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Fresh Ham Question

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EGGTASTIC
EGGTASTIC Posts: 32
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Where I live in Erie Pa, we have this store called Erie County Farms. The best way to describe it is an open air market with one owner. Fresh everything and the most fresh pork I have seen anywhere. Well in their ad this week they had 'Fresh Ham for $.99/lb'. I am thinking to myself, since they are calling it 'ham' it must be cooked! Well it was not! I did not purchase any since I had no idea how to do it on my BGE. I have done plenty of pork shoulders, but since it is a different cut, I wasn't sure what to do with it! So my questiuon is; How do you smoke one of these bad boys? Do I just cook it like all the Hams I have done on MY BGE where I just warm it up? Do I cook it low and slow for many hours like a shoulder? I don't want to turn it into pulled pork like a shoulder. There isn't enough fat in it so I am assuming it will not have the flavor of a low and slow shoulder. Bottom line, how do BGE one of these!?
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    A simple search of the forum would have produced a similar thread from yesterday in reference to the same question.

    Fresh Ham is nothing more then plain old pork. The Ham's on a hog are the hind legs.

    Cook them the same way your would could a Butt or a Shoulder. Low and Slow with your favorite rub.

    Since these are from farm raised pigs you don't need to brine them.
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  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
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    I concur!
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    Good think too. I'd hate to come whip you with a ham hock...

    :woohoo:
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  • Kevin_in_Tyrone
    Kevin_in_Tyrone Posts: 19
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    There is a popular BBQ joint in downtown Atlanta, south of Turner Field, called Harold's. They are old school in a lot of ways. Harold's is well known for its excellent Brunswick Stew and cornbread with cracklin'. What is less well-known is that Harold's chopped pork BBQ is made from smoked fresh hams, instead of pork shoulder.

    Harold's has an open kitchen area, and you can watch the guy chop the pork right in front of you. I saw a BBQ show on TV (can't remember where) that featured Harold's and talked about their smoked hams (instead of shoulders). I had eaten there for years and never knew they were smoking hams, but now I think I can tell the difference.

    Smoke the fresh ham in your BGE exactly like you would a Boston butt or a picnic (or a whole shoulder). You should get a better yield in less cooking time. At $0.99/lb, that is a real steal!

    -Kevin
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  • EGGTASTIC
    EGGTASTIC Posts: 32
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    THANKS EVERYONE! I will be going back to get one!
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  • newegg
    newegg Posts: 78
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    I had a fresh ham and we cooked it for Christmas. We injected it with a Tony Chachery (spelling) marinade. We cooked low and slow. I put EVO on it and but Butt Rub on it. It was wonderful. This weekend I injected with Pirate's Gold, a marinade into a Boston Butt. I then slather it in mustard and then put on Butt Rub. Yummy. We pulled the Ham at 170 degrees. You will be fine. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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  • RhumAndJerk
    RhumAndJerk Posts: 1,506
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    Eggtastic,
    You have other options.
    First, you can brine it and make ham. Then you would cook it until done and slice it.

    Another method is to cook it Cuban style or Mojo. You would soak it a Sour Orange marinade (Goya make one) for a day or two and then cook it like pork. Make sure that you get it skin on. The would score the skin and fat down to the meat to help the marinade penetrate better.

    Last option is simple pulled pork.

    Hope this helps,
    RhumAndJerk
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  • Nosnow2ski
    Nosnow2ski Posts: 21
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    For Easter last year, my family loved Alton Brown's City Ham recipe. Pretty easy to pull off, just set the Egg up for indirect cooking and replace the word "oven" with the words "the Big Green Egg, World's Best Smoker and Grill." If your ham is fresh you will want to brine it first, see yesterday's posts on that.

    David

    City Ham
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  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
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    You don't need to brine a farm raised hog. The conversation you are referencing is for a WILD Hog.

    Further more Fresh Ham is nothing more then plain old pork. The rear hind quarter of a pig is referred to as the Ham.

    Alton Browns City Ham would not work here unless of course he went through the curing process.
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