Has any one brined and smoked their own ham?

[farmertrish]

I have a whole ham, bone in. I plan to de-bone it and lay it flat to brine. It should take less time for the brine to penetrate the meat. Should I roll it back up and tie it to smoke? Any/all suggestions will be appreciated. I would prefer to leave out sodium nitrate if possible. My daughter and I both have Meniere's disease and high salt and sodium nitrate knock us for a loop. Sodium nitrate is the worst though, don't eat ANY food with that in it.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

You are just full of surprises aren't you. First its blue potatoes, then it's plans to graft trees and now you want to make a ham. More energy than I have in a week.

I think if I were to do this, which I never, and if I did, I 'd leave the bone in, which is also a personal preference. I would tie it back up for smokng.

Here's some nice pics from another website of a recent smoked ham s/he did to give us all something to wet our whistles.

Ham & Pickle Sandwiches


I don't know, but where's the part where a ham has to hang for some months to cure in cool rafters and then you put it in a wash tub and scrub it and trim the outer fat and then it finally gets baked. I think it gets brined and smoked first? Well, I only know the part you look for a good ham, score it and put in some whole cloves in diamonds and make a nice basting sauce. Eat. Best of good luck with your project and I hope you share some pics along the way.

 

[CraigC]

Brines generally include salt (sodium chloride). Not sure what you can sub.

 

[forty_caliber]

I've smoked several hams but I buy uncooked Smithfield hams for this. I've not tried to cure one myself.

.40

 

[Rocket_J_Dawg]

My Opa was a butcher and he always used saltpeter (potassium nitrate but serves the same purpose as sodium nitrate) when either wet or dry curing. Partly because it produces that nice pink color we all like but most importantly it protects against botulism poisoning.

I have read that some people will use celery juice instead of pink salt but it is still potassium nitrate.

You could brine it without any nitrate but it could take a week depending on the size of the leg. Not using nitrates is kind of like playing Russian Roulette. These articles should explain a little further.

National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I? Cure & Smoke

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/cure_smoke/curing_pork.pdf

 

[taxlady]

Cool links Rocket. Thanks.

 

[farmertrish]

Been doing my homework on this one before I thaw the ham out. First thing, lol, Whisk, I'm not that busy at all right now. It's just an illusion. Potatoes are just sitting in storage. Grafting is a hobby in the spring. We do have a working farm, and at certain times of the year I'm running my butt off. Then there are down times, like now, when the work is winding down, I become an underachiever, which is why I am thinking about making a ham.
The botulism did have me concerned. I have made bacon in the past, and it was fantastic! And no one died! I dry-cured it. Botulism in an anaerobic bacterium. I'm going to go with this:[]Maker's Mark® Brined Pork Sandwiches with Smoked Gouda and Maker's Mark® Jus | Maker's Mark® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Handmade Whisky