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Homemade Christmas Ham
Posted on 12/23/21 at 8:55 am
Posted on 12/23/21 at 8:55 am
Began with a 22 pound fresh bone-in ham.
Removed the skin, but kept the skin on the hock.
The other side of the ham, before the chine/aitch bone (the bone you see in the picture in the front middle). The bone was removed.
I had three hams. I cut the hocks off all three because I'd rather have the hocks for other dishes than attached to the ham. I cut two hams in half (this is how most spiral hams come in the grocery, a half ham) to give to friends and family.
The hams were then cured in a solution of sodium nitrite, various pickling spices, salt, and sugar. I injected the brine in the hams and then let them soak in the brine for 3 days.
Smoking the hams.
The finished product of one of the cut hams. After smoking, they were refrigerated.
A couple of days later, I glazed and baked the ham I did not cut in half (whole ham minus the hock).
Slicing the glazed ham.
This post was edited on 12/23/21 at 8:48 pm
4
Posted on 12/23/21 at 9:04 am to SixthAndBarone
I love making homemade hams. Your looks great! I have a boneless wild hog ham sitting in some brine right now to smoke tomorrow. 
Where do you buy your bone-in fresh hams?
Where do you buy your bone-in fresh hams?
Posted on 12/23/21 at 9:16 am to AyyyBaw
I order them direct from Tyson through some connections I have.
Posted on 12/23/21 at 11:50 am to SixthAndBarone
Thanks for sharing. What temp did you smoke the hams? Any flavor of wood chips?
Looks great.
Looks great.
Posted on 12/23/21 at 11:55 am to The Goon
Smoked at 225-250 with hickory wood until a 145 internal temperature. It took several hours to reach temp.
Posted on 12/23/21 at 11:55 am to SixthAndBarone
That looks outstanding. I want to try smoking one this spring.
Posted on 12/23/21 at 12:15 pm to LSUGUMBO
The hardest part is finding the fresh ham. They are usually 20-25 pounds but sometimes you can find smaller ones. I found an 8 pound ham once at the grocery and that was easy and fun to make. And you have to make sure you have refrigerator space and a big enough container to brine it. If you can accomplish those two things, the rest is very simple.
Here's a formula for 1 gallon of Brine/Cure. You'll need to make more than 1 gallon to cover the ham, depending on your container. You can use white or brown sugar, or a combination of both. Add a jar of pickling spices or two jars if you are using multiple gallons. Add any of the other spices I listed at the end if you want to play with the falvor. Inject the cure to speed up the brining process and then let it brine for a few days to be sure it picks up the cure. If you don't inject, it will take a lot longer to pick up the cure.
1 gallon water
1.25 cups salt
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 tablespoons prague powder
a jar of pickling spices
ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc.
Cut the skin off the ham but leave the fat on. If you can remove the chine bone, it's a lot easier to slice after it's cooked. If you can't, no big deal, you just have to fool with it when slicing. Inject and brine and then smoke. Once smoked, it's ready. You can refrigerate it and eat it later any way you want (cold or bake and glaze).
Here's a formula for 1 gallon of Brine/Cure. You'll need to make more than 1 gallon to cover the ham, depending on your container. You can use white or brown sugar, or a combination of both. Add a jar of pickling spices or two jars if you are using multiple gallons. Add any of the other spices I listed at the end if you want to play with the falvor. Inject the cure to speed up the brining process and then let it brine for a few days to be sure it picks up the cure. If you don't inject, it will take a lot longer to pick up the cure.
1 gallon water
1.25 cups salt
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 tablespoons prague powder
a jar of pickling spices
ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc.
Cut the skin off the ham but leave the fat on. If you can remove the chine bone, it's a lot easier to slice after it's cooked. If you can't, no big deal, you just have to fool with it when slicing. Inject and brine and then smoke. Once smoked, it's ready. You can refrigerate it and eat it later any way you want (cold or bake and glaze).
Posted on 12/23/21 at 12:16 pm to LSUGUMBO
Looks good. I love doing them in the oven and getting the skin crispy like a couchon de lait.
Posted on 12/23/21 at 12:27 pm to SixthAndBarone
Looks great.
I’m doing one Christmas Day. I’m going to brine it, French the shank, and smoke it with a rub to 160. The pull it and glaze it with a mustard/pineapple glaze and finish at 175. Finna get litty.
I’m doing one Christmas Day. I’m going to brine it, French the shank, and smoke it with a rub to 160. The pull it and glaze it with a mustard/pineapple glaze and finish at 175. Finna get litty.
This post was edited on 12/23/21 at 12:28 pm
Posted on 12/23/21 at 8:38 pm to The Dozer
Curious why you’re going so high to 175?
Posted on 12/24/21 at 7:06 am to SixthAndBarone
Slicing temp is 170 for a fresh ham. So will pull somewhere around there when I’m happy with the glaze.
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