smoking 2 uncooked hams


 
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Billy Hammond

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I just picked up 2 shank portion hams uncooked, one about 8 lbs and the other about the same. I want to slow smoke these sort of like pork butts but the only method I see here is 15-20 minutes per pound with the weber at 325 degrees or so, no water..Can someone tell me what the best thing to do with these things is? A lot of people are depending on me for Thanksgiving dinner...God, why couldnt they have wanted pork butts!!! HELP!!!! and thanks as always
 
I smoke then at 225 to 250 till they reach 160º if fresh hams or to 140 to 145º doing a cooked ham and I'm doing a double smoked recipe. Use waterpan with water or sand, hickory and pecan are my favorites.
Jim
 
Thank you Jim (Dr. Minion)...They are indeed fresh ham shank portions. They look great just sitting there waiting to be put on the bullet.
 
Not to go too far off topic, but what does a fresh ham taste like and what type of texture is it? Do you slice it and eat it like cured ham?
 
Jerry--

They taste a lot like pork roast, or 'smoked' pork roast if you smoke them.

Billy--

I do my fresh hams at brined, paste-rubbed, and at a higher temp, with hickory as I described to Al here, if you're interested.
 
Uh-0h my friend.
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If they truly are fresh hams, they won't taste like ham if all you do is rub/smoke them. That ham flavor comes from a cure. A strong brine or pumping them may help, but I don't think you have the time to cure them
so they taste like cured ham.
 
uh-oh is right.. I got two hams. Plain ole raw, straight off the hog hams.. no rub, no nothin, just straight onto the smoker... Looks like I'll have to start all over tomorrow. So what internal temp should I bring these dudes to?
 
I put these things on at 6:30 at 250 and the temps remained constant..Its now 11
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m and the internal temp on the hams are both 150. When should I pull them? Do I take them to 190 like a butt? Do I foil them? remember, these were fresh hams, not cured in the least..thanks!!!
 
My guess would be 180 but I don't know much about fresh hams. You could take them to 195 and make pulled pork out of them.
 
I saw where someone had said pull at 150, 140 should be ok. He pulled at 160 and the juices ran out. At 190 he thought they would look like a hockey puck. LOL..well, they were at 150 and I foiled them, pulled them, and put them in a styrofoam cooler. If push comes to shove, we'll finish em off in the oven. They might not taste like a cured ham but they sure look and smell wonderful...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jim Minion:
I smoke then at 225 to 250 till they reach 160º if fresh hams or to 140 to 145º doing a cooked ham and I'm doing a double smoked recipe. Use waterpan with water or sand, hickory and pecan are my favorites.
Jim <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, what Jim said.
 
Man, all this talk about FRESH ham, has got me thinkin!! Guess I will have to lay out some $$$ and see if they are worth the hype!
 
Try one. I really like them. I do the whole cross-hatch pattern thing and brine for a day or two. Full-flavored brine, spicy rub. The bone and whatever's attached after makes good soup.
 
These came out good. I pulled em at 150, wrapped em up in foil and let em sit for two more hours. It was 2am so we through em in the frige an warmed one up at lunch. While it wasnt like a 'cured' ham, it still wasnt like a pork butt either. But it is dee-licious..A lot leaner than a butt and more for slicing than pulling I would say..good though..
 
update post..Today when we went to carve the hams (roasts), they were still raw in the center near the bone. I had two of them one 9lbs, the other 8lbs. They were on the weber at 250 for 4 hours and then foiled and put in a cooler for 2 hours. The internal temp of both were 150 when I pulled them. Im wondering on these fresh hams what internal temp will get them done?
 
Allowing that these are probably just like butts (except for the bone). 4 hours seems incredibly fast. The tissue isn't really broken down at that temperature. Read THIS. I'd cook 'em just like a butt if they were un-cured and straight 'fresh-ham'.
 
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