smoked ham

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

robndog

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 11, 2011
6
10
hi all,ive had a couple of attempts at doing a pork leg for ham  in a vertical hot smoker ,whilst the end product is ok its always a little dry.i take a fresh pork leg (around 3kilograms)soak in brine for 24 hours then pump it ,wash of excess salt ,rub with herbs and spices,stand that overnight .place two handfulls of soaked (in apple juice) woodchips in smoker box ,some water in water bowl .  then pork  into smoker at 150f for 30 minutes then temp up to 225 until internal temp is 180f. this all usually takes around 13 hours but i have turned temp higher towards the end as i am looking at  to going to bed at this time,nothing to do with the beers that have been consumed.any help would be appreciated  .i only put the one lot of woodchips in ,should i add more as i go,and when etc.cheers .robndog australia.
 
welcome1.gif
  Glad to have you with us!

You should go over to roll call and introduce yourself so we can all ive you a proper SMF welcome!

As far as adding chips, I keep the smoke rolling the whole time, if that means you have to add chips every half hour then that's what I'd do.

The alternative would be to get an A-MAZE-N Smoker. It will produce smoke for 10-12 hours without refilling it. 

Check it out at: http://www.amazenproducts.com/
 
icon_cool.gif


First off welcome Rob to SMF. You'll like this place for there are alot of folks here that would just love to help you with just about anything to do with smoking meat. You will find alot of good recipes and techniques here also. so with all that said:

Welcome to your new Addiction

I would add chips maybe every hour or so or as needed due to lack of smoke. Just remember that you want a light blue smoke and not a bullowing white smoke. That will make your meat bitter and sour tasting. 
 
hi all,ive had a couple of attempts at doing a pork leg for ham  in a vertical hot smoker ,whilst the end product is ok its always a little dry.i take a fresh pork leg (around 3kilograms)soak in brine for 24 hours then pump it ,wash of excess salt ,rub with herbs and spices,stand that overnight .place two handfulls of soaked (in apple juice) woodchips in smoker box ,some water in water bowl .  then pork  into smoker at 150f for 30 minutes then temp up to 225 until internal temp is 180f. this all usually takes around 13 hours but i have turned temp higher towards the end as i am looking at  to going to bed at this time,nothing to do with the beers that have been consumed.any help would be appreciated  .i only put the one lot of woodchips in ,should i add more as i go,and when etc.cheers .robndog australia.
I think 24 hours for a ham is to little time for brine/curing a ham. i usually keep it the cure for at least 2 weeks that's if am short on time for a better ham 3-4 weeks works for a moist better tasting ham.
 
hi all,finally im back.been to roll call then had a busy weekend .in answer to bearcarver i googled hams and read somewhere that the temp should 180,doctard 1955 im making cured smoked ham and bratrules ,do you pump your pork after soaking in brine for that long.thanks all for welcomes and look forward to sharing many smoking tips.cheers.rob.
 
hi all,finally im back.been to roll call then had a busy weekend .in answer to bearcarver i googled hams and read somewhere that the temp should 180,doctard 1955 im making cured smoked ham and bratrules ,do you pump your pork after soaking in brine for that long.thanks all for welcomes and look forward to sharing many smoking tips.cheers.rob.
I saw that 180˚ one time too. That's a little much, and I'm sure is the reason yours got dry.

Check this out:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Ham/index.asp

Bear
 
I don't intentionally take a Ham over 150-165*F tops...Gets dry and stringy...Even with pumping, 24 hours sounds short, A butcher in my area that makes great Hams, they let me take students on tours to see the Slaughter and Butchering process, they Inject and Brine and let cure 5-7 days depending on how big the Hams are...In any event, Welcome to the SMF Family...JJ
 
Last edited:
I pump and brine my hams and let them soak for at least a week if i use a comercial cure if i use a recipe Ive gotten from someone depending on the ingredients 1-4 weeks
 
Can I ask what's in your brine, and do you use a nitrite cure in it?
 
Last edited:
hi all,finally im back.been to roll call then had a busy weekend .in answer to bearcarver i googled hams and read somewhere that the temp should 180,doctard 1955 im making cured smoked ham and bratrules ,do you pump your pork after soaking in brine for that long.thanks all for welcomes and look forward to sharing many smoking tips.cheers.rob.


I always pump before. but if you leave it in the brine for 4 weeks its really not necessary. pumping helps speed up the curing process. but in any case i like to inject the cure around the bone just to be on the safe side.
 
yes dan mcg iuse a comercially available cure called DURANT pineapple cure,150grams of cure ,14 litres of cold water,1 kilogram of salt and a quarter of acup of brown sugar, all disolved together,cheers ,robndog..
 
The time in the brine is way to short Robndog. I'd inject 10% brine and then give it 5-7 days to cure.  Here's some info on curing hams that might be of interest,

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2055/ANSI-3994web.pdf

Do you end up with a red colored meat with the one day cure?

Even if it had a cure accelerator in the mix I don't think it would be fully cured in a day.

Also do you weigh the meat before and after the pump? I'm just wondering how much brine you actually added.
 
Last edited:
Mate is that the cure from Misty gully in Victoria ? I use a product called total cure which I  get at a butchers supply in Marrickville in Sydney.I packet 1 kg = 45 litres of brine.  I just proportion it to amount of brine,then add brown sugar,salt, black beer,Ubrewit bock,German style 6%.

I got an English book that has   old school flavoured brines but you have to replace saltpetre with nitrate.BUT they specify 3 days soak per kg minimum.I would just combine the directions on "Total Cure" with extra flavours but go with 3 days per kg.

The temperature advice from the experts here is going to be right.trust me.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky