How To: Curing and Smoking a Ham
This is a basic recipe for curing a ham. You can add other herbs and spice to suit your tastes; this is something I want to experiment with. Although this calls for a 3-4 lb ham, it can easily scale to a larger piece. You just need to make more curing solution, leave it in the cure for longer, and cook longer.
Curing the ham
Ingredients
3-4 lb fresh ham
1 cup Salt, non-iodized
1 cup Brown sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 gallon water
Make the curing solution
- Add salt, brown sugar and pepper to a large pot.
- Add half, 2 quarts, of the water and heat until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Add the other half, 2 quarts, of cold water and wait for the liquid to cool.
- Place the ham into a large container. It needs to be big enough to completely submerge the ham.
- Pour the cooled curing solution over the ham. You might not need all of it but make sure the meat is covered.
- Put a weight, I use a plate, on top of the ham to hold it under the liquid.
Cover, and place in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Every day or two, check on the ham and flip it over. Curing is finished when the ham is firm throughout.
Smoking
Equipment
Smoker
Meat thermometer
Smoking wood chips. I use apple wood.
Directions
- Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the smoker to 225 F and add the wood chips.
- Remove ham from curing liquid and rinse well.
- Smoke the ham for 2-3 hours, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 150 F
- Add wood chips as needed during cooking.
- Remove from smoker and allow to rest for 15 minutes
- Enjoy
What if I don't have a smoker?
You can still make ham!
One option is to use a gas or charcoal grill.
Weber has a great guide on using a charcoal grill as a smoker here. This is how I smoked meat before I got my smoker. It takes some extra work and experimenting to control the temperature but still makes a delicious ham.
If you don’t have a smoker or a grill, you can cook it in an oven but won’t get a smoky flavor. Follow the cooking instructions above, excluding the wood chips.
Hey, now I have a solution for that uncured ham I've got sitting out in the garage freezer! Thank you for posting this!! :)
That's why I started curing meat. I had a freezer full of uncured ham and pork belly that I needed to do something with.
I will try this next time I smoke a ham. I actually really like doing a salt and vinegar brine for several days and then smoke my ham. I will be interesting in how it will compare. Thanks for the information. I always like a barrel charcoal smoker but I tried out a nice electric one that I did not think I would like and well I love it. I just set it and walk away to do other things on the homestead without needing to keep an eye on it at all times. I also like it can double as a dehydrator simply by not adding wood pellets. I saved this recipe and will see how I like it. Thanks again.
I've never tried vinegar for the brine. I was a little concerned about flavor when switching from charcoal to electric but I've been impressed. It still has a good smoke flavor and is so much less work.
Using it as a dehydrator is such a great idea. I was planning on buying a dehydrator but will try using the smoker first. Thanks for the idea
That looks good! mmmm I'm hungry now.
It is really good. So much better than anything I have bought from the grocery store.
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