Minimum temp to achieve smoke

Try cranking it up to 225* to get the smoke started (smoldering wood). Once you've seen smoke for a few minutes, turn the dial down to your desired temp and toss your ham in & let it smoke away.

The guys at the shop,used to say smoke would start about 135*.

Do you have 135* and is all else working.

Are you trying to cold smoke a RAW,but BRINED ham?

Go to FIND above and search cold smoking.

What ham recipe?

It sounds like it's trying to smoke a fresh ham, not an already cooked ham. Is that what you're trying to achieve?

The smoker will actually kick on to a higher temp to ignite the wood before dropping down.

If you search on "ham" (I moved this to the Pork forum) you'll find some help.

If you're trying going to cold smoke, you don't want to use wood chunks, they need a higher temp to ignite. You'd actually be better off using pellets or sawdust.

12 hours is a LONG smoke, so just sounds like a fresh ham, not a twice smoked ham?

Thanks guys. SmokinOkie - it is a fresh, cured ham recipe. I am actually trying a recipe from The Sausage Maker. I bought some Maple Ham cure from them and the recipe is on the jar of cure. I believe it is also in the book Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing book by Rytek Kutas (a book I would highly recommend). Anyway, I did crank up the heat to about 200 until I saw smoke and then backed the temp back down to where it was supposed to be. The ham turned out really good (a little salty but that had nothing to do with the smoker). Next time I will try cutting the saltiness by adding a little sweetness to the cure with maple syrup, honey or brown sugar. I am making some baby back ribs for Christmas Eve dinner tonight. I will report back on how they turn out.

Glad it worked out.

Yes, I recommend that book as well.

For the record, the ribs turned out fantastic. I was a hero on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas everyone.