Ham/whole pig leg question

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I am still new to my weber, only owned it now for 2 weeks and have had amazing results so far. My girlfriend wnats me to smoke her a ham. My butcher has ordered me in a whole pig leg with bone in as they dont have any uncooked ham, just the already half smoked stuff. I am wondering how many hours its gonna take to cook this bad boy. I planned in leaving a half nch layer of fat on it and cut 1/4 inch in to it in a checkered pattern. Make a nice brown sugar type rub for it, and baste it with pineapple juice towards the end. From what i have read i have to cook it til it's 165 inside it. And im guessing but its probly gonna take 18 plus hours to cook right? And what temperture should i cook it at? I am assuming basically a low temperature around 225-250. Any other tips you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Danny
 
Hi, Danny. Welcome to the board.

I do fresh hams (what you've ordered) fairly often. I score the skin (it's the skin that gets crosshatched into a diamond pattern--it gets crispy when cooked at high heat--but you can score the fat if you decide to remove the skin first) then I flavor-brine a couple-three days. I make a paste rub and grill-roast around 325-350 degrees, with smokwood, to an internal of 160. The skin is spicy hot/sweet, I remove it and chop it a little, and serve the meat sliced with a sauce.

This sauce of roasted pineapple and Dijon was one I did a while ago and the opening paragraph gives some idea of the process. (If you want more details let me know.)

Fresh hams can be cooked low and slow to a higher internal like butt (not a fave of mine), or low/slow to a lower internal (I don't see an advantage unless you need the time).

If your girlfriend is looking for a ham finish (like the 'half smoked stuff' you mentioned) you will not achieve that unless you cure it first with either a salt/sugar cure or, more commonly, a cure made with nitrate or nitrite or both. Whether the curing will take weeks or many days depends on ham size and whether or not one injects the curing solution.
 
How long does it take to cook, i'd like to smoke it like the butt i did, low and slow, took 18 hours, but worth it.

Danny
 
How long it will take depends on its size, the cook temp and your desired finish internal.

You can low/slow fresh ham but I don't recommend taking it to a high internal. The interior fat/connective tissue structure is not the same as butt; it is neither as plentiful nor as striated and can tend toward dryness if the internal is taken too high. Often, only parts of leg are pullable; generally, fresh ham is chopped. I think butt is better for pulling/chopping. Fresh ham works best, imo, sliced, so only a 160 temp is necessary--a real time saver.

I like high heat for the skin but if you'd prefer low/sow remove the skin (freeze it for another use or smoke it a little while then freeze for another use) and reduce the thickness of the remaining fat a bit. Score the fat, avoiding cutting into the flesh, rub and smoke. If pulled at 160 and rested the ham should take 10-12 hours but this will depend on cook temp and thickness of the leg.
 
I usually remove the skin and then trim and score the fat. I prefer to slice the fresh ham so I let it get to between 160 and 165. I also cut the ham into the shank and the butt end before cooking. Most of the time I am done in the 9 - 12 hour range depending on the size of the ham and the weather conditions.

Just some more information that may or may not be helpful.
 
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