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Ham Crazy. There will be Pron. Eventually..

C

Coat

is one Smokin' Farker
Joined
May 7, 2014
Location
Nashville
Alright fellers. I got a 20lb fresh ham coming on Monday, aiming to serve it the following Sunday. Of course it ain't a ham unless I cure it, but you get the drift. I want to hear from those of you who have cooked one cured and cooked one uncured to slice. I know i don't want to cook it to pull, but I'm torn whether to cure it or just throw it on the smoker and make a heck of a nice smoked pork leg. The short amount of time between monday and sunday makes me think it may not be long enough to cure in the first place. . .

Another question....i'm cooking this thing direct on a cinder block pit. I'll be shoveling oak coals til it's done. Does anyone have a clue how long I can expect this to take with a 16 inch grate height, maintaining 215-225? I Haven't done anything quite as big as a 20 lb ham yet. I've found though that it cooks pretty fast compared to offsets running at the same grate temp.

Thanks for the help!
 
I'm a bit out of my element here, but I don't think you have time to do a complete cure on the ham. You do have time to brine it if you want that type of flavor. If not, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a good fresh ham. There are too many variables to give you a time projection for the cook. It sounds like you are doing open pit, so weather would be the first concern. I'm guessing you'll be a minimum 12 hours and maybe a lot more. If it still has the skin on, I think that works to your favor for the overall taste. I've done a few injections, but there are other brethren here to give you better direction for that. Good luck and above all, have fun with that thing!
 
Coat said:
that's a good lookin ham! you think injecting was necessary to get it cured fast enough?
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It was only one ham and haven't done any others so I can't say fore sure, but most things I read said it would help and I believe it did. Didn't take much effort to inject some of the cure into the ham before it went into the tub.
 
Fresh Ham is one of the key meats by weight in Carolina whole hog BBQ. That is traditionally chopped.

Carolina brothers--is this style usually cooked to 185-195 in the hams before chopping? I recall the last time someone posted it was lower than for pulled shoulder but still up there. (I know one guy who tried for 195 in shoulders and 185 in hams and his was good)
 
Well...wife picked up the ham from the butcher today...it's 27 POUNDS!!!!! was hoping by injecting a 20 lb ham with cure i could get it cured by sunday without a problem. but now i'm not sure even that will get er done. any thoughts from the brethren? also does anyone know of a resource that shows how to locate the femoral artery in a pork leg? apparently injecting into this artery is the best way to get even distribution, and will distribute through the whole arterial system.
 
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I did one similar in size a couple of years ago. Inject some of the cure into the meat around the bone areas as much as you can to help it cure faster. As for the arterial method I've not heard of that but I'd think it would be tough to find. I don't think you'll have a fully cured ham but I'll be willing to bet it will be pretty darn close.

Good luck in whatever you decide!
 
Norm said:
I did one similar in size a couple of years ago. Inject some of the cure into the meat around the bone areas as much as you can to help it cure faster. As for the arterial method I've not heard of that but I'd think it would be tough to find. I don't think you'll have a fully cured ham but I'll be willing to bet it will be pretty darn close.

Good luck in whatever you decide!
Click to expand...

so by not fully cured do you mean you think it'll have some tan colored patches? or just won't be as bright pink as normal?
 
My guess is you'll have some tan colored patches. Probably in the thickest part of the ham. On the one I did there was some but really didn't think it was a big deal.
 
so let's assume i get it cured--how long is it going to take to get this 27 pound beast up to temp?
 
Coat said:
so let's assume i get it cured--how long is it going to take to get this 27 pound beast up to temp?
Click to expand...

Just give it a good injection and it should be fine. I ran mine around 325 and took about 6hrs for the 20lb'er to hit 145-150. So might take another hour or 2 at that size.
 
Jason TQ said:
Just give it a good injection and it should be fine. I ran mine around 325 and took about 6hrs for the 20lb'er to hit 145-150. So might take another hour or 2 at that size.
Click to expand...

i'd never injected before so there's plenty of room for error, but i think i loaded it up pretty good. i shot it up 15 or 20 times all over the place and all the way down by the bone. hopefully it'll be fine. i am cooking direct on an open pit so that may speed it up to more like your timing. i hope so...i don't wanna pull an all nighter operating the shovel :) planning to get after it around 4am and need it done by 4pm.
 
Coat said:
i'd never injected before so there's plenty of room for error, but i think i loaded it up pretty good. i shot it up 15 or 20 times all over the place and all the way down by the bone. hopefully it'll be fine. i am cooking direct on an open pit so that may speed it up to more like your timing. i hope so...i don't wanna pull an all nighter operating the shovel :) planning to get after it around 4am and need it done by 4pm.
Click to expand...

I've only done it that one time, but seems pretty foolproof. Just inject evenly and it seemed to work great :-D. If you are doing an open pit you could always wrap and transition to an oven after 3hrs in the smoke if things are running behind.
 
Jason TQ said:
I've only done it that one time, but seems pretty foolproof. Just inject evenly and it seemed to work great :-D. If you are doing an open pit you could always wrap and transition to an oven after 3hrs in the smoke if things are running behind.
Click to expand...

true. now it looks like sunday is going to be high of 20 degrees and winter precipitation all day. not very good news for my fire.
 
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