Tips on smokin a fresh ham

Unknown

I have an 8 lb fresh ham.
Any tips on how long and what temp?

JSlot

250° indirect until the internal temp reaches 180° for sliced or 200° for pulled pork. Treat it just like you would a butt or shoulder. It'll probalby take 14-18 hours or so.[p]Frosty Ones,
Jim

Marvin

Shinbone,
I respectfully disagree. Fresh ham is like a roast: a little more fat than a loin, and a lot less than a butt. Therefore, lo-n-slo tends to result in a drier product particualrly if the internal temp is allowed to get to 200. I have used, and recommend, cooking the ham indirect at 350+/-until internal temp reaches 150-160. i'd be interested in seeing what others post. Regards.

sprinter

Shinbone,[p]I would have to say indirect at about 325-350 until done, about 140 internal. Be sure you're not measuring the temp of the bone though. I cooked a couple of them last spring, one of them a 19 pounder, had to chop off the ankle bone to get it in the egg. Marinated it for about 36 hours in some beer/spice marinade and it came out great. IMHO not NEARLY enough fat in the meat to warrant a long low slow cook. I would think it would come out like shoe leather. Good luck with it, it should feed the family for a few weeks when its done.[p]Troy

sprinter

shinbone,[p]Here is the recipe I used to cook mine last summer. My dinner club was selected to cook a meal for a magazine I subscribe to, Cooking Pleasures, and this is the meat that we cooked. It turned out awesome both times I've done it. Recipe was prepared specifically for our group, it was a blast to do and the photo shoot/dinner was tons of fun also. We had a LOT of sayso in the development of the recipes and they took our ideas and actually made THIS recipe for us to cook. Interesting process. Anyway, enough about that, heres the recipe as the editor gave it to me to cook. Let me know if you try it and how you like it. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, this was a fun cook for our dinner group.[p]Troy[p]===============
This recipe uses a fresh ham, which refers to a ham that is not smoked. For optimum taste, marinate the meat a full 24 hours in the beer mixture. The marinade is later cooked and used as the base for a flavorful barbecue sauce enriched with pure maple syrup and Dijon mustard. For a real treat, serve slices of pork and sauce on onion rolls.[p]1 (8-lb.) bone-in half fresh ham (not smoked)*
3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup pure maple syrup, divided
3/4 cup cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups beer, preferably flat
2 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt [p]1 Pat meat dry using paper towels; place in 2-gallon resealable plastic freezer bag or large container. In blender, combine onion, 1/3 cup of the maple syrup and vinegar in blender; blend until smooth. Stir in beer and pepper. Pour marinade over meat in bag. Seal bag; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, turning at least once. [p]2 Place drip pan in center of grill or fold up sides of piece of foil and place in grill to catch drippings. For gas grill, turn on only one side to medium-low heat. For charcoal grill, arrange coals around outside edge of grill, leaving center clear; heat to medium-low. [p]3 Remove ham from marinade, reserving marinade. Place ham on opposite side of gas grill or in center of charcoal grill; cover grill. Grill 4 1/2 to 5 hours or until skin is mahogany-brown, meat is tender and internal temperature reaches 160°F. to 165°F., turning every half hour. If using charcoal grill, add about 10 coals to each side of drip pan every hour to maintain heat. [p]4 Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Strain beer marinade into medium saucepan; discard solids. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; skim off foam and particles as they rise to surface. Boil 5 to 10 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups. Whisk in remaining 2/3 cup maple syrup and mustard. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 to 15 minutes or until reduced to 2 1/4 cups. Stir in salt. Remove from heat; serve warm or at room temperature. [p]5 Place pork on cutting board; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 15 minutes. Carve into slices. (If desired, place covered pork in 200°F. oven until ready to carve.) Serve with sauce. [p]TIP *If you’d like to do this recipe with a smaller cut of meat, ask your butcher for an arm cut. This piece of meat is located by the shoulder and is connected to the hock; it is often called the fore shank. It is 4 to 5 pounds.

JSlot

I've never had any moistness issues doing fresh hams. I do them 3 or 4 times a year for a change of pace and slightly different flavor.[p]Jim

Marvin

JSlot,
One of these days, I'll try it; always willing to learn, and this forum provides plenty of opportunities for that. Have a great weekend.

Unknown

Shinbone,
JSlot has just given you the absolute gospel on cooking fresh ham. I do em exactly that way (250 indirect till 180 slicable , 200 pulled pork which is not much different but maybe a little better than butt). I like to brine in some spices a pay special attention to get enough salt, I also like mine deboned by the butcher and tied cause when I'm done I'm usually in a hurry to dig in and that old bone not being in the way seems to help a lot. I'll do the 180 for Easter cause it's traditional to have ham and sliced is more the norm, but I like it the other way the best.

sprinter

Chet,[p]See, thats whats great about this place. You learn something new every day whether you want to or not. I would have thought that it would turn it into shoe leather but I've heard otherwise twice here today. I'm going to give that low and slow a shot sometime on a fresh ham. Been hearing too much about them today not to, just sounds like a lazy Sunday cook.[p]Troy

fishlessman

Shinbone,
cook at 225 to 250, pull when the meat starts to jellow (195 to 205). i like the hams with a bone in so that i can make a good broth for a pea soup with the left overs.for the ham, agood sweet mustard sauce goes good. i dont have a recipe, but usually start simmering mustard and start adding anything sweet until it taste good. brown sugar, maple syrup, oranges, honey, apple sauce, grape jelly, lemon juice, etc.

JSlot

Sure you aren't talking about a cured ham, flm? Most pea soups I've heard of are made with precooked or precured hams. I'd like your recipe, if you don't mind.[p]Jim

Unknown

JSlot,
Do you brine your hams or just go as fresh? I made a butt once that was "enhanced" and found the final flavor to have a slight hammy taste.. not what I'm looking for in a butt but what I would want in a ham. I am looking to do a ham in the near future so I too am gathering intel...[p]Cheers, [p]Brian

JSlot

I don't brine mine. I just cook them like I would a shoulder. They are a little leaner than the shank portion of the shoulder, but not a great deal. A little different flavor, too. When I want cured ham, I let the vendors do the work and just buy one ready to eat and then cook it on the Egg.[p]Jim

fishlessman

JSlot, i make pea soup with both picnics and cure smoked hams. cook either at 225 until it will pull. the cured hams need to be soaked a good 20 hours in water to remove some salt before cooking. simmer the bone and some of the fat and an onion with about 5 quarts of water for about 3-4 hours, but dont let it boil. strain and refridgerate to remove fat.
ingredients:
1.5- 2 pounds peas
5 stalks celery
5 carrots
1 large onion
3 pounds pulled ham or pulled pork
salt pepper[p] cut the onion and celery small so that they disolve and dissapear in the soup.add all ingrediants except ham and simmer low until peas break down and then add ham.ham is added near the end so that you dont lose the smokey flavor in the ham chunks. add water or broth until you reach the desired consistancy while simmering. potatoes can be added if you are going to eat it all at once, but if you are going to freeze it for later they tend to break done and make the soup pasty[p]