Homemade Smoked Ham
You might think that making your own Smoked Ham at home from scratch must be some sort of an impossible task, one that’s best left to the high-tech food laboratories of this world…
Because let’s be honest, the art of smoking ham probably requires some kind of a degree in meat chemistry or something, right?
WRONG!
Just as is the case with bacon, the process of making Smoked Ham at home could not be easier.
Granted, the whole process does require a little bit of time, but asks for so very little attention, it basically makes itself.
In short, this is pretty much how it goes.
- Make brine (Can you bring water to a boil? You can make a brine!)
- Let brine cool. (You be passive)
- Submerge meat in brine, leave it for 14 days. (Again, you be passive)
- Remove meat from brine, rinse well (WOO! ACTION!)
- Plunge meat in hot water bath for 25 minutes (A bit of action, followed by more waiting)
- Soak wood chips for 1 hour (A bit of action, followed by more waiting)
- Make wood chip pouches (Yay! Real action this time! No origami skills required, I promise!)
- Throw meat and wood chip pouches on outdoor grill (or smoker, if you have one)
- Wait… change pouch, wait… change pouch, wait… repeat several times over the course of about 6 hours
- Enjoy your very own Homemade Smoked Ham, made entirely from scratch! (DEFINITELY: ACTION!)
Let’s go, let’s make this together. You’ll see, it’s such an incredibly rewarding experience, you’ll probably never want to buy ready-made ham ever again…
I say if you’re gonna go through all the trouble waiting time of making your own ham, you might as well go BIG! So go ahead and get the whole pork butt or shoulder or leg.
If you’re like me, you’ll probably want to have your butcher remove the bones for you, but make sure you hang on to them: you can use them later to make delicious broth!
Be sure to remove that bone, though. Leaving the bone in would require you to inject the meat, and that’s a completely different ball game. This recipe is definitely for boneless ham.
Gather all of the spices to make the brine.
Again, I chose to add pink curing salt (not to be confused with pink Himalayan salt) to my brine, which is basically a mixture of about 94% salt and 6% sodium nitrite. This curing salt really helps in preserving the meat and preventing spoilage by inhibiting the growth of fungus or bacteria. Also, it ensures that the cured meat will keep its beautiful pink color. Without it, the meat would likely turn an unappetizing shade of grey. The amount used is so minimal that I personally don’t have a problem with it, but if you firmly oppose adding nitrites to your meat, you could experiment with celery juice powder instead (not to be confused with celery salt) which pretty much plays the same role.
I have no experience whatsoever with celery juice powder so I can’t really offer any advice if you choose to go that route…
Once your brine has been brought to a boil and completely cooled down, place your pork butt into a large non-reactive container (a clean storage container with fitting lid works really well for this) and pour the cold brine over it until it’s completely covered.
Now you need to make sure that your meat is completely submerged and that it will remain submerged for the entire duration of the curing process.
Chances are, it’ll want want to float to the top like mine did, so you will have to weigh it down with a plate or any other similar clean and non-reactive object that fits snugly inside your container.
I personally even added plastic bottle filled with water to weigh my plate down. No way that meat will ever resurface now!
Place that entire rig in the fridge and leave your meat to brine for 10-14 days. You might want to check on it daily just to make sure that your meat is still submerged.
After you meat has cured for 10 to 14 days, take it out of of the brine and rinse it really well. Tie it secure with butcher’s twine, if necessary (which it probably will be since the bones have been removed).
Bring enough water to a boil so that when you drop your piece of meat in it, it will be completely covered. Kill the heat and leave the meat in the hot water for 25-30 minutes, which will help raise its internal temperature and drive some of the salt out. You could leave your ham in there longer if you wanted to draw more of that salt out…
Ahem… I hope you won’t mind, but I took the liberty of borrowing the following pictures and instructions directly from my Homemade Smoked Bacon post… the process goes pretty much the same way after all!
This time, you’ll need to soak 8 cups of wood chips in water for AT LEAST ONE HOUR prior to smoking your ham.
The choice of which essence of wood chip to use is really up to you. I opted to use a mix of apple and maple and it yielded amazing results.
When your chips have soaked for a sufficient length of time, preheat your outdoor grill to 225°F. Turning on a single burner on low should do the trick
While the grill is heating up, make 8-10 wood chip pouches.
