Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Fresh Leg of Pork help!

Options
JDJay
JDJay Posts: 1
edited November 2011 in Pork
Hi everyone, 

I was wondering if I can ask for some advise from fellow Eggers...

I've got my hands on a Berkshire butt-end rear leg of pork.  It should be about 10lbs.  I am planning on cooking it low and slow.

I've read some suggestions on brining it for about 4-6 days (kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt), then smoking it @ 250 until it reaches 155 degrees.  

I will glaze it with a simple brown sugar, dijon, and garlic after it has been smoking for about 3 hours.

The problem is, I will be picking up the pork on Thursday, and need to serve it on Saturday.  So, I can only brine it for about 1.5 days.

So this is going to end up like a hybrid partially-brined ham and a roasted leg of pork.

Does this sound okay? Or does anyone have any alternate suggestions on how I should approach this?  Should I inject the ham with the brine to speed up the brining process? or should I forget the brine process altogether?

Any ideas how long it will take to get the leg up to temperture? I want to slice it, not pull it.

Should I apply a dry rub instead of the glaze or do both rub and glaze?

Thanks all for your suggestions!
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • pa
    pa Posts: 2
    Options

    1.5 Days sounds more than enough. Brining has an effect on the tissues so overbrining might not be a good idea. I would brine 1.5 Days then Rub for 24 hours. then put the dijon and the garlic no sugar . if you cook with sugar to early it will burn. Try to glaze at the end - say 20 to 30 minutes. Internal temp should be around 145 according to USDA - let it rest covered for 10/15 min.

     

     

     

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited December 2011
    Options
    don't brine with pink salts.  no need to try to turn it into a ham.

    given the time you have, you'd have an inch or so of ham surrounding a pork roast. if that is what you want, however, it won't hurt the meat.

    1.5 days brining will not brine the entire roast, or overbrine it.  the brine won't have enough time to make it through the entire piece, let alone overdo it.

    i guess i would ask: do you want ham, or do you want a roasted leg of pork?  because you don't have enough time to properly cure it and make it a ham. but if you want flavor in the roast by brining (as opposed to brine-curing, which is a different thing), then go ahead and do it, certainly.  you'll have plenty of time to add flavor. it won't brine the whole thing though, and adding pink salts will only partially cure the exterior.  that will change the color and texture and piquancy.  it looks odd, but won't wreck anything.

    i've done it myself. wasn't a short cure time, i just had insufficient pink salts.  only got about an inch and a half deep into the roast.

    you'd be safe to eat at 140 or so (but it will be a softer pork roast texture, not a firm hammy texture).  taking it off at 150 will mean the thing cruises to 155-160 while resting.  that's flirting with overcooking. it would still be moist when you served it though. the leg roast will have portions of lighter white (like a loin) and dark meat, which looks odd if a person is used to pork chops and loin/tenderloin.

    you don't need to brine if it is protection against overcooking ("adding moisture"), because you can simply decide not to over cook it.

    brine for flavor? sure.  brine for ham (curing)? not enough time.  brine for added moisture? sure, but not necessary.

    i'd also (myself) be wary of taking a supposedly good-tasting hunk of pork (berkshire) and covering it up with added brine flavors.  but that's personal pref.


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • rodent
    rodent Posts: 106
    Options
    Personally, I would just roast it as a leg of pork. Berkshire has nice fat content and will be really tasty done to 165 (or a little less with pork today). Hard to get Berkshire where I am, lucky you.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Options
    i agree with rodent.  rare treat, why muck with it? treat it like the roast it is. 
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Options
    If Berkshire pork is as fatty as I've read, brining will take longer than with standard pork, it at all. The brine solution doesn't pass through the fat.

    A couple of years ago, I did a fresh organic ham with just a maple glaze. 350, drip pan, cook till 150. My MIL said it was the best pork she had tasted since childhood.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Squeezy
    Squeezy Posts: 1,102
    Options
    If you guys took the time to check the date posted, you would see it's already history.
    Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Options
    i don't bother with that.  if someone kicks a post to "latest posts" by replying, i'm not gonna track down the original date and time.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Options
    I doubt that the validity of the information has changed in the last couple of weeks

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Squeezy
    Squeezy Posts: 1,102
    Options
    Excuse me ...
    Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Shwiezzee
    Shwiezzee Posts: 304
    Options
    @Tweev- how the hell did you remember that? BOZO, is he a clown "YES he's a clown" 

    LMAO I had forgot this.
    I'm ashamed of what I did for a Klondike Bar.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Options
    thanks for the meme-eries.  
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories