# Smoking a ham



## smoking bob (Apr 18, 2011)

I have a 15 lb ham that has been brined but still raw...How long U think to smoke this??


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## SmokinAl (Apr 18, 2011)

It's probably going to take 6 or 7 hours. Take it to 145 degrees IT.


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## rbranstner (Apr 18, 2011)

How are you planning on smoking it? Cold smoke, hot smoke, cold smoke then a hot smoke? If you are hot smoking it what temps are you going to be smoking at?


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## smoking bob (Apr 18, 2011)

I have upright propane smoker...have used it numerous times but not a raw ham...I can control temps really well with this...I was tghinking cold smoke then hot ....Any advice would be great...What temps???


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## SmokinAl (Apr 18, 2011)

I just smoke mine at 210 until done.


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## realtorterry (Apr 18, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> I just smoke mine at 210 until done.




X2


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## Bearcarver (Apr 18, 2011)

I think if the Ham is Raw, even though it has been cured, you should take it to *160˚* internal temp, before it is safe to eat.

The length of time it takes will depend on what temperature you are smoking it at.

Bear


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## smoking bob (Apr 18, 2011)

going to cold smoke at 145 then hot smoke at 210...kinda figuring a ballpark length of time so its done (160) when we are planning on consuming

Smokin Bob


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## roller (Apr 18, 2011)

Do you have a way to read the Internal Tempature of this Ham ?


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## SmokinAl (Apr 19, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> I think if the Ham is Raw, even though it has been cured, you should take it to *160˚* internal temp, before it is safe to eat.
> 
> The length of time it takes will depend on what temperature you are smoking it at.
> 
> Bear


I don't understand that Bear. I never take my ham past 148 degrees. It dries them out. If it is cured why would you need to take it to 160? Especially if it not probed or injected.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 19, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> I don't understand that Bear. I never take my ham past 148 degrees. It dries them out. If it is cured why would you need to take it to 160? Especially if it not probed or injected.


You don't have to take it to 160˚ until you eat it.

Bacon is cured, and we take it to 80˚, or 110˚, or 125˚, or whatever when we smoke it, but it has to go to 160˚ before we eat it.

I'll look it up, so it's not just coming from me. That is what I read just lately.

Bear


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## Bearcarver (Apr 19, 2011)

This is one of the places I got it:

Both vacuum-packaged fully cooked and canned hams  can be eaten cold just as they come from their packaging. However, if you want to reheat these fully cooked hams, set the oven no lower than 325 degrees F and heat to an internal temperature of140 degrees F  as measured with a meat thermometer.

For  fully cooked ham  that has been repackaged in any other location outside the plant or for leftover fully cooked ham, heat to a temperature of 160 degrees F.

Cook-before-eating hams  must reach a temperature of 160 degrees F.  to be safely cooked before serving. Cook in an oven set no lower than 325 degrees F. Hams can also be safely cooked in a microwave oven, other countertop appliances and on the stove top. Consult a cookbook for specific methods and timing.

Country hams or dry-cured hams  (ham that has been cured, smoked and aged for a period ranging from a few months to a year or more) can be soaked 4 to 12 hours or longer in the refrigerator to reduce the salt content before cooking. Then they can be cooked by boiling or baking and must much a temperature of 160 degrees F.Follow the manufacturer's cooking instructions.
 

*Timetable For Cooking Ham*

Set oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Both cook-before-eating cured and fresh hams should be cooked to 160 degrees F. Reheat fully cooked ham to 140 degrees F.

Link: *http://whatscookingamerica.net/Pork/Ham101.htm*

[h1] [/h1][h1]*Ham 101 - How To Cook Ham - Cooking Ham
How to prepare ham - Time tables for cooking ham*[/h1]
Bear

USDA says pretty much the same thing:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/ham/


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## killnsmoke (Apr 19, 2011)

sausagemaker.com has a whole how to section on hams.  Rytek's book has them in there too.  i have a 25lb ham im going to smoke from a pig i butchered.  the guys on the sausage maker did two at one time and i think it took them 2 days to smoke it.


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## fpnmf (Apr 19, 2011)

You could learn a lot by using the handy dandy search tool up top and check out "Pops6927 ham" ........  nevermind I'll do it for ya..

    Craig

Happy reading!!!!

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=Pops6927+ham


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## SmokinAl (Apr 19, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> You don't have to take it to 160˚ until you eat it.
> 
> Bacon is cured, and we take it to 80˚, or 110˚, or 125˚, or whatever when we smoke it, but it has to go to 160˚ before we eat it.
> 
> ...


I thought pork was safe at 140, if it had been cured.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 19, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> I thought pork was safe at 140, if it had been cured.


Think of our "cured" Canadian Bacon & Buckboard Bacon.

Many smoke them to 140˚ or less. Then they have to fry or heat to 160˚ before eating.

If you smoke them to 160˚, you can then eat it cold, or just warm it slightly.

Bear


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## beer-b-q (Apr 19, 2011)

smoking bob said:


> I have a 15 lb ham that* has been brined but still raw*...How long U think to smoke this??


I don't see where he said he used a cure in his brine or how long it was left in the brine.... Assuming it had cure in the brine...


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## SmokinAl (Apr 19, 2011)

That's a good point Beer!


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## SmokinAl (Apr 19, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> Think of our "cured" Canadian Bacon & Buckboard Bacon.
> 
> Many smoke them to 140˚ or less. Then they have to fry or heat to 160˚ before eating.
> 
> ...


