Ham Smokin'

Smoked Ham

 

Yesterday, I was staring at my new smoker and wondering what I should cook up next when my wife saw me.  She walks over and says “Ya know, ya oughta smoke a ham.”

So, off to the internet I went looking for some help.  I found several sites but the jist of it was that you smoke the ham about 4 hours to an internal temp of 140-150 degrees.  Most also used a glaze.

The interesting part was whether or not you use a “cured” ham (already cooked) or a raw one.  I don’t ever remember seeing a raw ham in the grocery store, so I decided on a ham already fully cooked. 

I went down to the store to see what my selections were.  Turns out there was hardly a choice.  It not being a holiday, they only had a couple to choose from.  They did have an already cooked spiral sliced ham but I thought I’d rather slice it after the smoking.  I grabbed a five pound sugar cured ham for $1.99 a pound.

I got this $10 ham home and went to work.  First ting, of course, was to clean the smoker from the last time I used it.  Smokers, like bbq grills get backwards treatment in that after you use it, you just let ‘er sit.  Unlike anything else you use to cook that gets cleaned immediately and put away ready for the next use.  Interesting!

The first thing I did was rub a Dijon style honey mustard all over the ham.  Then, I rubbed it all over with brown sugar.

I let it sit while I fired up the smoker with a full pan of water and a smoke box of pre-soaked “cherry” wood chips.  Once the smoker gets up to about 200, it’ll start smokin’ and your ready to add the ham.  I had pulled out two of my three racks and had left the last one close to the bottom.  The rubbed ham went directly on the rack.

I’ve learned that the trick to smokin’ with a gas smoker is to make sure there’s plenty of wood chips in there to keep the smoke going and to keep the water pan with water as to provide moisture for whatever you’re cookin’.

After an hour, I turned the ham over, added some more cherry chips and some water and let ‘er go another hour.

After that second hour, I pulled out the entire ham.  I placed it on some foil and sprayed that baby with some canned pineapple juice.  I had debated whether to use pineapple or apple as another recipe mentioned and decided on the pineapple.  Then wrapped the ham with the foil and put it back in the smoker.

Now, at this point, you don’t need to add any more chips cause the smokes not gonna make it through the foil.  You might not need the moisture either, but I added some water to the pan.  The indirect heat at 225 is what you’re looking for.

After another hour, I pulled out the ham and unwrapped it making sure not to allow any of the juices to run out the foil.  One recipe called it making the foil into a “boat.”

I poured brown sugar all over it, then sprayed it with some more pineapple juice.  The spray immediately made the brown sugar into a glaze.  Then wrapped it back up and back in for another hour.  I also added some more water to the pan.

After another and final hour, I pulled it out.  I checked the internal temp and got right at about 145.  This bad boy was ready and I was dying for a taste, but nope, ya gotta let ‘er rest for a while cause it worked pretty hard in that heat.

Most recipes agreed between 15 and 30 minutes so I figured what the heck  30 minutes oughta do it.  That bad boy should be well rested and ready for a knife and fork.

I unwrapped the ham.  I slowly cut a circle around the bone, then cut off two slices.  The first one had glaze on it, so I let it sit on the plate, while I gave a taste of the second juicy slice.

Oh my god, you gotta try this!  Delicious!

Now, I’m not like most recipe publishers who would leave things right here.  I want to tell you the bad as well as the good.

First off, some of the meat closest to the outside was a little dry.

There’s a lot of fat on a ham, and there’s skin over that.  You have to cut it off.

If you’ve ever carved a small ham with bone, it’s about as easy as carving a turkey or a chicken.  You end up with a lot of chunks.  That’s ok, ‘cause you can use them and that fat, along with the bone for ham and beans.

Unless you’re using a huge ham like they cook in restaurants, you’re not gonna get a lot of thin sandwich ready slices, even with a slicer.  Be prepared to eat delicious smoked ham sandwiches with pieces.

I don’t think it makes a big difference what kind of wood you use.  While I was cooking, I thought, “this cherry smoke smells just like hickory and mesquite smoke.”  It’s smokey.  You experiment and decide if you think it makes a difference.  Let me know.

