I have a ten pound fresh shank ham in my freezer and am trying to decide what to do with it. Brine, dry cure, smoke???? I am a complete rookie at hams. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
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Mornin',Hoodsie.
Coming from the school of laziness,brining and cold smoking are more than I'm willing to do for ham.
It will be plenty done around 160�-165� if you want to slice it.
I cook it like a butt and check to see if the bone is getting loose around 180�.
Hope this helps some.
Coming from the school of laziness,brining and cold smoking are more than I'm willing to do for ham.
It will be plenty done around 160�-165� if you want to slice it.
I cook it like a butt and check to see if the bone is getting loose around 180�.
Hope this helps some.
Thanks Tom,
What about hot smoking the ham?
What about hot smoking the ham?
That's what I meant.
Go at 225� with apple or wood of your choice.
If you want to pull it ,you will have to go up above that slicing temp.
Go at 225� with apple or wood of your choice.
If you want to pull it ,you will have to go up above that slicing temp.
A fresh ham is a real treat. I have roasted several whole fresh hams (20+lbs.) in my ceramic cooker at 325 degress 
. The leg is not a fatty cut like the front shoulder or butt. It turned out best after brining for 2 days and cooking to an internal 145. Brining just adds water to keep a lean cut moist. I think the same approach would work on the Cookshack. 225 should be fine. Any higher internal temp, and the ham is going to be dry.
. The leg is not a fatty cut like the front shoulder or butt. It turned out best after brining for 2 days and cooking to an internal 145. Brining just adds water to keep a lean cut moist. I think the same approach would work on the Cookshack. 225 should be fine. Any higher internal temp, and the ham is going to be dry.
What I meant was to cook at 225 degress in the Cookshack to an internal 145 degrees!
This was a twenty lb. ham, but had it cut to fit the smokette a little better.
I bought a 12 Lb ham and brined it (salt, sugar, honey, cloves, and black pepper) for 24 hours, then smoked it at 200 to 145 internal with cherry. WOW... It was awesome.
Do it.... you'll love it.
Dave
Do it.... you'll love it.
Dave
Last week I did a 12lb. fresh ham and a 23lb. fresh ham also. I injected them with a mixture of hot Jalapeno olive oil, honey, and some of my brine mixture. I brined both for 36 to 40 hours (actually in a cooler with some ice in it on my back porch, a 23lb'er is pretty large!). I cooked them to about 175 internal (Smoker set to 200) and was very happy with their tenderness as well as high moisture content. Everyone at work was amazed and immediately I sold two more 25lb. hams. Best ham I've ever had. I'll post the brine recipe tomorrow when I bring it to work.
JayB
JayB
Thanks for the info JayB, sounds great.
Smokin'
Smokin'