Smoking a ham and cross hatching

[tarnak]

So I like to smoke hams, I saw somewhere that you can cross hatch the skin, has anyone tried this and if so, does it help improve getting the smoke into the meat?  How does it affect keeping the ham moist?

Thanks Brian V

 

[SmokinAl]

I would remove the skin & a lot of the fat, then crosshatch the fat that is left.

You only need about 1/4" of fat to protect the ham from drying out.

Al

 

[tropics]

 
So I like to smoke hams, I saw somewhere that you can cross hatch the skin, has anyone tried this and if so, does it help improve getting the smoke into the meat?  How does it affect keeping the ham moist?

Thanks Brian V

Here is one Bearcarver did

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/244347/double-smoked-ham-easter-dinner-for-the-bear-family-2016

 

[tarnak]

Thanks for the info, I will be doing two, so I will try trimming the skin off one of them.

 

[dls1]

I've been double smoking hams 20+ years and use a method that produces what I consider the best overall results. I leave the skin and fat on and score it in a 1" cross hatched pattern taking care NOT to cut into the flesh of the meat. For scoring the hams skin and fat, I use a dedicated box cutter and lock the length of blade to insure that the depth of the cuts are consistent. After scoring, I apply only a generous dusting of freshly ground black pepper.

I smoke it at 225F, and at an IT of 115F, I pull the ham from the smoker and remove the skin and fat. At that point, both are so soft that the removal takes about 20-30 seconds. I then apply the first coat of my glaze, and the ham goes back to the smoker. I continue to a finished IT of 135F, applying the glaze a couple more times along the way. When finished, I wrap the ham in a double layer of heavy duty foil, followed with a heavy beach towel, and hold it in a warm cooler for 45-60 minutes before carving.

It's a simple procedure which produces a very moist and flavorable ham 100% of the time.