To make the pouches, cut out a roughly 12” x 24” piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (double that up if using lighter foil) for each pouch and place about a cup of soaked wood chips on one end of the foil. Add a handful of dry chips to that, then fold the foil over the wood chips.
Fold all four edges toward the center at least twice, then poke a bunch of holes on the top of the pouch with a fork or other sharp object.
Lift the grill that’s above the lit element and place a pouch directly on the heat source. Close the lid and wait until smoke starts to come out of the pouch.
Take your ham out of its hot water bath, pat it real dry and place it on the unlit side of the grill; close the lid.
Smoke the ham for a total of about 6 hours, replacing the pouch with a fresh one every 45 minutes or so. If necessary, crank up the heat under the new pouch until smoke starts to come out then bring the heat back down to low.
Try and keep the heat inside your grill as stable as possible, at around 225°F. Note that it’s not necessary to get huge amounts of smoke in order to get good flavor from it. However, if you feel you are not getting enough, feel free to add more dry chips to your foil pouches, or place an aluminum container with a handful of dry chips next to your smoldering foil pouch.
As you can see, I had plenty of room to fit 2 foil pouches at a time, so I chose to just add one after the initial hour and then replace the oldest one on every subsequent hour.
Your ham will be ready when its internal temperature registers 150°F
You can choose to eat it right away, or if like me you prefer to eat your ham cold, let it cool completely before to slice it up.
If you can wait that long, that is. I must admit that it’s kind of hard to resist and you’re probably gonna want to try a slice as soon as this comes out from the grill. I really can’t blame you for that…
I say go ahead. You definitely deserve it.
Homemade Smoked Ham
Ingredients
- 1 - 12½ lb boneless pork butt
- 2 gallons water
- 2½ cups pickling salt
- 2 cups coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup pink curing salt, prague powder #1
- 3/4 cup pickling spice
- 2 tbsp juniper berries
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 1/2 whole nutmeg
- 10-12 whole cloves
- 1-2 whole star anise
Instructions
CURING THE MEAT
- Add all the ingredients, except for the pork butt, to a very large stock pot and bring to the boil. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved, then kill the heat and let the brine come down to room temperature. If at all possible, place it in the fridge and let it cool overnight. To speed up the process, you could also add only half of the water to the stock pot and put the other half in the freezer, then add the cold water to the brine once it has boiled and the salt has been dissolved.
- Once the brine has cooled down, place your pork butt into a large non-reactive container (a clean storage container with fitting lid works really well for this) and pour the brine over it until it’s completely covered. Now you need to make sure that your meat is completely submerged and that it will remain submerged for the entire duration of the curing process. If it wants to float to the top, weigh it down with a plate or any other similar clean and non-reactive object that fits snuggly inside your container.
- Place your meat in the fridge and leave it to cure for 10-14 days. Check daily to make sure that your meat is still submerged.
SMOKING YOUR HAM
- Soak 8 cups of wood chips in water for at least one hour prior to smoking your ham.
- Take your pork butt out of the brine and rinse it really well. Tie it secure with butcher's twine, if necessary.
- Bring enough water to a boil so that when you drop your piece of meat in it, it will be completely covered. Kill the heat and leave the meat in the hot water for 25-30 minutes, which will help raise its internal temperature and draw some of the salt out.
- Meanwhile, preheat your outdoor grill to 225°F. Turning on a single burner to low should do the trick.
- Make about 8-10 wood chip pouches. For each pouch, cut out a 12” x 24” piece of heavy duty aluminum foil (double that up if using lighter foil) and place about a cup of wet wood chips on one end of the foil. Add a handful of dry chips to that, then fold the foil over the wood chips. Fold all four edges toward the center at least twice, then poke holes on the top of the pouch with a fork.
- Lift the grill that’s above the lit element and place a pouch directly on the heat source. Close the lid and wait until smoke starts to come out of the pouch.
- Take your ham out of its hot water bath, pat it real dry and place it on the unlit side of the grill; close the lid.
- Smoke the ham for a total of about 6 hours, replacing the pouch with a fresh one every 45 minutes or so. If necessary, crank up the heat under the new pouch until smoke starts to come out then bring the heat back down to low.
