Smoked Ham--Strange Occurrence

[Shelby]

I've googled and googled and I can't find the answer to my question. Thus, I'm posing it to you guys because I bet you know the answer!

A family member placed an already cooked and spiral cut ham in foil and smoked on the smoker. The ham had a pretty good "crust" on the outside so you could tell it had been smoked for a while. The ham looked perfectly normal, but when eating it, it was MUSH. I literally took a piece, mushed it up and made a dough ball out of it. Seriously. It was the strangest texture.

Any ideas what happened to that ham?

[MSRadell]

My guess would be that because of the foil they basically steamed the ham. How long, and at what temperature did they cook it?

[Shelby]

My guess would be that because of the foil they basically steamed the ham. How long, and at what temperature did they cook it?

Good questions and I don't know. So, if ham is steamed too long, it would become sticky and mushy like that?

Everyone ate the ham like it was normal and no one said a word lol.

[pbear]

My guess would be that it was the ham rather than the smoker. For example, if it had been frozen, thawed and refrozen (could have happened anywhere, at the processing plant, in transit and/or at the retail store), that would adversely affect the texture.

Just a guess, though.

[dcarch]

Mushy meat typically is a result of excess tenderizer use. Try marinating meat with fresh pineapple and you will see literally meat paste.

dcarch

[nickrey]

Plus food processors inject large amounts of water into their processed pork products. Steaming from the inside as well as the outside would not help matters.

[djyee100]

You're not alone. Here

http://dir.thathomesite.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0414400112018.html?3

and here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110424114615AA8tD1B

I favor the excess tenderizer theory. Some kind of acid had to break down the proteins to mush. Then excess water in the foil-wrapped ham over low heat for hours effectively "braised" the ham, and broke down more meat proteins as well. That's my guess.

Everyone ate the ham like it was normal and no one said a word lol.

Love it.

ETA: Excuse me, some kind of enzymatic tenderizer, not acid, turned the meat to mush. Food tech guru Shirley Corriher has the the last word:
http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx

Edited April 5, 2013 by djyee100 (log)

[Mjx]

Mushy meat typically is a result of excess tenderizer use. Try marinating meat with fresh pineapple and you will see literally meat paste.

dcarch

That was my first thought, too.

[DTBarton]

I think a combination of all of the above notions perhaps combined with old fashioned over cooking?

Edited April 6, 2013 by DTBarton (log)

[Shelby]

Thanks, everyone.

[budrichard]

Your typical spiral sliced 'city'(water injected and cured) ham requires no cooking, is seasoned and smoked and only requires heating.

Throwing it in foil onto a grill for smoking and cooking does nothing for the ham except over cook the ham as you found out.

If you want to do it yourself on your grill, purchase a fresh ham, season and smoke slowly on your grill or smoker for 4-6 hours until tender.-Dick