The Cure That'll Ale Ya

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?  

How long did yours take to get to temp?  

Great job. I have been saying I was going to do this and never did it!! You have inspired me!

Darby_Crenshaw said:

165 is way too high, because it will hit 175 just sitting there for 45 minutes.

145-150 max. 

I agree and that was the lesson I learned doing this one, but it was still good.  I may try to just double smoke a ham I can get at the market and see how that comes out.  I have seen a lot of good ones on here and may do that for New Years.
 

Thanks, guys.  Mine has been in the cure in fridge #3 (don't ask) since January 5th or 6th and will stay there til Weds the 16th.  Then it spends Thurs and Fri sitting out in the fridge til I smoke it.  

With guests arriving Sunday at 11 am, I'm trying to figure out when to put it on the grid.  Options are start it Saturday morning and bring it to room temp for Sunday service (smart move) OR start to smoke Saturday late night/Sunday early morning after I come home from a Holiday party and serve it right off the egg (maybe not so smart, particularly given the party).  

You know where this is going, amirite?

Ladeback69 said:

HendersonTRKing said:

Thanks, guys.  Mine has been in the cure in fridge #3 (don't ask) since January 5th or 6th and will stay there til Weds the 16th.  Then it spends Thurs and Fri sitting out in the fridge til I smoke it.  

With guests arriving Sunday at 11 am, I'm trying to figure out when to put it on the grid.  Options are start it Saturday morning and bring it to room temp for Sunday service (smart move) OR start to smoke Saturday late night/Sunday early morning after I come home from a Holiday party and serve it right off the egg (maybe not so smart, particularly given the party).  

You know where this is going, amirite?

I hope you meant to say Dec not Jan or it is going to be real salty.   How large is the ham and at what temp are you cooking at?

Ooops . . . . December, NOT January for the start of the cure.  

It was 18.75 lbs before taking off the skin and trimming.  Prob close to 15 before the cure.  No idea what it weighs now.  

I'd planned for 200 degrees for a very L&S (that's how Blake ran it and In Blake We Trust)  and I'd take it to 140/145.  But if time (or potential illness) were to be a factor, I could bump up both grid and IT.

The 15+ pound one I did at 235 for most of the time took about 7.5 hours to get to 145.  I am not sure how many hours to add to it, but I would rather be early instead of late.  I put mine on at midnight when the Egg was stabilized.  I would think if you put it on at midnight with your Egg at 200 you should be ready to come off around 11 or so and let it set for 30 to 45 minutes before cutting just like you would a brisket.  Good Luck and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

why so low, at 190?

Just 190 seems a low dome temp for cooking a ham

just found this and GLAD I did!!  thanks for the great documentation @NPHuskerFL I'll be working this in soon!

except a comparative amount of cold smoking doesn't give you more smoke flavor than hot smoking (hour for four),  gives you less, actually. 

but you can do it a lot longer without cooking the meat. 

you'd need (guesswork here) maybe 4-6 hours cold smoke on a ham before you get the same amount of smokiness that you would with an hour of hot smoking.

it's not an hour for an hour.

so running a cold smoke for a few hours before hot smoking is not going to give you any more smoke than if you just went ahead and hot smoked it.

cold smoking yields a milder smoke to begin with, too.

couple glaring bro-science errors in that chart:

-smoke doesn't penetrate, FWIW.  would be great if it did, bu it doesn't.

-"smoke absorption stops when exterior meat reaches 140" is foolishness, and oft-repeated.  the smoke RING stops forming (in uncured meats) at 140, but smoke will add flavor at any time.  meat temp is irrelevant w/r/t smoke flavor being added.

-"never cold smoke unless the meat has been cured with nitrite".  gee. so much for nova lox, many american county hams, etc.

re the internal temp of165, that is brutal for pork. 

with the BGE though, raw pork (not cured) will actually still be fairly moist at 165, and many people still prefer all-white or even gray pork, and expect it to be firmer and dry. so you could cook a loin to 165 and get away with it

but when you cure ham, you are going to perceive a drier product to begin with, even though it is likely brine-cured.  so that 165 will be dry dry dry.  and since pork is safe at 138, going beyond 145 is criminal. 145 will basically heat the ham up. it is already firmed from the cure

Darby_Crenshaw said:

couple glaring bro-science errors in that chart:

-smoke doesn't penetrate, FWIW.  would be great if it did, bu it doesn't.

-"smoke absorption stops when exterior meat reaches 140" is foolishness, and oft-repeated.  the smoke RING stops forming (in uncured meats) at 140, but smoke will add flavor at any time.  meat temp is irrelevant w/r/t smoke flavor being added.

-"never cold smoke unless the meat has been cured with nitrite".  gee. so much for nova lox, many american county hams, etc.

re the internal temp of165, that is brutal for pork. 

with the BGE though, raw pork (not cured) will actually still be fairly moist at 165, and many people still prefer all-white or even gray pork, and expect it to be firmer and dry. so you could cook a loin to 165 and get away with it

but when you cure ham, you are going to perceive a drier product to begin with, even though it is likely brine-cured.  so that 165 will be dry dry dry.  and since pork is safe at 138, going beyond 145 is criminal. 145 will basically heat the ham up. it is already firmed from the cure

I agree, that's one reason I smoked at 225 to 235 for most of the time and like i said I learned a lesson from this in going to 165.  I should have taken it off at 135 or the most 140, but it was 145 by the time I woke up.  Next time I will know to watch it closer and shat adding glaze at 120 or so.  

So, I've got mine resting in the fridge after 10 days in the Cure.  

Here's a pic of that bad boy and the link to my ham thread is below.  Can't wait to get this beast on the egg around midnight Saturday!!  Thanks again to @NPHuskerFL and others for all the awesome info and assistance.  




http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1189628/christmas-and-chanukah-ham-project-thread#latest