Bone-in-ham

[jszmgpolk]

Posted this in the cooking forum and thought this might be a good topic here.

I have a 23# fresh bone in ham that I am going to cook for Christmas. Ideas on how to cook? I am thinking of brining for 3-5 days and baking in the oven. Then finish the ham off with a glaze.

Any hints or tips for preparation, brining, and cooking would be greatly appreciated.

[vicker]

I can tell you that a real maple syrup and brown sugar glaze is wonderful. Maple just goes with ham.

[Coco]

cook low and slow for several hrs

[MO_cows]

It's already been cured, right? Not a raw ham? So it shouldn't need brine. It was brined for weeks during the curing process.

Cook low and slow. I like to score a ham, stick in a few cloves, baste with apple cider, then put glaze on it towards the end of cooking.

23 pounds is a big 'un!

ETA: save the bone, it makes good broth or soup

[vicker]

Originally Posted by MO_cows

It's already been cured, right? Not a raw ham? So it shouldn't need brine. It was brined for weeks during the curing process.

Cook low and slow. I like to score a ham, stick in a few cloves, baste with apple cider, then put glaze on it towards the end of cooking.

23 pounds is a big 'un!

ETA: save the bone, it makes good broth or soup

No, I don't think a fresh ham has been cured. I would cook like a hog, or butt, but, I've no experience. I really thought someone here could advise. research on Google, and find a recipe you feel good about. You don't want to dry it out, but you don't want to under cook it either. Maybe the OP nneds to add more info, and give us a better idea.

[logbuilder]

My mom was a southern cook. She would score the fat and then put cloves in the cuts. Then she would dump in a can of Dr. Pepper and would bake.

[jszmgpolk]

The ham has not been cured. Fresh from the market. I have searched the web and have found a wealth of information. Just value this forum and wanted to see what you guys think.

[1shotwade]

Ham comes off the same animal as bacon! How could it not be good whichever way you cook it?! I have never had a bite of ham or bacon I didn't like!


Wade

[geo in mi]

This one from Paula Deen looks pretty good, and it has some basic info on cooking a FRESH ham, which I assume is what you have. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/p...am-recipe.html

Note that yours seems almost twice the size of the one she is talking about, so, DEFINITELY use a meat thermometer and get that internal temperature up there, or you'll be eating raw meat in the center.... Also note, fresh ham, when baked, no matter how much seasoning you use on the outside, will taste like just pork roast or pork chops on the deep inside parts. You could brine it(if you have enough time before Christmas,) but you should also inject it, down towards the bone. Even with brining, it still will only taste like salty pork chops or roast..... and if you're not careful it will be very dry on the outer parts. That's the reason hams are also smoked--to give some sort of flavor and some tenderness to an otherwise dry and flavorless meat.....(My opinion...because it is a muscle meat and has a low fat marbling content within the various muscles)

But, no matter, 325 degrees F, baked at twenty minutes per pound, times the number of pounds, should tell you how early to get up and get it in the oven--or is that, stay up, the night before? AND, tent it with foil and let it rest for maybe a half an hour when done, so the juices will stay in the meat and not dribble out when you slice it.

If it were mine, I would use the Paula Deen recipe, then put it on a Weber rotisserie, and use cherry wood pieces for smoke, and buy an extra tank of gas...and hope for a nice day outside. (That is, if I would ever spring for the ninety bucks to buy the rotisserie unit...)

Hoping you have a good Holiday.

geo

[deerhunter]

Several years ago a neighbor bought a smoker and asked if he could borrow some wood since I heat with wood and I told him I had about 6 pieces of cherry left from the year before. He was going to smoke a turkey and I told him it should work well. I also asked for him to bring me a small portion when he finished it. That turkey was moist and seasoned well because he was originally from Puerto Rico. He was very pleased as I was since he brought some to me. Absolutely delicious!!

[MO_cows]

I guess my definitions are different. To me, "fresh" simply means it hasn't ever been frozen from the time the animal was killed.

The curing process is what makes it into "ham" versus just pork. Not cured would be "raw". If it is really raw and not cured, it would have blood instead of "juice" coming out of it. Should be able to tell by the appearance if it has been cured or not.

If you started brining right this second, there isn't enough time until Christmas to cure such a big piece of meat. The injection idea sounds good if it is in fact a raw pork hindquarter and not already cured into a ham.

