Fresh Leg of Pork on WSM?


 

D. Dix

TVWBB Member
Has anyone out there brined/wet cured a fresh leg of pork and smoked/cooked on a WSM? Many videos on the curing process, but I can't find any cooks with WSM. Thanks for sharing your experiences if you have. Blessings from Sunny Sacramento!!
 
Last edited:
Really if you think about what you are really doing it is nothing more than making a ham. A ham is a brined smoked leg of pork, brine as you wish and smoke long, long and slow.
 
Havn't done a ham, but do a bunch of pork loins for canadien bacon, same process, and the WSM smokes them fine.
 
I agree. I just found it odd that I couldn't find anything on YT with a WSM? Maybe I'll chart those waters and post. We'll see what the wifey wants to do for the holidays!!
 
Well, YouTube is not quite as all knowing as it sometimes says it is.
Chart away, send particulars when you are safely harbored!
 
Yea the search is kinda a drag. I did one on fresh ham and that didn't do anything, but remembered the Hamonster thread.
So I searched that>https://tvwbb.com/search.php?searchid=2489423
HTH
Tim
Edit: well that's weird, everytime I do a search it appears, but when I copy and paste it says no matches to my search.
 
Last edited:
I haven't done a fresh ham in ages. (The rear leg of the pig is called a ham, the front leg a picnic. Fresh ham is uncured. It becomes what we think of as "ham" if cured and smoked.) I could have sworn I'd posted a fresh ham cook here years ago but a search didn't bring up anything.

I much prefer to flavor-brine fresh ham for a few days rather than curing it. I use a razor blade to cut a diamond pattern into the skin (I MUCH prefer them skin on), cutting through the skin and the fat but not into the flesh. Then I brine, often in a well-salted mix of juices (mango, apple) and heavy garlic, chilies and herbs. I make a paste of a few heads of garlic, peeled and puréed with Tabasco and brown sugar. This gets spread on the skin and worked into all the cut lines. I smoke/roast at ~325-350˚ till done (an internal of ~148-150˚, it will rise during the rest), remove the skin pieces and return them to cook at >375˚ till crisp, while the roast rests.
 

 

Back
Top