- Try and keep the heat inside your grill as stable as possible, at around 225°F. Note that it’s not necessary to get huge amounts of smoke in order to get good flavor from it. However, if you feel you are not getting enough, feel free to add more dry chips to your foil pouches, or place an aluminum container with a handful of dry chips next to your smoldering foil pouch.
- Your ham will be ready when its internal temperature registers 150°F
- It will keep in the refrigerator for up to several days or in the freezer for several months.
Notes
If you’ve tried this recipe, please take a minute to rate the recipe and let me know how things went for you in the comments below. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from you!
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83 Comments on “Homemade Smoked Ham”
I’m so impressed! It amazes me all the thing you have done DIY! And your shots always look immaculate. This sounds so easy, I may have to try it!
Ah! But you should definitely try it, Chelsea. It IS easy, I swear!
And thank you so much for your kind words. They mean a lot to me! 🙂
Hi Sonia,
Active thread here! I am trying your recipe, can’t wait!
I am doing 1/2 hams, butt end and shank end. Thinking bone in. Any adjustments you would recommend?
I don’t feel comfortable making recommendations, Ben, as I don’t have enough experience in meat curing…
However, I can strongly suggest that you visit the following pages, where I’m sure you’ll find tons of valuable information!
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/curing_meats.html
http://www.pelletsmoking.com/searching-cure-26/ham-brining-101-bacon-6993/#post72952
Hope this helps, and happy ham making to you!
You stupid idiot, take this post down before you get sued. 1/2 cup of Pink salt will cure 80 lbs of pork. I’m guessing of course. If you are still alive please take this down. I do not think that 6 oz. of #1 is 1/2 cup.
Iknow others have repeated my concern but it is only double the amount required.
Those are very harsh words coming from someone who is “guessing, of course” and “does not think that”… you might want to do a little bit of research first, to back your statements, and perhaps reconsider that introduction!
1/2 cup is 4.8 oz. I stand corrected. You may take my post down if you like. It’s 136 Grams. Using Imperial is not profitable. Yeah metrics. Working with weight is better. You did not pump. Less time and less cure. According to your Ref. Your amount is enough for a 10% pump. You did not put your cure in cold water in according your Ref. I do not recognize Meathead as a legitimate Ref.
Should the ham feel slimy after the brine and rinse
Slimy even after a good rinse?
never thought of even trying to make smoked ham at home.. thanks for the recipe and idea. definitely one i will need to try!
And I hope you do, Thalia. Let me know how it goes if you end up making it! 🙂
Hoping to pull this off for Christmas. Am super startled by the price of a GOOD ham and am always up for a project!! Thank you for sharing!!
Pleasure is all mine, Brandi! And think of how proud you will be when you serve your very own homemade ham to your guests! Jaws will drop, I’m sure! 🙂
Only one thing I see wrong with this recipe. It calls for a half cup of pink curing salt. I’ve been curing my own hams and bacon for 40 years and I know that one ounce of pink salt will do 25 pounds of meat. A half cup???
yep. you’re right on that jim. a half cup is approaching dangerous levels of sodium nitrite. im going to give the rest of the recipe a try though. thanksfor posting it!
For immersion, pumped or massaged products, the maximum in-going nitrite limit is set at 200 ppm, which corresponds to adding 120g (that’s nearly 7 tbsp) of Prague Powder #1 to 1 gallon of water. My recipe calls for 4 tbsp (about 70g) of curing salt per gallon of water. I see that in no way as approaching dangerous levels? In fact, it’s well under the established limits…
Hi Sonja. Please don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t in any way saying that the amount of pink curing salt was a dangerous level, not even close. It just seemed to me that 1/4 cup was a little “overkill”, that’s all.
Very good recipe although I don’t care for the anise, cinnamon or coconut sugar. Through the years I’ve used all types of combinations of herb and spices and I’ve settled for a basic salt, pepper, garlic and maple syrup brine. Just personal preference. I hope there are lots of people trying this recipe at home, they’ll be very surprised how easy and how good it is
Not at all, Jim! In fact, I was replying to David, who had replied to your comment and suggested that my brine solution was approaching dangerous levels of sodium nitrite…
Thanks for encouraging people to try this for themselves. It is true that it’s much easier than one might think, and SO rewarding, too!
