First off I would like to recommend that ham be placed into the bacon category.
This thread would be better kept to (regular, not cured BBQ)
After doing my first ham smoke Christmas of 2019, and doing a equilibrium ham brine with some chops as a test in February I decided to try a ham again.
After some reading it finally clicked in my head.
equilibrium brines, the weight of the meat + the weight of the water = 100%
Brine/CurePork leg 3,444 grams
Water 3,782 grams
Total 7,226 grams 100%
Salt 217 grams 3%
Sugar 217 grams 3%
Phosphates 22 grams 0.3%
TCM # 1 150ppm 17.4 grams 0.24%
1 gal of brine was barely enough to cover the pork, next time I would use 1.5 gal
Walton’s Inc recommends that if using phosphate you mix that I to the water first, so I did that, then added the sugar, salt, and cure
I pumped the ham with 10% of its weight in brine, then put into a brine bag Cured 18 days
Removed (no rinse)
Rested 4.5 days before smoking
Thermal & Smoke Procedure120F no smoke 1 hour
140F yes smoke 2 hour
150F 2 hour
190F To IT of 160F
Ice Bath to IT of 115F
I smoked the ham using 7.13oz of hickory cut into way too many way too small pieces. You will see why this was a mistake below
After smoking for 12.5 hours, I decided to remove the ham @ 147F.
It works for bacon and I should have started earlier, it was late and I had to go to bed.
As you can see from the chart, the wood was cut too small, and stated on fire causing wild swings in the temp, and a slight soot(y) taste
I used a water bath (recomended by Walton’s Inc)
I will do without next time
After a few days rest in the fridge I decided to cut the ham into steaks.
I live ham steak on the grill, especially all the fat.
Cutting ham steaks at home, without a dedicated meat band saw was a mistake. I used a hack saw and a saw-zull like tool. It made a giant mess, the bone was very difficult to cut, and I had to spend quite some time cleaning my tools after.
As it turns out, a pork leg (ham) has many different muscles and lots of connective tissue, that did not break down enough smoking to 147F
I am happy with the salt, sugar, and phosphates
