The Cure That'll Ale Ya

henapple

Nice work

NPHuskerFL

And I almost forgot the dessert. 100% homemade by my HuskerMaMa.
Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Creme Pie


I'm stuffed!!!

SGH

NPHuskerFL said:

Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Creme Pie

Two of my very favorites mixed together. Oh my goodness I would hurt myself on that brother husker!

bboulier

Wow!  Very impressive.  Wonderful pictures.  Looks very tasty.

yzzi

That confirms I'm getting a pig leg. I got a pickle bucket and fridge all ready for my little friend.

NPHuskerFL

@yzzi‌ You won't regret it that's for certain. I'd do it again without any reservations. I really liked the subtle notes of the citrus in the wet cure. The deep slow smoke using the sugar maple and glaze brought it home. I'm wanting to try a couple of different cure projects. It'll be a bit but, it's gonna happen.

Ladeback69

Looks Awesome Blake.  I can't believe I missed this one.  

NPHuskerFL

Thanks @Ladeback69 Ya it's been awhile now LoL. Still have a few slices of ham left and the cracklins. 

Ladeback69

NPHuskerFL said:

Thanks @Ladeback69 Ya it's been awhile now LoL. Still have a few slices of ham left and the cracklins. 

I am getting a fresh ham to cure and smoke for Thanksgiving along with a fresh turkey.  A person my wife works with said a smoked fresh ham taste strange, but I asked her if it was cured or not and she didn't know.  I have cured a couple pork butts to taste like ham and they were great.  I would think the actual ham bone would be even better.  Blake, did you inject any of the brine in around the bone before putting it in?  I have read that helps with the curing process more.  How did you do the cracklins? 

NPHuskerFL

@Ladeback69 I did not inject the ham. Simple cure with time. I haven't done the cracklins yet they're still vac saved in the freezer. But, I'll probably pan fry them with maybe a rub dusting or just naked. 

Darby_Crenshaw

Looks good man

try two days uncovered in the fridge. It will dry the fat a good bit and you'll have some excellent crispiness. Ham fat can be thick and can often use a bit of drying or thinning (precure trimming).

if you love smoke, try it doublesmoked too. Say 160 or so hot smoke for a number of hours. Then when you cook it (or rewarm it) add some more. 

Can never have too much smoke with a big ass ham

Darby_Crenshaw

You might want to try injecting the pickle along the bone. They say it prevents 'bone taint' in a brine cure of a very large ham. That way the meat around the bone is cured from the beginning and the bone won't go 'off' in flavor while you'd otherwise be wiating for the brine to penetrate to the depth of the bone

cuts cure time too obviously

NPHuskerFL

Agreed @Darby_Crenshaw
In my particular case time was not a huge concern. The cure went all the way to the bone in the amount of time it was submerged in the cure. But, I can see if somebody was pressed for time... injecting would definitely be a strong option. 

Ladeback69

I found this on PelletSmoking.com and found it very useful.  It's what I used to cure some pork butts for last Easter.

http://www.pelletsmoking.com/searching-cure-26/ham-brining-101-bacon-6993/

Ladeback69

@Darby_Crenshaw and @NPHuskerFL, I mixed up my brine last Wednesday, injected my fresh bone in about 15 to 16 pound trimmed ham and put it in the brine that night.  A few questions: 1st.  Would it be ok to pull it out of the brine tomorrow night to give it some more time to dry out then say 24 hours? 2nd how long is it going to take to smoke? Is it like a pork butt in that 225 it will be 1.5 hours per pound or so or 275 it will be 1 hour per pound.  Thinking about starting it Wednesday night at 225 along with a 20 pound turkey so it is done in time at 11:30 to eat.  Then eating at 12:30-1.  I have heard smoking a turkey below 275 will make it mushy.  After about 8 hours on over night I was going to take the egg up to 275-300 to get it done.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

NPHuskerFL

Even with the injection I'd like it to go one-two more days. Ideally rinse and wire rack refrigerate for a day or two before smoking. Sounds like you're in a time crunch. So, pulling it from the cure early isn't the end of the world. 
Smoking go L&S. I went 190℉ till IT hit 150℉
Couldn't just as easily run 225℉-275℉. You're slicing this like a ham correct?  

Ladeback69

NPHuskerFL said:

Even with the injection I'd like it to go one-two more days. Ideally rinse and wire rack refrigerate for a day or two before smoking. Sounds like you're in a time crunch. So, pulling it from the cure early isn't the end of the world. 
Smoking go L&S. I went 190℉ till IT hit 150℉
Couldn't just as easily run 225℉-275℉. You're slicing this like a ham correct?  