I’m planning on having a pig butchered when it’s ready…does this work with home butchered pork? I’m not sure if the store bought meat is different. It gets expensive processing the meat at a butcher, and smoking the hams, hocks & bacon is the most expensive! I can’t wait to process our home-bred & raised pork!
Of course it works, Erin! I buy all my pork from a small local farm, so it’s pretty much the same as home butchered. Not only does it work, but it’s so much better too! 🙂
Sonia,
We have been raising pigs for the past three years. We tried uncured bacon the first year and it was disappointing. I tried your homemade smoked bacon recipe this year. It is awesome! We even served it as an appetizer for a dinner party.
I just tried your ham recipe. The spice flavors are great but it was a bit salty for our taste. Do you have any suggestions for reducing saltiness on future hams: less salt in brine or maybe an extra water soak before smoking?
Thank you,
Langdon
Happy to hear the bacon was to your liking, Langdon! As for the ham, if you wanted to make it a little bit less salty, I say you should definitely go the soaking route. Let your cured ham soak in cold water for a few hours (or up to overnight) before smoking it, making sure to change the water every now and then. You could also use a little bit less salt in the brine, but don’t go too low on that: you do need the salt to actually cure the meat. Maybe use 3/4 of the quantity the recipe calls for? I wouldn’t go any lower than that.
Hope this helps! Let me know how your next ham turns out!
It’s great working with the recipe but maybe something went wrong on the way. During the slicing action, the climax, my ham looked an unappetizing gray inside. Should I increase proportion of the curing salt, or inject the solution, or extend the brining time, or just cook my ham in pineapple juice syrup and skip the smoking ?
Strange… the curing salt is supposed to keep that from happening. Theoretically, the proportions used in my recipe are more than sufficient, you shouldn’t have to use more. Did you use Prague Powder #1? Honestly, I’ve never had an issue with meat turning grey on me, so I’m at a bit of a loss for what to say. Sorry I can’t be of more help…
If you try doing another one, purchase an injector syringe and inject the solution. If it is a bone in ham you should always inject it so it doesn’t “bone sour”. Hope this helps you out and dont give up, it’s well worth the efforts.
Is there any difference in the usage between the pickling salt and the table salt?
Pickling salt doesn’t contain iodine or anti-caking agents like most table salts do. Plus, pickling salt is made of finer granules, so it dissolves much better than table salt. Did you use table salt to cure your ham?
The 150*F – is that because the meat has been cured? It will be safe to eat cold in sandwiches?
Looks delicious!! I can’t wait to try it!
Absolutely, Julian!
cai use an oven if I can’t hve an efficient oudoor grill?
Smoking in an oven can be done, Marilene. You might want to check out this article.
I did a bone in ham from a wild pig, followed your recipe exactly but I did inject the brine in the thicker parts of the ham. I used an electric smoker with pecan wood for 7 hours. It turned out wonderfully. Better than I ever expected. I will be doing this often and sharing this website. Thanks!
YAY! Good to hear, Christopher! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to leave this great feedback, and for sharing the love, too! Glad to hear your ham making experiment was a complete success!
I used your recipe to make a christmas ham. The ham turned out perfectly and it was divine. I made a ham on the bone, and I did inject the brine solution into the ham on the advice of my butcher. Thanks for the recipe
So very happy to hear, Carena! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to let me know! 🙂
Hi Sonia,
I have two questions for you.
1) the biggest container that I have, is about a 9 liter container. The meat will take up about 4 liters. Your recipe calls for 8 liters of water with the other ingredients. Should I now use 5/8ths of the ingredients for my brine?
2) Pickling spice is mostly used with vinegar. Should I add it in this case?
That should do the trick, Piet, as long as you respect the proper ratios and make sure that your meat is entirely submerged in the brine at all times. As for the vinegar, no, you mustn’t use it. We’re using pickling spice to flavor the meat, but we’re not wanting to pickle it, really!
Hope this helps, and keep me posted as to how that ham turned out!
Please advise.
I used your recipe for brine as stated. Injected and soaked a pork butt for 2 weeks at 38*F.Took it out this morning to smoke and it is laying in a layer of slime. I rinsed it off and there is no rancid smell and it looks OK. Any thoughts on what may have happened? I’m going to start smoking but won’t eat until I get a reply from someone who has more knowledge than I have.
