Whole Fresh Ham

[baking with fire]

Anyone ever cook a whole fresh Ham.

Its about 23 lbs, bone in.

I was planing on a long slow roast, but a little worried about the center being in a dangerous temperature zone too long.

How long will it take and at what temp?

Suggestions welcome.

[Syzygies]

That's a big piece of meat! I've had that much meat cooking, but never in one piece. My fantasy cut is beef shoulder clod (as in the whole shoulder), comes in pieces that might not even fit my cooker.

If you aim to finish in 20 hours, you're cooking no differently than every pulled pork ever made. Even if you're in technical violation of the danger zone guidelines, they're just guidelines*, and they don't factor in unbroken flesh being safer than e.g. ground meat. There were a slew of graphs of cooking times for butt on the web a few years ago, perhaps seeing one will set your mind a bit at ease.

I used to get spirited debates from experts by advocating variable temperature cooks. There's a tension between the useful and detrimental effects of long cooking times, even without considering your concerns. On one hand, long cooking dries out meat. This is a relative thing, we all know that the advantage of a ceramic cooker is that the meat doesn't dry out, right? Well, it dries out less, and shorter cooking times mean even less. Even this is not necessarily a good thing, as we're concentrating flavors by reducing the meat.

See, one can get tied in knots thinking about this, right? Reason can only take you so far in cooking, I prefer to cook various ways and see what I like. I've found that I like shorter cooks, as long as I accomplish the same things that a longer cook would have done for me.

1. Smoke penetration

People debate the exact temperature, but a competition-grade smoke ring forms only at surface temperatures that one has passed long before the center has entered the danger zone. Some people put in cold meat into a cold cooker, hoping to prolong this period. I prefer my cooker and smoke to stabilize, but I still cook as low as I dare at first (200 to 220 F) initially.

2. Collagen breakdown

On the other hand, a primary benefit of long cooks is breaking down the collagen in these monumental cuts of meat. This happens at 160 F to 170 F, well after the danger zone. Those same graphs show stalls and actual dips in this temperature range, as this process sucks up energy. This too has been discussed endlessly on the web, it throws people to see that stall or dip when company is coming. But it's a good thing.

I "drive" by watching my probes, I'd want this to take 20 to 24 hours. Read how long it takes to roast a fresh ham "normally", you can always revert to this strategy as serving time becomes hours away, jacking up the fire.

So my strategy? Slow for smoke penetration. Hotter to get quickly through the danger zone to collagen breakdown. Slow for collagen breakdown. Hotter still, to race to the finish once I break out of this range.

Then, foil and towel the meat into a cooler (used here as a warmer) to rest and transport the meat, possibly for hours.

*These guidelines are based on classic exponential growth, and estimates as to how much bacteria might be initially present. Bacteria starts out mostly as a surface effect on meat, but grinding distributes evenly any present. Bacteria levels are far lower inches into unbroken meat, where it could take a "danger zone" duration for levels to climb to the starting levels that concern health experts. But I'm not a health expert, and salmonella is not a typical bacteria, this is just my amateur attempt to explain why no one gets sick eating pulled pork.

[Jim Malter]

Re: Whole Fresh Ham

Anyone ever cook a whole fresh Ham.

Its about 23 lbs, bone in.

I was planing on a long slow roast, but a little worried about the center being in a dangerous temperature zone too long.

How long will it take and at what temp?

Suggestions welcome.

B with F-

I did a 20 lbs'er last year. I brined it (1/4 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Qt. water) in a cooler for 36h and cooked indirect on the main grill at 325 for about 9 h. I flipped it over about half-way and took it off at 140-145 internal. I allowed it to rest about 45 min before serving. The leg is not fatty enough (IMHO) to do a long slow cook as done for a shoulder. The bone also seems to speed up the cooking.

Jim

Jim

[DennisLinkletter]

This is exactly what you want to do in a nutshell

Slow for smoke penetration. Hotter to get quickly through the danger zone to collagen breakdown. Slow for collagen breakdown. Hotter still, to race to the finish once I break out of this range.

Then, foil and towel the meat into a cooler (used here as a warmer) to rest and transport the meat, possibly for hours.

This is exactly what you want to do in a nutshell.. IMHO

Thanks for the concise post Syzygies, great to have you here..

[baking with fire]

Thanks guys

Thanks guys

Soaking it overnight in a brine, 1 cup kosher salt, 1 gallon apple cider and some spices.

Will put it on the fire Christmas morning.

[primeats]

A good brine will float a raw egg(in the shell of coarse). Remember a "Green ham" is very lean and may not lend itself to a low and slow. If you have ever done a fresh picnic ham you will see what I mean. Anyway I would not worry about getting it fully cooked if you keep the temps above 200.Good luck my friend and merry Christmas to one and all .Best of health and happy New Year. Dennis, we in our family are all saying prayers for your dad and your extended family in this time of crisis. Losing my Dad was one of the worst times of my life,makes you appreciate what you have now, puts things in a different perspective,you know?

[Greg_R]

I did a whole ham for Christmas using some Cuban spices. I left a good bit of fat on the outside of the meat to self-baste as it cooked (ala briscut). Overall it turned out OK... I was not a big fan of the marinate I tried but the meat was tender.

Keep in mind that a "ham" can be a shoulder, picnic, or leg. Know what you're getting at the butcher...

[Sanny]

What marinade did you use, Greg?

Sounds like a wonderful meal, though.

[Majestik]

I did a whole ham for Christmas using some Cuban spices.

Pix or it didn't happen.

[Greg_R]

I used the Cuban Mojo marinate from the BBQ bible "rubs and sauces" book. I definitely overcooked the meat (did it overnight and woke up to it being over-temp ) so I may give the marinate another try at some point. It uses a lot of sour-orange and cilantro (those are the primary flavors).

[gadgetgeek]

I used the Cuban Mojo marinate from the BBQ bible "rubs and sauces" book. I definitely overcooked the meat (did it overnight and woke up to it being over-temp ) so I may give the marinate another try at some point. It uses a lot of sour-orange and cilantro (those are the primary flavors).

Thanks... I picked up a 20# whole fresh ham from a Central, GA. Hog killing yesterday, and have been thinking about just what to do with it...

I think I'll cut mine in two (it helps to have good suggesters), slice some nice Hamish steaks to freeze and smoke the shank end for dinners this week. I may just chunk up the rest in serving size pieces, drop some marinade on them, vacuum pack them and toss them in the freezer?

I just don't have the place to do a good cure, or I'd do that with the whole thing.

.