Yes, I will be slicing like a ham.  Looks like I will be using my Weber Smokey Mountain to cook my turkey then.  I have never tried to keep my XL that low so we will see.  Thank you.   

NPHuskerFL

@Ladeback69 It was obviously supposed to have said "could've" vs "could'nt"  >>>Couldn't just as easily run 225℉-275℉. You're slicing this like a ham correct?  

Ladeback69

NPHuskerFL said:

@Ladeback69 It was obviously supposed to have said "could've" vs "could'nt"  >>>Couldn't just as easily run 225℉-275℉. You're slicing this like a ham correct?  

This is going to be fun.  Calling for 40% chance of rain tomorrow night and 90% on Thanksgiving.  I think I will either pull the ham out of the cure tonight or in the morning and start smoking it around midnight at 225 then raise it in the morning when I put the turkey on.  I just hope I have enough room for both.

Ladeback69

@NPHuskerFL, I if my ham in a plastic tub and forgot to turn it over so there is one spot it may not got as much cure as it should, but we'll see.  It's 15.5 pounds and was going to start out at 200-225 and put it on at midnight hoping it will be at 140 by 8am so I can finish in oven and put turkey on.  What do you think? I don't think both will fit on XL together.

NPHuskerFL

@Ladeback69 I think you'll be really close given the weight and temp range you listed. 8 hrs is cutting it pretty close. Consider going. 250℉-275℉. I don't imagine you'd see much of difference (anybody disagree? agree? @nolaegghead @SGH @The Cen-Tex Smoker @DMW @cazzy @Mickey or anyone that wants to chime in.  I went lower but, I had nothing better to do :wink. Good eats await you. You'll never want store processed again. 

SGH

@NPHuskerFL
You know it's hard to say without knowing all the variables, but with that said, at 225 degrees it should take roughly 25 minutes x the weight of the ham (if it's a whole bone in cured ham) to reach 140 degrees. With that in hand:
15.5 x 25 = 387.5 \ 60 = 6.45 hours. 
If something goes south, you can always bump temp dramatically to speed things along. Again, I hate giving advice such as this as there is no way I can know all of the variables. But the above should give you a rough guide to follow. The formula I used above works well on my offset that has considerable draft. How close it will relate on the egg is anyone's guess. However I feel that it should be in the ballpark. I wish that I could give y'all a more precise answer. However when I cook cuts this size, the big units take the stage. However I feel that my guide will be pretty close. Again if you see that it is not moving along accordingly, you can always bump temp to shorten cook time. If someone who has done it on the egg gives alternative advice, go with theirs instead of mine. My advice is based on time and temps from a large, heavily drafting offset. 

Ladeback69

Thank you @NPHuskerFLand @SGH. Will see how it goes.  Worse case I try and for the 2 together on the egg in the morning to finish the ham and start the turkey.  I have the egg loaded with lump, maple chips and pecan wood ready to light.  Should be an interesting night.

HendersonTRKing

This is an awesome thread. I'm going to attempt this for our family holiday gathering. Will keep folks posted on progress. 

NPHuskerFL

Sounds good to me. @HendersonTRKing
You mentioned changing up the glaze in a different thread.  Mine was based on seasonal things like ripened oranges from our trees. Had I more time I may have made the marmalade from scratch but, why when it's only a fraction of the glaze. I'm curious to see how yours turns out. Good luck. 
I'm in the process of locating a green ham bone in or out (haven't fully decided). 

HendersonTRKing

@NPHuskerFL , you know that when I copy your cooks, I gotta change it up a little bit.  Always with a hat tip to you, but something to make it my own.  So here, I'll follow your lead on the cure and the cook, but with no orange trees in my yard, I'll do some "independent" ham glaze research and work that in.  That's the plan anyway.  I've got a whole lot of lead time, which means the project will expand to fill it.  Maybe I can learn to bake bread for the rolls I want to serve with it.  (NFW -- this old dog takes on one new trick at a time!)  

NPHuskerFL

@HendersonTRKing You Sir are very kind. I am humbly flattered.
I just got off the phone and have located some green hams. If anybody in the local Jax area (Clay, St. Johns, or Duval county area) is interested they'll be getting a case in tomorrow mid mid morning. 

Ladeback69

@NPHuskerFL, here is the ham I did for Thanksgiving.  Came out nice, but a lot of work.  May try and do a double smoked ham sometime.

NPHuskerFL

 @Ladeback69

Ladeback69

NPHuskerFL said:

 @Ladeback69

Thank you.  Check out my Thanksgiving post for all the food we had.