Christmas Cook

[cabo]

Well Guys,
Here it goes.
Just loaded up the Bandera with 43 lbs. of Christmas
presents for friends. They should be ready about 10 or 11 a.m.
Wednesday morning. They are 4 hams about 10 lbs. each, brined (24 hrs.)
in Kosher salt, brown sugar, Cloves, Jamaican Allspice, orange peel spice,
& maple syrup. They will be liberally sprayed with apple juice about once
every hour. The idea is Holiday hams, not ‘Q. (kind of a honey baked)
Wood of choice is Hickory. Polders at lower & upper level.
Oven thermometer in the middle. Cheap oven thermometer seems to be
more accurate. Polders are all over the place. (got to get me a Nu Temp
or two) temp holding steady @ 250.
Hey, it beats the heck out of going to the mall, and fighting the crowds.
I can sit at home watching TV and drink beer. Sorry, no Cabo. I have
To stay conscious.

 

[chad]

Harry;

Merry Christmas -- I know those hams will be appreciated!

 

[2Fat]

Sounds like ya got some good eats coming for sure!!! Started a few butts and a brisket aobut 4am---some for supper and the rest will wrap and hold 'till party on Sat. Tomorrow gonna do a 12lb hunk of prime rib--on the wsm--maybe even direct--haven't decided for sure.
merry xmas
Buzz
2FAT Bikrs

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Sounds great Harry

After all this talk, I'm gonna try my first ham tomorrow.

I'll read through some posts, but how long and what targer temp on a 10# bone in shank ham (it might even already be spiral sliced, so do I need to put in a shallow pan to hold it together?)

 

[Mark]

I got about 40 pounds of boneless pork loin going, a 14 pound turkey 2 ducks and a salmon. Later, will smoke 3 pounds of almonds and a 5 pound block of sharp cheddar.

 

[cabo]

Last time I did a ham like this I did it just like Q. The difference was in the brining.
About 250. That seemed to work. I've had compliments and requests for more.
Already spiral sliced?

 

[brdbbq]

Cabo

What you going to do with the other 42 Lbs ?

 

[cabo]

Cabo

What you going to do with the other 42 Lbs ?

Sorry it's already spoken for. :lol:

 

[cabo]

Cooking is done!!!
It took 18 hours, shouldn’t have taken more than 15.
I blame that mostly on the charcoal I used. Normally
I use Kingsford, lump & wood. Charcoal or lump to keep the
temp up and wood for flavor. This time I couldn’t find either
one. All everybody had was that damn “Kingsford Match
Light”. That stuff reeks of starter fluid.
I’ve used “Sam’s Choice” before, but never in a basket, and
won’t again. The stuff doesn’t burn to an ash like the other.
So, I have half a basket full of various sized charcoal pieces
that didn’t burn. Probably shouldn’t have used the “Minion
Method” (hot charcoal on top of cold). I guess I should have suspected
something when it took too long to ash up a chimney even with
my turkey fryer
Sam should ‘a stuck with retail, because he don’t know jack about
smoking meat. I ended up using all wood. Talk about tending
a fire!! Whew, I’m glad that’s over. Haven’t sampled yet, but
the verdict will come in tomorrow and the next day, when my
“presents” are devoured (I hope).
I’m tired, need a shower and some sleep. Merry Christmas to all, and to
all a good night.

 

[rusold]

I am going for a Turduckhen. It is possible to debone a bird and keep the skin and carcus intact - I did it once - I think I can do it again - although I know a great deal more than I want to about bird anatomy and got real quesy in the middle of the duck. What you do is put the chicken (hen) inside the duck inside the turkey. Since a big part of this is the stuffing I am going to roast it in the oven first and then put in the Bandera for some flavor into the turkey. Real BBQ is mystery pork (a 8 lb hunk of my wife's 1.31 giant half loin that I cut up and didn't label), buffalo turds, shrimp bacon wraps, and a small crown roast.

R

 

[Saiko]

Cooking is done!!!
It took 18 hours, shouldn’t have taken more than 15.
I blame that mostly on the charcoal I used.

Dunno where you live, but if you have a Kroger in your area, they make pretty good charcoal. I read in one of the BBQ FAQ's that it is made from 100% hardwood and doesn't have all of the crap they put in a lot of the others. I use an all wood fire, but I get the fire going with Kroger charcoal.

edit: I'm a dummass, I just saw that you live in SC.

 

[cabo]

Cooking is done!!!
It took 18 hours, shouldn’t have taken more than 15.
I blame that mostly on the charcoal I used.

Dunno where you live, but if you have a Kroger in your area, they make pretty good charcoal. I read in one of the BBQ FAQ's that it is made from 100% hardwood and doesn't have all of the crap they put in a lot of the others. I use an all wood fire, but I get the fire going with Kroger charcoal.

edit: I'm a dummass, I just saw that you live in SC.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll try it. I guess I just got frustrated after not finding what I wanted, and bought the Sams Choice. Like I said I had used it before with fair results, only not in a basket for a long cook.
There's a Kroger about 2 blocks from the Walmart where I bought the stuff. Go figure.
Thanks again.

 

[Saiko]

Did a google search and found this message in one of the BBQ FAQ's:
Link = http://www.bbq-porch.org/faq/07-10.asp


-------------------

[Can someone tell me which brand of charcoal the 'pros' use in barbecue contests?]

Frank Boyer--

Many of the teams at MIM use "Holland" brand charcoal.

==============

Patty Burke-Shelby--

Hickory Specialties, in Tennessee, makes "Nature Glo", "Wildfire", "Holland", and "Kroger" brands of charcoal briquettes. They are pure hickory charcoal briquettes with corn starch being the only additive. I would not compare it to "Royal Oak". To me Royal Oak falls in the category of Kingsford, it also leaves a bad after-smell when burning.

We (Tower Rock BBQ Team) use the Nature Glo and the Kroger brands. We used to use the Holland brand until we called the company and found out that Kroger and Nature Glo were the same.
-------------------

 

[cabo]

Ok, verdict is in, SUCCESS!!
My Christmas present was a successful cook,
and the accolades from the people that enjoyed the
fruits of my labor. The looks on their faces will be
with me ‘til next Christmas.

Oh, by the way, I’ve uploaded some pictures in
the Photos section, Miscellaneous Photos.
The album is named “Christmas Cook 2003”.


May you all have a great and prosperous new year.

 

[Mark]

Cabo:

Checked out your pics. How'd you get pink color all way through? Were the hams bought raw, cured of fully cooked?

 

[cabo]

Cabo:

Checked out your pics. How'd you get pink color all way through? Were the hams bought raw, cured of fully cooked?

Mark,
The hams were raw, or what we down here call fresh (I don’t know
if people outside the south call them that). I watched the butcher
cut 2 whole fresh hams (about 20 lbs. each) in half. They were the
normal color you would expect raw hams to be. I attribute the color
change to the brine I used (and smoking). The picture of the hams on the table was
taken after they were taken out of the brine. I guess I should have taken
a picture of them right after they were unwrapped, but I was
running a little late and didn’t think of it. Little did I know that
I would be cooking 3 or 4 hours longer than I had originally thought,
due to the charcoal I was using. As you can see from the picture
of the cooler with the hams in it (as well as the pot) the brine was a dark color.
The white (things) floating in the brine was ice I used to cool the brine
before I poured it into the cooler. After that I used cold packs to
keep the temp. down below 40 degrees so the brine wouldn’t be
diluted, and the hams wouldn’t spoil.