Smoking a ham

[Andrew Fenton]

At my wife's request, Thanksgiving this year will feature, in addition to a turkey, a ham. While I've smoked many a butt, I've never smoked a ham and I'm looking for a little guidance.

I have Ruhlman/Polcyn's Charcuterie book, which has a straightforward-looking recipe, one that's not too different from what I do with a butt: brine, dry, smoke. The differences seem to be that there's some pink salt in the cure (makes it "hammier", I guess), and that there's a glaze added while cooking. So far, so good.

But I have a couple of questions: first, while I don't think I'll have a problem getting a fresh ham from the butcher, would it be a problem if I use a picnic shoulder? And what final temperature should I be aiming for? I assume I don't want to get it up to pulled pork temperatures. And finally, any techniques or recipes I should know about?

[ElsieD]

Andrew, you might try posting your questions in the appropriate form on this board. It is the virtual weber bulletin board amd has lots of info on smoking in particular and cooking in general.

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve

[lancastermike]

At my wife's request, Thanksgiving this year will feature, in addition to a turkey, a ham. While I've smoked many a butt, I've never smoked a ham and I'm looking for a little guidance.

I have Ruhlman/Polcyn's Charcuterie book, which has a straightforward-looking recipe, one that's not too different from what I do with a butt: brine, dry, smoke. The differences seem to be that there's some pink salt in the cure (makes it "hammier", I guess), and that there's a glaze added while cooking. So far, so good.

But I have a couple of questions: first, while I don't think I'll have a problem getting a fresh ham from the butcher, would it be a problem if I use a picnic shoulder? And what final temperature should I be aiming for? I assume I don't want to get it up to pulled pork temperatures. And finally, any techniques or recipes I should know about?

I did a ham using the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe from the book last year and it turned out great. I think you may want to get the ham. I'm sure you could use the shoulder, but your product would be different. As I recall, once it is cured the smoking is more for some flavor than cooking. I do not recall the temperature they recommend, but I did not have it on the smoker a real long time

[Dave Hatfield]

Interesting. I've just started work on a ham for Thanksgiving. Its a shoulder.

You can see what I've been doing on my blog, address below, there is a recipe for the brining liquid which is mostly cider.

Recipe is from "the River Cottage Cookbook" from England. Its a different approach.

At the end of the brining period I'll boil it, then dry it a bit and roast it. This is a very typical English approach and is really delicious.

Have a look.