Thanks
Slime, really? I’m no specialist, but I’m really not sure I would want to eat anything that was covered in slime… Your meat stayed completely submerged the whole time? Did the brine get slimy or is there a coat of slime around the meat?
This happened to me once, as well. I rinsed it off and it didn’t smell either. I had so much time invested that I didn’t want just to toss it! i took my chances and smoked it anyway!! I survived!! :o) Injecting is definitely something to consider, too. I’ve had mine not penetrate entirely after the brining time, so I always inject now. I am going to try your tweaks on my up-coming Easter ham! I think that soaking it in the hot water bath might really be a great tip! Also, I found an amazing peach brandy glaze on another site…. adds an awesome taste to the finished product! Thanks for the recipe!
Sonia,
I owe you an apology. In my previous post, I said I followed your recipe for the brine as stated. I did not. I thought it was too much cure #1 and I reduced it to what I thought was proper( 1tsp/ 5# of meat). Wrong!!!! Since that post, you have kindly replied to me on another thread and given me a website that explained the difference for the ratios for brining and dry curing.
Thank you and I am sorry if anyone else was turned off by thinking my mistake was your fault.
Terry
Thank you so much for setting the record straight, Terry. You totally ROCK!
I certainly hope that you will give ham making another try, and that it’ll work perfectly next time!
Hello Sonia!
I have couple questions about the recipe
1. Could you please tell me the ingredients of pickling spice? We do not have something like that here in Australia, so I thought may be I could do that mix by myself.
2. Can you tell me please what a difference between pickling salt and curing pickling salt? And Can I just use sea salt instead of that?
3. What wood chips did you use? I wonder if I can use wood from my garden?
4. Have you ever tried to do ham from beef or chicken?
Sorry. so many questions 🙂
Thank you!
Olga
Hey Olga,
Let me try to answer your questions, to the best of my knowledge:
1-I’m not sure about what goes into the making of pickling spice or in what proportions, but I’m pretty sure that this is something you could easily find with a quick search on google…
2-This has been covered in my post.
3-I used wood chips made specifically for this purpose, which can be purchased at practically any hardware or other large surface store, but I really don’t see why you couldn’t use your own wood chips, so long as they are the proper size.
4-I’m not sure I understand your question. By definition, a ham is a cut of meat from the hindquarters of a hog, between the hock and the hip… not sure how one could make ham out of beef or chicken?
Hope this helps…
Hi about the wood chips, I can only say that one has to make sure that the wood you’re using is not a kind of wood that is poisonous to human. If not sure, better buy from the hardware store.
Never and I mean “Never!” use wood from any evergreen to smoke, Pine, fir, juniper to name just a few. These woods contain turpentine and other elements that can cause stomach distress, nausea/vomiting and in severe cases poisoning resulting in death. Use only hardwoods to create smoke.
Got my meat today and ready to try this recipe. I am making a hickory ham and hope for the best. Will let you know. Thanks for all the advice.
Can’t wait to hear how it goes! Good luck! 🙂
Hi,
Can you please explain the large amount of prague #1? 1/2 cup equates to roughly 144g. Using the recipe my analysis of the recipe is given below (for a wet brine). Having between 590 and 650 PPM of Sodium nitrite seems excessive to me.
Brine:
Curing Salt #1 143.00 g (6.25 % / 8.94 g of which is sodium nitrite)
Salt 725.31 g
Water 8000.00 ml
Total Weight (g) 15188.9375 g
NaCl (g) 859.3750 g (added + curing salt contribution)
NaCl percentage (%) 6.2500 % (per meat weight + liquid weight)
Brine salts percentage (%) 10.8539 % (***NaNO2 + NaCL [per total salts weight + water weight])
Total salts percentage (%) 5.7167 % (NaNO2 + NaCL based on full weight)
Brine nitrite (PPM; mg/kg) 1117.1875 mg/kg (per liquid weight only)
Total nitrite (PPM; mg/kg) 650.0000 mg/kg (***per meat + liquid weight)
Total nitrite (PPM; mg/kg) 588.4217 mg/kg (per total ingredient weight)
Hi Sonia, my father and I have recently been looking at how to smoke and cure meat because we live on a farm. I would just like to know how long you’d suggest we have the meat smoke for in a Smoke House and maybe ideas for different flavours for the brine. Please and Thankyou.