Lastly, a whole ham is covered with that layer of skin and fat.  That’s the outside, except for one end.  I wonder if there’s a necessity to glaze it.  Maybe just spray it or baste it to keep it moist.  I don’t know.  I’ll try to remember the next time I smoke one, and I’ll let you know.

I’ll definitely do it again but I’m sure this won’t be one of those weekly things, maybe once or twice a year.  I’m thinking when I have guests so I can use a huge ham.

All in all, the smoked ham was delish and I give it a thumbs up!

 Enjoy!

Stuffed Pork Chop's

I tried this recipe last night. Boneless pork chops were on sale locally for $1.77 a pound. The pork chops tasted great and was pleasant to look at on the plate. The recipe is from 1968, Recipes: American Cooking, Foods of the World, Time Life Books p 32.
I would say this recipe is pretty easy although I had to read and re-read the recipe several times during the process.

Stuffed Pork Chops
To serve 6

Stuffing
1 1/2 cups fine, dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 pound well seasoned sausage meat
1/8 teaspoon thyme
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To make stuffing, combine the bread crumbs and cream in a small mixing bowl, and stir together to saturate the crumbs thoroughly. Over moderqte heat, melt the 2 tablespoons butter in an 8 inch skillet. When the foam subsides, add onions, garlic and crumbled sausage meat. Stirring constantly, cook until the sausage has rendered most of its fat and has lightly browned. Scrape the contents of the pan into a sieve and let the excess fat drain through. Then combine the sausage meat mixture with the bread crumbs in the mixing bowl. Add thyme and chopped parsley and mix together gently. Taste for seasoning. Add as much salt as you think it needs, and a little freshly ground pepper.

6 well-trimmed, center-cut pork chops, 1 inch thick, each slit on side to create a pocket about 3 inches deep
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped, scraped carrot
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup chicken stock, fresh or canned

Preheat oven to 325 dgrees. With a small spoon, pack as much of the stuffing as you can into the pork chop pockets and seal the openings with small skewers. Sprinkle the chops generously on both sides with salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil over high heat in a 10 or 12 inch heavy skillet until a light haze forms over it. Add the chops and cook them on each side about 3 minutes, regulating the heat so that they brown easily and quickly without burning. Remove them to a platter. Pour off all but a thin film of fat from the skillet and add the 1/2 cup of chopped onion, carrot and thyme. Cook over moderte heat for 5 to 8 minutes until the vegetables color lightly. Then mix in the tablespoon of flour, add the stock and bring it to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook until the stock thickens lightly. Place the browned chops, and any liquid which has accumulated around them, in this mixture.
Cover tightly, and bake in the middle of the oven, basting occassionally with the pan juices, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender.
To serve, arrange the chops on a heated platter and pour the sauce, strained or not, as you prefer, over them.

For the heavy ccream, I used whipping cream.
When I added the cream to the bread crumbs, it didn't seem to "saturate thoroughly" but I just stirred it up real good and it worked out ok.
I used Jimmy Dean regular recipe sausage.
I don't have a "sieve" so I used my plastic colander.
I didn't seal the openings of the pork chops with skewers. I packed in the stuffing and just left them open. I had some leftover stuffing. I put it in a seperate cooking dish, mixed a 1/4 cup water in it and baked with the chops for the last 15 minutes. I served it next to the chops with the gravy on it.
After cooking the chops, I placed them in a corning ware dish with a lid that would hold all the chops. There wasn't much juice left in the skillet so I didn't bother pouring anything from the skillet. I just added the onions, carrots, and thyme.
When the 'gravy' was done, I poured it into the corning ware bowl over and around the chops.
I cooked for 35 minutes. Instead of transferring to a heated platter, I went straight to the surving plates. Once I put the chops on a couple plates, I could stir up the gravy and then spooned it over them.
It looked really good.
We served it with canned corn, because we had plenty left from the night before. It probably would have looked a lot better with some green.
I had enough left over that we had them again for lunch today. I microwaved them and they came out great. The gravy was thicker but I think it was even better that way.

I hope you enjoy it. When you try it, leave me a comment. Tell me if you did anything different that you liked or didn't like better.