Anyone wet cured/smoked a ham on the PBC?

[kill2grill]

Finally the local store is carrying a 25lb untrimmed, uncured pork leg and that means I get to try Meathead's Wet Curing a Ham recipe! Has anyone tried this? If so any tips/suggestions? I noticed Raichlen will cold smoke it first then hot smoke it...which might be fun to try after having it the way Meathead suggested.

I will be sure to hook you fine folks up with some pork porn once I get some responses from my ad on Craigslist for lighting & audio. All joking aside, I'll throw some photos up on here even if its of a complete catastrophe of a ham.

[kill2grill]

Time for a ham story...
(Cliff Notes version - good for salads/soups/etc but really not something you'd trot out for a special occasion)

The 25lb pork leg trimmed down to 18.2lbs:




I cured with Amazon's version of Prague Powder #1 aka DQ Curing Salts:




Here's how it looks after 8 days of taking a bath in the curing salts:




Washed off the exterior of salt, put on a rack in the fridge overnight:




Got her all dressed up for prom night with Meathead's Memphis Dust:




After 5 hours on the PBC, the 27mph winds and rain exhausted my coals. So I brought it in at 130 internal temp and started to brush on the glaze every 5-10 minutes until it reached 140 internal temp. Here's how she looks:



Final thoughts
Salty. Need to cut back on the salt if you plan on serving it up as the main course. Pretty tasty when used in other recipes. Probably won't do again - but may try the store bought ham/re-smoke recipe and see if it's less work/same result.

[lschweig]

Now that looks amazing. i am amazed that your were able to get a bark/glaze looking like that. It is a shame that it was too salty although. I did a Cook's cooked shank ham a few weeks ago and it was too salty as well.

Maybe it was just the original hog?

[freddh]

If too salty, then treat it as a Country Ham-slice a few steaks off, soak slices in water, drain and then rise. Cook in water in the skillet (cast iron preferred). Or it can be cooked without the water but in a little oil. Try it with a slice or two then experiment. Nothing like a Country Ham sammie. BTW that ham is gorgeous!

[bronzewound]

Just received my first country ham all sliced from Rice's Country Ham. My question is how long should I soak the slices in water and do you only soak it if you feel it's too salty?

[HawkerXP]

Nice looking ham!

[Milnerair]

Very nice looking ham...

[fzxdoc]

That ham looks great, kill2grill . I've never done a ham in the PBC. I'm assuming you put it on the grate. That glaze is gorgeous.

I'm with you--I'd like to re-smoke a spiral-cut ham on the PBC just to see what that preparation brings to the party. It sounds so good when Noah and Meathead describe it.

I agree with freddh , treat it like a country ham and serve it on biscuits or Hawaiian rolls from the grocery. Make a little red eye gravy, and you've got yourself a feast. I love country ham, but am the only one in the family who does, so I only get to eat it when we go out, or if I order just a few slices from a good country ham provider.

Kathryn

[kill2grill]

You are correct fzxdoc - on the grate and used one bar only to try and keep the temp's up around 330. Good thing too - the other bar would not have cleared the ham. Besides the wind, I suspect keeping the temp at 330ish for 5 hours might have also been the reason the coals were exhausted so early?

If anyone else decides to try curing some pork - try backing the Kosher salt down from 20oz to 15oz and let everyone know if it solves the salt-lick problem.

[Gator Lau]

I re-smoked a spiral cut ham for a Christmas meal on the PBC. It was good but don't know how much it gained from the PBC over what it would have been in the oven, since it really was only heating instead of cooking. I did really enjoy the leftovers for ham sams all week long, then the balance along witj the bone went into New Years Day black eye peas.

[Le Grill]

Thanks for the tip kill2grill I'm getting ready to try this and like your suggestion to cut back the salt to 15 oz. Someone else also commented that it was a little too salty.

I will let you know how it turns out. I have a 20lb fresh ham being delivered on Friday.

[kill2grill]

Have at it, post some pics, and please do let us know how it turns out! So are you aiming for next weekend for the cook?

[AdamJG]

That ham looks great. I've reheated two hams on my PBC which were already cured. Both came out great, used cherry wood. Come to think of it, it was for Easter last year..maybe I'll pick up a ham this week.

[slopoke76]

Wow!! No kidding, I swear we can smell it!!! Shame it was a bit too salty, but thanks so much for sharing. Counting the days now till our PBC shows up!!!

[PappyBBQ]

Would a 24 hour soak, changing the water three times over the 24 hour period help lessen the salt load you think, or is a ham simply too big for that? I do that for brisket flats when I'm making corned beef/pastrami. That really cuts down the salt in the meat.

[RonB]

That looks great.