Cured and Smoked Wild Hog Ham

[Burnadell]

That looks excellent!

[Djhester]

Looks great! I've simply been freezing them. Smoking the hams on a pit, wrapping in foil with juice and finishing in the oven overnight. Makes great pulled pork tacos or sandwiches.

[SaltwaterSlick]

I have been cold smoking some salmon that I finished up overnight last night and pulled and put up this morning before work. So I am sitting at school smelling like a smokehouse right now. Well, at least a little bit smokey. I can smell it. It's not all bad.

Glenn, when I retire, I will do some of those old things once again... Want to teach my grandsons how it used to be... I enjoy that kind of thing, but just do not have time right now to do it... Never smoked Salmon (or any fish). Is it done pretty much like you would pork with the same seasonings or something else?

[ArcheryNerd]

Man that looks awesome, now we will have to get a hog this weekend

[hooligan]

looks great, I'm interested in the venison pastrami recipe also

now I almost wish we had pigs on the new place... almost

[Hills of Texas]

I’ve been doing this for the last few months. Also pastrami from beef rounds. I’m really enjoying the process.

[Capt Glenn]

Glenn, when I retire, I will do some of those old things once again... Want to teach my grandsons how it used to be... I enjoy that kind of thing, but just do not have time right now to do it... Never smoked Salmon (or any fish). Is it done pretty much like you would pork with the same seasonings or something else?

Yes, same process. Cure then smoke.

[Chew]

Good thread! Thanks Kevin.

[twobittxn]

I have done a few of these and really enjoy it. I don't do any injections and have never had an issue.

I follow the calculator on www.amazingribs.com

[Kevin]

Thanks all. Going to make a sandwich with it today for lunch.

Here is the recipe I used for the cure. It has some cool history so I would recommend reading through the entire thread.

My notes are in Italics

For every 1 gallon of water, add:

1/3 - 1 cup sea salt (depending if you're on a lo-salt diet... Note: I used 1/2)

1 cup granulated sugar or Splenda

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cure no. 1 pink salt

stir thoroughly until clear amber color, pour over meat, inject if necessary to cure from inside-out as well as outside-in

weight down with a partially filled 1 qt or 1 gal. ziploc bag or bags to keep meat immersed

Curing times vary with meat, but generally overnight to 2-3 days for chickens and turkeys, 8-10 days buckboard bacon, 10-14 days belly bacon, pork shoulder, whole butts, 3-4 weeks whole hams, 10-20 days corned beef (fresh beef roasts, briskets, rolled rib roasts, etc.) If whole muscle is more than 2" thick, then inject so it can cure i/o as well as o/i, and/or in and around bone structures, etc.
(NOTE: The rule I used was 1 days per 1/4" of meat + 2 days. This counts from both sides plus I injected. So for a 4" thick ham getting penetration from both sides, it was 8 days plus 2 = 10 days minimum. I did 12 and since this recipe has a lower concentration of pink salt and they said on the forum that it doesn't get overly salty. Mine is certainly not salty)

You can add any other flavorings you'd like, this is just the basic curing brine. 1 heaping tablespoon of cure is about 1 ounce. The maximum concentration allowed safely is 3.84 ounces per 1 gallon of brine (24 lbs.per 100 gallons: 16 oz. x 24 = 384 ounces, 1/100th is 3.84 ounces). You can experiment with different concentrations as long as you keep it between those parameters:

Source:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/pops6927s-wet-curing-brine.110799/

After brining, I rinsed it well and then left it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours in order to help with the smoke absorption. Smoked until 140 and then tented in the oven until 165. If you are using store bought hams, you can cook to lower temp. Wild should hit 165 to be safe from what I've read.

Its for sure worth the time.

This is the brine bucket I got:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FLPXDKH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Injector:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZFG4DCK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pink Salt:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J179V3G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Next time I will use the backstraps to make Canadian bacon along with it.

[Kevin]

Ahhhh yah.

[Kevin]

Ok now for some wild pork ham navy bean soup.

I’ll be honest, this is what I was really looking forward to!

[SaltwaterSlick]

Man those Navy beans look GOOOOOD!!