Kindest regards, Kiarna
As far as wood for smoking use only hardwoods that are low to no resin content. Wood like fir, cedar, spruce, hemlock, any conifer tree is a no no. Fruit woods are particularly good along with hickory, oak, maple, pecan, don’t know about walnut. I’ve heard of corn cobs being used to smoke hams and bacon. I live in the pacific northwest and use red alder for fish and poultry and mesquite for beef and pork. My neighbor has apple, pear, and plum trees and he gives me his prunings to use. You have to try the woods to see what you like. Hickory is too strong for my family but wildly popular in the south. Try alder on salmon, cold smoke for lox warm (70 to 80 degrees) or hot otherwise (225 degrees)…to die for!
A word about cedar, some of the NW Native Americans put on salmon feeds where they use cedar planks to roast the fish on. You can sort of taste the cedar but it is very subtle. Been told they do it this way as it is the way of their ancestors.
Gary
I made this ham exactly following the recipe. After smoking I noted it to be very salty. So I soaked it in apple juice overnight. Then finished cooking it in the oven. It was great!
Should/can I substitute juice for the hot water bath next time?
Absolutely, Judy! You could even soak it in the juice overnight and then do the hot water bath…
My ham is all brined and ready to smoke. We are having it tomorrow. I would like to “finish” it in the oven. What is the minimum time for a good smoking without, necessarily cooking the meat?
It would take about the same time in the oven, Judy, providing that you keep it at 225F. To be sure, use a thermometer. Your ham is ready when the internal temperature reaches 150F
Just some information about nitrites. They have been invaluable over the ages in preserving meat but they are not healthy food additives. Nitrites are associated with gastric cancer and with lung injury, and though they impart a lovely pink to cured meat, they are not necessary in preserving meat that can be refrigerated or frozen. Thank you for the recipes – we are smoking our post-Christmas ham as I write this. Best wishes to all!
Best recipe I have found on the internet. I will try tomorrow
A very good blend of woods is 2/3 apple and 1/3 sassafras.
An excellent blend of woods for smoking is 2/3 apple and 1/3 sassafras
Hi there! Hoping to use your recipe but I do have a few questions. Have you ever heard of Tender quick? I live in Canada and have never heard of “Prague Powder #1” But we do have Tender Quick which I’m told is the same thing. Can you corroborate? Also, on the subject of salt, what kind of pickling salt do you use? Coarse or Fine? All we have is coarse pickling salt for making pickles and If it IS fine pickling salt you use, can I just Pulverize it to get the correct measurements? Weights would be really helpful. Thanks and God Bless!
Not familiar with Tender quick, sorry… I really can’t help you with that one. As for the pickling salt, I used coarse, so no need to pulverize it! Hope this helps! 🙂
Thank you so much!! I managed to get some prauge powder #1 from my local deli. He told me for a 12lb-15lb half of leg (ours is 14lbs) I’d only need 2tbsp. Should I still follow your recipe but with the advised reduction in prauge? He told me it was STRONG juju. 🙂 No one in my family want’s really salty ham. Can’t blame them. 🙂 Just stick with the same brine time?
Did you mention to him that you were planning on brining your meat? For wet cures, the recommendations are to use 2-3 ounces (8-12 tablespoons) of prague#1 per gallon of water. So 2 tbsp would be way too little…
Actually, He told US to use it in a wet brine first, then I told him the recipe I was using (yours) was for wet and he said we’d be fine. We decided a hybrid method of your recipe AND the Deli Mans’ advice and it was DELICIOUS!! Could’ve stood another day or two in the brine because the meat in the VERY center, (about 2 cups of meat overall) was not pink. It tasted salty from the brine but the prauge just didn’t get quite deep enough. We’re going to do another one (plus some bacon, checking your other recipe as well) And what we’re doing is 10 days in the brine, overnight in a plain cold water soak to pull excess salt out, THEN smoke it for 6 hours and finish with 3 hours in the oven! Thanks for all your help and the cool recipes! I’ll let you know the results. 😛
What temp are you planning for the oven portion of the cook?
