Fresh Ham Problem

[JohnnyB]

Me and two of my neighbors all went in on a whole hog together. I volunteered to smoke the hams and shoulders to save us a few bucks. Looking for a recipe, I simply went to the How To BBQ Right website and looked at Malcom's recipe for fresh ham.

Long story short, his says to cook them to 160*, wrap, then finish to 190*, which is exactly what I did. Well, the finished product was terrible. Dry, and barely edible. Great smoke flavor, great bark, but just dry as a bone.

Looking at past threads in this forum, the accepted temp range is 155*-165*. My question is, what is the idea behind cooking a fresh ham to 190*? Is there any benefit I'm not seeing? My neighbors were understanding, and they told me the flavor was great, which is nice of them, but I do not want this to repeat itself again. We spent A LOT of money on an organic pic, more than I have ever spent per pound on pork in a store (yeah, I know the quality is the reason), and I feel terrible I messed it up.

 

[JohnnyB]

*organic piG (not pic)

 

[Sixeight]

Did you cure the hams at all? Typically they will go into salt (dry pack or brine) for a period to reduce the moisture content in the meat. Once they drop to a certain level they are smoked and hung for a bit. You can brine the hams for a few days with salt and nitrite then smoke them into the 130-135 range. I have several pages of notes and some power point presentations from a class I took on charcuterie that I'll look back through, but I know there was nothing in there about taking the meat to 190.

 

[JohnnyB]

No cure. Just fresh and raw. Which is exactly what his recipe called for. Weird. It's the first time one of his threads wasn't completely on point.

 

[smoke ninja]

Ive done a fresh ham before. I believe many recipes call for 160-170. I cooked mine til pull temps, just like a butt, probably 200.

Id guess you hit that spot between sliced and pulled where things dry out but before things breakdown.

 

[JohnnyB]

I didn't think there was enough internal fat to even attempt pulling them. I have to recreate this cook, do one until 155*, and one until 200ish*.

 

[TedW]

** subbed** I'm very curious what you find out, as I have some fresh pork shoulder roasts ordered.

 

[smoke ninja]

I didn't think there was enough internal fat to even attempt pulling them. I have to recreate this cook, do one until 155*, and one until 200ish*.

All pork is capable of pulling. While whole hog or shoulders are traditional there are some enclaves in the south use legs for bbq.

A friend of my parents makes pulled pork from the loin in a crockpot braised in apple juice. Meh

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

I agree with ninja. I think you tweener cooked it. Overcooked for slicing. Undercooked for pulling. Plenty of fat in a fresh ham for good pulling meat. If you have the meat still, chop it and add some sauce or vinegar. Let it simmer for awhile or in the crockpot. The meat will soak up the juice, and give the appearance of much more juicy. It will be more than edible.

 

[TedW]

... more than edible... that sure sounds promising!! :grin:

 

[JohnnyB]

Thanks, guys. I love learning, just not at the expense of others who trust me to do it right.

 

[JohnnyB]

** subbed** I'm very curious what you find out, as I have some fresh pork shoulder roasts ordered.

If it's shoulder roasts, then you should be perfectly fine. The ones I did were the rump end. More, eh, finicky I guess. Definitely less marbling than the shoulders I'm used to.

 

[Westx]

I have a hog butchered every year and the hams cured then I smoke to an internal temp of 140. I also have one ham cut into cutlet's for chicken frying.

 

[JohnnyB]

So if I want to cook one for pulling, do I go for a temp, or probe tender?

 

[smoke ninja]

So if I want to cook one for pulling, do I go for a temp, or probe tender?

When i cooked mine i went until tender. Im of the opinion that it is the most reliable way to get consistent results. I believe it was in the high 190s, low 200s sorry it was several years. It was closer to how picnics (lower shoulder) come out from a texture standpoint.

Ive learned alot since i last did one and id like to try again myself. Im ordering fresh hams for my new hobby, prosciutto making, ill think ill grab an extra one to bbq

 

[TedW]

Charcuterie!!!!! Nice! I hope you take lots of pics

 

[IamMadMan]

The shoulders have a lot of connective tissue and internal fat.

The hams have external fat but not a lot of internal fat or connective tissue. So when I do hams, I feel an injection should be used to keep it moist otherwise it can get dry.

From your posts; It appears that you are aware that you are cooking a fresh ham and that you know that when you cook it without curing it, it is still cooked fresh pork, not a ham. So that is not a problem for you

Really don't know what recipe you used, or what temperature you cooked at so I can only guess that you feel the hams were dry and lacking flavor. Could it possibly be that your organic pig was not well endowed with fat? Possibly on the leaner side at butchering. I've had organic pork I have ground for sausage and had to add oil to cook it because it was so lean it didn't have fat.

 

[COS]

Interesting read. I got fresh pork leg in the freezer, thanks for the heads up.

 

[JohnnyB]

The shoulders have a lot of connective tissue and internal fat.

The hams have external fat but not a lot of internal fat or connective tissue. So when I do hams, I feel an injection should be used to keep it moist otherwise it can get dry.

From your posts; It appears that you are aware that you are cooking a fresh ham and that you know that when you cook it without curing it, it is still cooked fresh pork, not a ham. So that is not a problem for you

Really don't know what recipe you used, or what temperature you cooked at so I can only guess that you feel the hams were dry and lacking flavor. Could it possibly be that your organic pig was not well endowed with fat? Possibly on the leaner side at butchering. I've had organic pork I have ground for sausage and had to add oil to cook it because it was so lean it didn't have fat.

I trimmed it up, put a good rub on the outside, and cooked it at 250*-275* (bottom rack temps). The flavor was spot on, but yeah, VERY dry. It was 200 lb hanging weight from what I was told. I didn't see very much internal fat at all, but I didn't expect to with it being the cut it was. We were told that it wasn't fed any crap, so that may well be the issue on the fat side of things.

 

[mchar69]

You can always use it for pea soup!