ham injection

proudpapa56 · December 2007

Morning all,
Saw a while back that to inject a ham, grade A honey might not be first choice. Can someone please review and explain why?
Sunday dinner thanks you.

gdenby · December 2007

proudpapa56,[p]Seems like it would be too viscous. Very hard to inject, and then might not seep along the meat fibers much. I have used it diluted with juice and other flavors, tho'.[p]gdenby

Mik of Alaska · December 2007

gdenby,
You need to dig up Dr. Chicken. He has a recipe for something he calls " Dr. Chicken's Sweet Kiss Of Death Injectable Marinade ". I use it anytine I make a ham and always have rave reviews. I got the list of stuff but he has the whole list of everything you need to do. Hope this helps some. Mik of Alaska

Unknown · December 2007

Mik of Alaska,[p]This be the one!

[ul][li]http://www.bbq-brethren.com/cookbook/viewrecipe.php?id=125&category=*BBQ%20BRETHREN%20PORK*[/ul]

RRP · December 2007

Mik of Alaska,
I agree! And if any of you eggers have an email address for Dave Spence, aka Dr Chicken I'd sure appreciate hearing from you via email! Dr Chicken and I go back a lonnnnnnng way and I'd love to talk with him again!

thirdeye · December 2007

Hey Richard[p]I didn't know you lurked with The Brethren.... [p]Here is the '06 updated version of the Dr Chicken ham recipe. The most significant change is using orange concentrate instead of extract. The flavor from the extract can get out-of-control really easily. Thought you may want to add this to your database.[p]~thirdeye~
_______________________________[p]Folks,
I am delighted and at times shocked that My "Double Smoked Ham" recipe and the "Sweet Kiss of Death" injectable marinade has gone over so well. Not just on this forum but and 3 or 4 other forums that many of you visit. After doing this recipe exactly like it is 70 or 80 times, I've begun to "tweak" it. Not because it needed "tweaking", but because some of my original ingredients are hard to find. This past summer I took over as Division Mgr. for a company in NW Texas. Now I'm really having problems finding some of my listed ingredients. With that in mind, here are some hints to some alternative ingredients in the original recipes. [p]Inregards to "The Sweet Kiss of Death" marinade:
Light Karo syrup......use a good store brand corn syrup. You may have to increase the amount by 1/3 cup or so, but it won't hurt the end results. Just be sure to use the light stuff, not the dark corn syrup. Watkins brand Butter Pecan extract...... There is no real substitute that I've found. I've replaced it a couple of times with a syrup we can find locally.... That is "Griffin's Butter Pecan syrup"..Use 1/2 cup of this in place of the Watkin's and cut back about 1/4 cup on the Light Karo syrup. It will not be too sweet! Trust me on this one! You'll still have that buttery-pecan flavor, it just won't be as pronounced.
The Vanilla & the Rum extracts.... go ahead and use imitation extracts. Increase the amounts listed slightly to keep the pronounced flavors both of these give the marinade. I don't suggest using Vanilla Nut Bean extract. I've done that and so has my wife. Our results were disappointing to say the least! Too much vanilla flavor in our estimation. Every time we've tried it!
Orange extract..... Here is one single ingredient we found that could ruin all our efforts very quickly. You wouldn't believe my original cooking trial used 2 Tbs of this stuff. WOW! It was bad, believe me![p]Instead of Orange extract, use orange juice concentrate. But, go easy on this one too. Too much orange flavoring becomes overpowering. We use 2 tsp of orange juice concentrate when we substitute it for the extract. You gotta remember to wrap the ham with 2 layers of plastic wrap before you start injecting the marinade. :-) Otherwise it becomes a mess and everything around you becomes a sticky mess. [p]I still like 3 ozs of marinade per pound of meat as a target for injecting, but use your own judgement there.
On to the "Double Smoked Ham" recipe and the glazing sauce; [p]The dark grade B maple syrup is almost impossible to find here in the mid-west. Instead, I use grade A dark. It is easy enough to find almost anywhere.
The instant coffee granules really do make a difference. A lot of folks have asked me if it results in a coffee taste? Not that we've ever found! But, we've left it out and have been totally disappointed with our results. My wife is very caffine sensitive. But, she does not have a problem with the instant coffee ingredient in the glazing sauce.
If you are going to change something in the recipe, please don't change the instant coffee crystals until you've tried it at least once with it as printed. You won't be sorry or disappointed that you left it in!
After doing so many hams with both recipes, I've gotten to the point that I pull my hams off the cooker when I reach an internal temperature of 135 degrees. I wrap it in a double layer of foil andlet it sit for at least an hour and then remove it from the foil for about 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. By doing them this way, I assure myself that I've got a moist, tender and flavorful ham.
I've yet to have a single complaint too. That in itself says a lot about the recipe and technique. It works, everytime!!!!!
With these hints in mind, I hope it helps some folks out there.
I apologize for such a long post, but I just felt folks would appreciate some more info concerning both recipes.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I'll get back with you within a day or two.
Cheers,
And Merry Christmas to all of you!
Dave [p]

Unknown · December 2007

thirdeye,[p]Thanks for the update on the recipe. Bet you didn't know that I have not lived where it snows for 40 years either. LOL

proudpapa56 · December 2007

proudpapa56,
Thanks all. My wife will give me the "Are you insane? It's a ham, just stick it in the oven, period." Well, it's her fault, she bought me the egg.

ham injection

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