Even if it is raw pork, low and slow cooking, a salty injection, glazing, etc. should make for a delicious piece of meat.

[vicker]

When I say I've no experience, I mean with a fresh ham. I've cooked a ton or so of Butts or shoulders. I think with shoulders, you really want to go a good bit above the minimum internal temp, slowly, till it is fork tender. I think you have to worry about the ham being too dry. brining and injection will help. If I'm correct, you're going to want to bring it to the minimum internal temp. I'd guess 165 tops. With a real country cured ham, the best way is to boil it to the min temp, and then brown and glaze in the oven for only 30 minutes or so.

Apple sauce, maple syrup, really any fruit will go good with the meat. I did apple butter and maple smoke on a butt once that was just fabulous.
Just be careful not to over cook and dry it out. That would be a shame.

People tend to under cook the shoulders. You'd be hard pressed to dry those out.

[vicker]

Think of it like this. When I BBQ a whole chicken I use indirect heat and always put the butt towards the heat. The white and dark meat have different characteristics when cooking. Dark meat likes long and slow, but you have to be careful not to dry out the white meat. Around here, some BBQ joints will ask (I'm in SC, BBQ means hog) if you want white or dark meat. The ham is white.

[logbuilder]

Originally Posted by vicker

Think of it like this. When I BBQ a whole chicken I use indirect heat and always put the butt towards the heat. The white and dark meat have different characteristics when cooking. Dark meat likes long and slow, but you have to be careful not to dry out the white meat. Around here, some BBQ joints will ask (I'm in SC, BBQ means hog) if you want white or dark meat. The ham is white.

Thanks for the info Vicker. I grill and smoke a lot and have never been that happy with my whole chickens. Lately I've been doing the beer can thing. It is pretty good but I'd really like to smoke them more. I've had smoked chicken that the skin was like a transparent wrapping. Very good. I'd like to duplicate it. I do ribs, butt and brisket that I am happy with but the whole chicken, no so much so.

Any pointers? I like your indirect idea. I do that all the time for low and slow ribs on my gas grill. Low and slow otherwise is in the smoker with a side box. I wanna get some good smoked chicken. You know where the smoke ring runs all the way thru and the skin is crunchy.

[jwal10]

Originally Posted by 1shotwade

Ham comes off the same animal as bacon! How could it not be good whichever way you cook it?! I have never had a bite of ham or bacon I didn't like!


Wade

Ham and Bacon are cured.


For me, if you want ham it needs cure and smoke either real or chemical. Real is a process, chemical can be quick. Salt and liquid smoke if you want the smoke flavor quickly. Also can add sugar to curing liquid. Other wise you have brined pork butt....James

[jszmgpolk]

Thanks so much for the help. Injected the ham last night with almost 32 ounces of the brine it is now soaking in. I will let it soak til 5 am on Wednesday morning and start cooking. I will let you know how it turns out.

[Skandi]

AH so it's just pork, right well then I would cut the bone out, stuff it with a breadcrumb/sage/suet/egg/salt and and pepper mix and then roast covered for 3-4 hours, then remove the cover and brown the top for 30mins on a higher temp.

I might make a stuffing, of bread, apples, prunes instead. salting it would just make it taste a bit strange, and there isn't time to cure a ham that size before chrismas!

edit, I see you have decided. good luck and I hope it turns out well.

[jszmgpolk]

Ham was FANTASTIC. Best I have ever tasted.

[Sawmill Jim]

Originally Posted by MO_cows

I guess my definitions are different. To me, "fresh" simply means it hasn't ever been frozen from the time the animal was killed.

The curing process is what makes it into "ham" versus just pork. Not cured would be "raw". If it is really raw and not cured, it would have blood instead of "juice" coming out of it. Should be able to tell by the appearance if it has been cured or not.

If you started brining right this second, there isn't enough time until Christmas to cure such a big piece of meat. The injection idea sounds good if it is in fact a raw pork hindquarter and not already cured into a ham.

Even if it is raw pork, low and slow cooking, a salty injection, glazing, etc. should make for a delicious piece of meat.

For those further nauth than Tennessee the part in front is called shoulders the part going over the fence last is hams Hope this helps

[po boy]

Originally Posted by Sawmill Jim

For those further nauth than Tennessee the part in front is called shoulders the part going over the fence last is hams Hope this helps

Does that mean the pig pen/pasture was on fire?