First attempt at curing a ham

[Fishawn]

Looks Great From Here

[Checkered Past]

Looks Great From Here

Great, thanks all I see is a box with a red X in it.
I will post the rest of the "red X" boxes later

[Richtee]

Oh hammy hammy hammy! Got the pict...

[ijusthvit]

I dont see a pic?

[Richtee]

OK did that help, folks? I had it set as a "private" album, and gave CP the codes..but maybe it needs to be public??? Dunno...

[Checkered Past]

Ok this seems to be working now..Thanks Richtee
Here are a couple photos of the dimensions

[Checkered Past]

Ok this ham has been in the fridge chill'n since Nov.6th and I am thinking of smoke'n it on Dec. 18th.
Does this timeline seem ok given the prev. info. (weight/size and cure)?

[Richtee]

For a city cure injected ham, it does indeed seem appropriate.

[Checkered Past]

we go over this several times a year rich. On the morton website there are THREE dfferent cure time/thickness guidelines.
General consensus for the rest of the web is 1/4 inch per day and ignore morton :-)

I realise I've come into this a little late - but is the morton smoked cure actually a nitrite bearing cure ?
And if so did you split the total amount of cure for the weight of the ham between the injected portion and the rubbed on portion.
Only concerned because I can see how easy it would be to end up using twice as much cure as necessary and ending up with a lot of unreacted nitrite in the finished product. Which you probably don't want.

Oh yeah - there is a distinct lack of pictures in this thread
Until we see the thing - it's all theoretical :-)

Sorry for the late response about the injected portion of cure and the rubbed on portion..I followed the Morton cure book and did not deviate from it.

[Checkered Past]

I am going to smoke the ham this weekend and am loking for some input,

Ideas for wood smoke?

starting temp of smoker while applying smoke and how long to smoke?


Final smoker temp. of smoker and meat temp.?

Should I rinse the outside off to remove the sugar/salt or soak it?

Ideas on seaoning the outside or leave it?

This will be done on an electric smoker.

I am not sure if I should start at say 125 deg. while appling smoke then gradually raise the smoker temp. up to say 180 until the meat temp reaches 160. These figures are only for an example.

[Whisky Fish]

Bump

I'm bumping this back up to the top CP so some of the experts will see it. I could tell you what I think you should do, but since I haven't actually done a large ham yet, I'll leave that to the pros. But for Pork, I'm partial to Hickory or Apple.

[Richtee]

Bump

I'm bumping this back up to the top CP so some of the experts will see it. I could tell you what I think you should do, but since I haven't actually done a large ham yet, I'll leave that to the pros. But for Pork, I'm partial to Hickory or Apple.

Hehe... Eh hell... I'll stick my neck out

Rinse/rub it off, pat dry let it air dry a while while ya get the smoker going. How long past the calculated curing time has it been? There should be a salt equalization period, on hams that size..I'm guessing 8-10 days or so past cure...

Might be a good time to take a couple slices off and fry the inside slice up and check for salt levels. You may need some soaking.

I smoked the semi- countrys I did a while back at about 125, think I had maybe 12? hours on them over 2 days. Just left 'em in the smoker till it died overnight and fired it back up in the AM. Then I ran it at 225 until I hit about 140 internal, removed them, dropped them in pillowcases and let 'em hang in the cold garage for about 2 months. I never let them hang at room temp for real country aging...altho in hindsight, with the nitrate content in TQ I might have been able to..You are not doing any aging, right? Then just wrap and toss in the fridge until you re-heat for eating.

[Checkered Past]

Thanks Richtee,
This ham will be 42 days in the fridge on Sat. But now I did not realize the cook time and I may ned to wait another week and a half. Will this matter??

Thanks Derek, more photos will follow when they change. God luck with your ham.

I am welcoming all inputs and ideas

[Richtee]

But now I did not realize the cook time and I may ned to wait another week and a half. Will this matter??

Hmmm "cook time"?

[Richtee]

Thanks Richtee,
This ham will be 42 days in the fridge on Sat. But now I did not realize the cook time and I may ned to wait another week and a half. Will this matter??

And... from a previous post*"
So I am thinking that 21 days should be OK and then I can let the salt equalization take place for 14 days.

Ahhh OK... well, I'm still not sure on the "cook time" thing, but it sounds like yer set to try a slice and smoke it.