problem scenario with ham


 
Antti P

Antti P

TVWBB Member
Dear all,

I'm seeking help with my 17,7 pound ham. Firstly little bit about the background; I'm from Finland (greetings!) and our meats are cut little bit different than in U.S, this goes for pork and beef both. For example something like pork butt is unknown here, which of cource is a shame.

Most of our ham's are sold without the bone. Meaning that the bone has been removed and the ham has been put together by the butcher. To finalize the ham it is covered from top side with skin and no skin on the bottom. Naturally this "thingie" does not hold together with out some aid, so the whole ham is covered by net which is removed after cooking.

To the issue; I bought one these frozen babies after xmas from sale (we in Finland tend to eat ham's only during xmas) and I'm planning to give it the royal WSM treatment during the spring. Problem is that I would really much like to remove the skin and give a good rub of spices all a round.

Could I simply remove the net and skin then give it the rub and tie the ham again with cooking string? Honestly, when I now think about it I'm not sure if it worth the risk – it might come apart.

Maybe second option could that I rub the part of the ham which not covered by the skin and after the ham is almost done, remove it from the WSM and take the net and skin off, then giving it final rub + maybe some glaze? Again back to WSM for a while...

Any advice from you on this matter - do you have any similar experience?

Traditionally Finnish xmas ham is cooked in an oven with low heat without any spices (the ham is salt-cured) for ham this size about 10 hours. With this extra ham I want to experiment a little bit.

Many thanks!

Br,
Antti

-- Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker, Weber Q300 --

p.s
Sorry for any inconvenience with my written English.
 
I would remove the netting and skin then re-tie the ham with cooking string. rub it then smoke it. without that bone in it you might need a extra pair of hands to help you get it re-tied
 
Welcome Antti! I find the different traditions and customs around the world very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I would agree with j, remove the net and skin, tie it up good with cooking string, and rub it down to your liking. Final glaze it to your liking. Pull it, rest it, cut the string and fest.

So what do all the farmers / butchers do with the upper portion of the hogs front shoulders? That's all the "pork butt" is. Maybe they just refer to it by some other name?

Todd
 
Thank you for your expertise, I will try it as you suggested.

We'll we have inexpensive part of hog which is called "kassler" - I believe it is in fact the back of the neck part. That's pretty much on the same area as renowed "butt"? Could it even be the same?

Only problem is that our meats that are sold in normal supermarkets are soaked in some industrial marinade and thus tasting like crap. It's relly hard to find unmarinated meats and butchers shop is dying form of business here. Luckily I have stumbled to place which sell's kassler meat ala naturel, so I'll try that as well.

Nevertheless I'm a rookie with WSM I need loads of practise still - bought it last fall and only 4 sessions so far..

Cheers,
Antti
 
I found this but not sure how much help that is because I was looking for your requested "pork butt" or "boston butt" and the two shoulder cuts on that site don't exactly look like what I buy, but maybe it will help you out some I hope. And EVERYONE needs to make this!! That cut would be "2205" on this page! you must make bacon sometime!
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Although im not sure what you were eating, from what I understand, generally "kassler" is ussually some cut from the neck or the tenderloin from what I read, either way I dont think it would have been the Boston Butt cut you asked about. You just never know! Let me know if you get things figured out. A search on the internet provides much more similar to what I linked to you as well.
I very much enjoy a lot of metal music from Finland. Have a good one.
 
Thank you Dan!

This is spinning bit offtopic, but few words anyway.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how different are the meat cut's compared to yours - most likely the Kassler is the neck of the hog and the Butt would more upper shoulder, maybe.

Nevertheless Kassler is very fat peace of the animal and luckily its available in some places - I have to give it a try. After the high economic growth in Finland back in late '90 and trough out the 2000 folks here have started to eat lot of filet meats, loin and tenderloin. Hopefully the current depression will make inexpensive cuts more popular
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!
 
Antti,

Chris has meat charts posted on this site at Meat Charts.

Scroll down to the pork section, there are 3 pdf files. In the first one, it's called shoulder butt. In the second one, it's called Boston Butt. In the last, which is probably more accurate I suppose, it's called Collar Butt (#4059) which is cut out of the Shoulder Square Cut (#4029).

If you have a printer, especially a color printer, you might have some luck taking these to your local butcher / meat market and pointing out what you want.

Todd
 
Hello Antti,

You should probably not add any salt to the rub you mix up, the cured ham will likely be salty enough.

I hope you post again and let us know how you have made out getting shoulder.
 
Good Antti, I'm happy I could help. Now about those pictures. I can't make heads or tails of them, literaly!!!!! The second one is pork, I think I got that. Is the butt the Ulkopaisti?

Todd
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Is the butt the Ulkopaisti? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That's the top of the rear leg. I think shoulder butt is lapa, shoulder picnic is potka or potka might be hock, lapa is top of picnic and etuselka is shoulder. In either case, lapa and etuselka should make good pulled pork.

Rinta is brisket.
 
Sorry Todd, I was suppose to put some guidelines how to read the chart, like where's the head etc. but I was busy with some work related stuff and forgot. To all of our luck Shawn seems to be fluent in Finnish language and cracked the puzzle - thanks!


Edit: an addition - Thanks Shawn for pointing out the salt issue, might have added salt without thinking and potentially ruinned the meat. The cure is about 1,5% strong in salt, which for me is enough.
 
If it's a cured ham, I beleive a low slow cook would tend to dry it out. Might want to consider a high temp, about 300.

I've smoked fresh ham (not somoked or cured) a few times in the past. Low temp. They are ok but not as flavorful as butts.

Hams in general do not benefit from low/slow like butts do IMHO. Less fat and connective tissue. If I'm doing a cured ham on the WSM it's done hi temp until it reaches serving temp.
 
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