House Cured and Smoked Ham

Step 1

6 qt water ( you can sub up to three quarters of the water for apple juice if desired but reduce the sugar by half if so) # 4020319

1.5 cup kosher salt  # 773473

2 cup brown sugar or 3 cups of honey # 5010749 or 2327724

2 T cloves # 760173

3 ea cinnamon sticks # 760165

3 ea cloves of garlic crushed # 3618741

1 ea lemon peel # 2349330

2 T pink curing salt # 2829810 (food inno.)

1 ea Pork Steamship # 8888596

Stir all ingredients together until dissolved. This brine is perfect for up to 25 lb of pork. Double the recipe as needed for brining multiple hams. Make a new brine for each batch.

Step 2

Place your pork in a container that is large enough to hold the meat completely submerged in the brine. Add the cold brine to the pork, and lay a heavy object on top of the floating meat to keep it submerged.

Keep it in the fridge until done. It will cure at the rate of 2 pounds per day for small boneless hams. A large ham like the one in the ingredient list will take about 7days.

Step 3

Rinse it off and smoke it at 250 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of about 155 degrees and enjoy. This ham is better if smoked with fruit or hickory wood although you can just as easily bake it or fry off slices un-smoked, and it will still be great. It has become ham – it is done!