 5/8 oz. After netting, the weight was 12 lbs. 13 ½ oz. The further loss of weight is due to some brine being squeezed out of the ham as the netting was tightened.

The ham was then placed in the refrigerator at 10 AM, uncovered. I will leave it uncover for at least overnight. This period gives the cure time to equally distribute throughout the ham, and to develop a pellicle. This overnight stay in the refrigerator should also cut down, or maybe eliminate the drying time.

My plan was to smoke it tomorrow, but the weather is not cooperating. I tweaked my back a little, so I was not able to setup the popup. The new plan is to check the ham tomorrow morning. If the pellicle has developed well enough, then I will wrap it in plastic, followed by some foil, and smoke it Sunday when the weather clears up.

Planned Smoke/Cook Schedule:
? hours air drying at ~ 110°F (enough time to fully develop the pellicle).
4 hours applying pecan smoke at ~ 130°F.
3 - 5 hours at ~ 200°F to bring ham up to 145°F.


Bottom End


Top End


Side View

[manxman]

Looking good, very professional! :) Also looking forward to seeing the finished product, hope it all goes to plan.  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm hoping also. ;D

The rain that was suppose to begin at 11AM hasn't started. The current forecast is for it to start after 7PM. I'm still looking at smoking it on Sunday. The pellicle on the ham is just beginning to develop. I'm going to leave it uncovered, and check it Saturday morning.

[Habanero Smoker]

I haven't forgotten this post. I've been tied up with preparing for the Easter Dinner that I'm hosting. I'll post the results after Easter.

[manxman]

Happy Easter to all.  :)

Hope the dinner you are hosting goes well Habs, looking forward to seeing how the ham works out.  ;D

[Habanero Smoker]

Happy Belated Easter to you also.

The dinner was a little hectic, and I was running about an hour late - but all went fairly well; and everyone enjoyed themselves.

I also cooked a prime rib on one of my charcoal cookers. Miscalculated the cook time on that. It took an hour longer to cook than expected. So I didn't have time to take a money shot of the ham. The ham turned out very good, and everyone was asking where did I purchase it from. I often  complain about the stronger smoke the P10 produces, but this ham had a great smoke flavor.

I should be able to post the smoke/cook of the ham on Wednesday.

[manxman]

Sounds like you did have a hectic Easter.  8)

Our weather was generally very poor over the Easter break so no outdoor anything in the way of cooking on this side of the pond, did do a low and slow whole leg of lamb in the oven but that was about it.  :(

Look forward to the update on the ham  :P

[cathouse willy]

I did two smaller hams for a belated Easter dinner this coming saturday. I used Habs recipe for cured ham, it's always turned out great.

[manxman]

Wow they look really good  :)

Made some Pea and Ham soup yesterday, suspect some of your ham shredded would work a treat in this recipe rather than the shop bought ham hock I used.  ::)