OK Bear you made a good point, but I've been doing hams this way for a while. I'm not saying that I'm not putting my health in jeopardy, but I didn't think I was. Just as if you were my doctor I want a second opinion. I want to have bbally's or Pops input here. Hopefully one of them will see this & respond. Please don't be offended. I'm not questioning your knowledge, It's just somewhere along the line I thought that what I was doing was safe. If it isn't I thank you for setting me straight, but I gotta tell you that those hams that you pull at 148 are awesome, juicy, & tender. Now the other thing that I didn't consider is the run up in temp while resting the ham. It is entirely possible that the ham would coast up to 160 while resting. I never kept the probe in for the rest period. Next time I will.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 19, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> OK Bear you made a good point, but I've been doing hams this way for a while. I'm not saying that I'm not putting my health in jeopardy, but I didn't think I was. Just as if you were my doctor I want a second opinion. I want to have bbally's or Pops input here. Hopefully one of them will see this & respond. Please don't be offended. I'm not questioning your knowledge, It's just somewhere along the line I thought that what I was doing was safe. If it isn't I thank you for setting me straight, but I gotta tell you that those hams that you pull at 148 are awesome, juicy, & tender. Now the other thing that I didn't consider is the run up in temp while resting the ham. It is entirely possible that the ham would coast up to 160 while resting. I never kept the probe in for the rest period. Next time I will.


You could not offend me by telling what you have been doing, and not having a problem. I see no reason to tell you not to do what you're doing. The only reason I said it on my first post on this thread, was if the USDA and every credible smoking site I have researched is saying 160˚, I wanted to put that in this thread, so the only temperature suggested was not your 145˚. If we all say 145˚, people may think that is definitely the right temp to pull a Ham cooked from the Raw.

This way they at least may want to look around for themselves, and make up their own minds. 

I don't know if a Ham can coast from 145˚ to 160˚, but that is only 15˚.

Bear


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## pops6927 (Apr 19, 2011)

You can have a cured and smoked ham internal temp at or above 135° and you have a 'partially cooked' ham, it must be baked to a safe 160° internal before serving.

For what is considered 'fully cooked' ham would be at or above 146° internal at the time of it's original produced weight.  Through analysis, inspectors can send in samples of hams and tell exactly what temp the product reached before cooling; we had to submit samples for analysis every month minimum, picked up and sent in by (at that time) State Inspectors.  We would get a printout on all the particulars and if the sample passed or failed (never had a failure!) on water content % (always was 0), temp reached, salt content, cure content, etc. etc.  (Now it's done by Federal Inspectors, not State).

To legally pass as 'fully cooked' the internal must be 146° or greater original temp.  But, you're instructed to always reheat the ham to 160° or greater.  Why?  You have a big piece of meat.  If you probe your ham and somewhere near the center it is 160° or greater, you can safely figure it's at least over the 146° minimum.  If you take it to 146°, it is possible that there are areas under that temp and could be dangerous.

Speaking of ham and water content, many people think that producers intentionally inject water into the meat to up it's weight.  That is not true at all.

If you start out with a 20lb. fresh hind leg of pork and inject 4 lbs of brine into it, then you've increased the weight of the product 20% thru injecting and soaking.  You put it in the smokehouse and after it is smoked and fully cooked and you weigh it and it's now 22 lbs, you've net increased that product's weight by 10%.  It now must be sold as "10% water added ham product".   I've seen ham products at 30% or greater water-added.  But it's determined by comparing the original weight to the finished product weight, not any other factor.


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## SmokinAl (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks for the explanation Pops!


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## Bearcarver (Apr 20, 2011)

Thanks Pops---That is what I've been reading.

Bear


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## sinnful-bbq (Apr 20, 2011)

Great info and in-site everyone! When I do a fully cooked ham I smoke at 210 and try to pull them at 151 to 152, I know that sounds like a funny temp but I pull them and wrap them and stuff them in the packed cooler to rest finish while waiting for the rest of the sides to get done and everyone to arrive. I leave the probe in it and monitor the temp while its in the cooler resting and finishing. Almost like clockwork it will rise 8 or 9 degrees. I always leave the probe in and monitor anything I pull and finish in the cooler just so I know how much it is raising. If for some reason it doesn't raise enough I help the finish along by other means, oven or the grill etc. I have never done a fresh or uncured ham so I am not much help with the original post. Just how I do it and it works for me.

JJ


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## Bearcarver (Apr 22, 2011)

I'm back!

I didn't want to leave anyone confused, so SmokinAl & I have been working with the *Temperature to smoke a Ham that wasn't previously cooked:*

Al said 148˚.

I said 160˚, because I knew that's what USDA & all of the other sites I have been to say.

Al sent me a close-up of a label (below) from Smithfield Hams.

The label clearly says to take the internal temp to 148˚.

This confused both of us, so I called USDA this morning.

A couple hours later they got back to me with the following answer:

*USDA Reply,*

*     That particular Ham, with that particular label, with "roast to 148˚ internal temp" on it, is backed only by Smithfield. They take full responsibility for that Ham. USDA allows them to do this, because of the tests they performed & reported to the USDA. However USDA will not take responsibility for it. USDA's recommendation for all Hams not previously cooked remains "Cook to 160˚ internal temperature".*

*People should note that Smithfield will only take responsibility for that ham with that instruction on it, and that does not mean that they are saying it is OK to cook any other non-previously cooked Ham to 148˚.*

The label from Al's Ham":








So I would say, if your Ham has instructions on it, go by their instructions, or go by what the USDA says, but don't cook your ham by what it says on the label of some other Ham.

That's All Folks,

Bear


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## SmokinAl (Apr 22, 2011)

Thanks for clearing that up Bear!


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## Bearcarver (Apr 22, 2011)

SmokinAl said:


> Thanks for clearing that up Bear!


Couldn't have done it without you, Al !

BTW: Does anyone else here get excited, when they hear, "Bdeep--Bdeep--Bdeep, That's All Folks!"  ????

Bear


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