A balmy 300 degrees in a tightly sealed vessel like a deep roasting pan with a tight layer of tin foil. It’s to help in breaking down connective tissues so it will be tender. I also added enough water to cover the bottom of the pan by 1/2 an inch. When you understand the science of braising (low heat, tight cover, long cooking and a little water), it’s a huge help in making a smoked ham be all that it can be! (Watch Good Eats! It’s an awesome show!) Thanks again for the totally rad recipe! 😀 It was incredibly tender and delicious and it filled the house with the intoxicating aroma of maple smoked meat! YUMMY!!
Making this ham for the fourth year in a row. I make a whole leg on the bone, I inject the meat with the brine solution every few days. It turns out perfectly.
I then make stock from the ham bone and turn it into carrot soup. 10/10
So very happy to hear, Carena! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to let me know, and have a Happy Christmas!! 🙂
Hello Sonia should i use normal sugar instead coconut sugar and i have a digital smoker so should i use it.
Absolutely, Mickey!
Hi Sonia. I’m new to all this ,only done a couple of bacons & 1 ham smoked. I would like to try your recipe, it looks great, so I have a couple of questions . If I only have a 1.5 – 2kg pork shoulder to brine & I make the whole 2 gallons of brine, can I store the left over brine in the fridge for next time? Also with a smaller cut of meat will the brining time need to be reduced? thank you for this post.
Hi, I did exactly as recipe says but ended up with highly oversalted ham. I liked recipe itself and flavor would be nice if not such big amount of salt. Is it necessary for preserving? If I use just half of suggested will I increase chance for meat to go bad during curing?
Hi there, I used a recipe similar to this ages ago, but alas the flavour was lacking. Today I came across this gem and I immediately went out and bought myself a roast that’ll become a delicious ham. Only minor changes though, instead of a grill and making pouches of soaked wood chips, I’m using an old oven my friend got rid of, which I turned into a smoking oven, for heat I’ll use charcoal and wood chips. We adapt where we do not have 😉
What is the purpose of dipping the ham in boiling water if you’ve already cured it? The purpose of curing is to kill/stop bacteria, so why would you need to boil it? Or is that more for texture/holding it together when you cook it?
I wish I had read the comments about injecting first if you have bone-in. In your recipe, you mention bone-in or bone-out as if it doesn’t affect preparations. But users are reporting you need to inject if there’s a bone. I did not inject as that wasn’t instructed.
However, I also didn’t understand the short cure-time. Everything I look up says 2 days per pound (not 2 pounds per day). So, my 10 lb’er needed more like 20 days according to everything I looked up. I went ahead and followed the longer cure-time
Yikes. Hope this comes out right. Bone-sour sounds scary and gross. If injecting is necessary for bone-in, maybe consider updating the recipe with those notes?
Smoking this bad boy today, so I’ll update if there were issues!
I am excited to try this but want to use a 5 lb pork shoulder to try my first time. What adjustments should I make? I just discovered your site and I LOVE it.
I’m truly sorry Julie Ann but I haven’t cured meat in so long, I don’t feel comfortable offering advice on this… and as a now vegan, I’m not so keen on researching it either; I hope you can understand that! That said, I’m really happy you discovered and love my site and hope you will find many recipes on here that you feel like trying (especially the vegan ones!) 🙂
Hi Julie Ann. I am following this recipe also doing a five pound piece. Will be smoking this weekend. All I have done so far is make half the brine. I’m guessing the smoking won’t be as long and am using a remote thermometer.
Oh my gosh. Stop. Do not use these amounts. You have likely confused Prague Powder #1 measurements with Morton curing Salt measurements! These are NOT the same. Proper ratio dry cure is 1/2 tsp of Prague powder #1 for every 5 lbs of meat!!!! Wet cure, 12 lbs meat in 2 gallons water would be 4.7 tsp!!!! Your recipe has 24 tsp!!! Redo recipe or take down immediately!
This recipe is dangerous. Way to much Prague powder #1. You are only supposed to use 1 level teaspoon per 5 lbs of meat.
I only have a 9 lb butt, what corrections do I need to make?
I really appreciated this kind of how to make homemade cooked ham and thank you
I have been doing this recipe for many years now and keep it as a référence,love it, we no longer buy any, home made is the best. One thing I would like to add is wile smoking I add Maple sirop on top. Since we are lucky to have alot of Maple I can keep adding all the way thru the smoking making à nice sweet crust on the surface. Excellent !