Fresh Ham Advice

Hi FL Crackers,

From my notes, my last fresh ham was 12.5 lbs and took 5 1/2 hours at 250 F to get to 165 F internal. It came out perfect.

Ham holds well. You can either foil it and put it in an insulated cooler or leave it covered with foil in a 140 F oven. I've kept them covered in a warm oven for 3+ hours and they were fine.

I suspect you're getting the 1 1/2 hours per pound figure from a pulled pork recipe, which has a much higher final temp.

Thank-you Joseph -- I got up in the middle of the night thinking I better give it at least 18 hours, but read your response and went back to bed. I'll cut it down to 8 now, closer to 30 minutes per pound.

Sound like a good plan. Enjoy the big day.

Well, I got everthing going around 8 AM for an eight hour (+/-) smoke. Put two probes into the ham (one in the front, one in the back) and set the temp control at 225. Moved on to other things, checking the thermometers from time to time and decided to do some last minute wine shopping with my brother-in-law about five hours in. Imagine my surprise about an hour later when my daughter calls my cell saying, "The smoker is beeping."

Got home quickly -- and imagine my surprise -- both probes are reading 170 degrees. I double checked with another instant read thermometer. Same. Well, I turned it down to hold, but four hours was too long. Came out a little on the dry side, but still tasty.

I'll put an oven thermometer inside next time to check the accuracy of the temp knob.

I think the reason it was dry wasn't the accuracy of the temp knob, it was the length of the cook.

These things have a mind of their own.

that's why, when I say it...

It's done when it's done

You just have to hate it, it always happens when you leave.

Good experience, sorry the first one was on the Holiday.

If it's early, then you pull it.