Smoking ham help.

[cartandpeg]

Hi All,
       I have a leg of ham already smoked( typical off the shelf supermarket type).

I would like to glaze it and basically re-smoke it.I have found a write up on how to do it,but I am a bit unsure on the adding of hickory chips,which is all I have.

If I was to use the chips,would I put them in a foil parcel type thing,rather than burning them out quicker by placing on the coals directly?

Do I need to keep smoke going constantly? IE: always keeping the chips on the coals.

Assuming it all goes well,at what temp could I place my re-cooked ham into the fridge?

Thank you.

Andy

[1buckie]

Howdy Andy, good to see you !!!


My experience with doing this has mostly been with the spiral cut ones, but a few regular, uncut ones too....

Maybe try this:

Have some smoke packets ready & just poke some small holes in them too....not to worry if it's not really continuous, it's flavoring at this point, rather than curing / cooking.....

With the already cooked one, keep in mind it's just basically getting re-heated thru, so no need to cook an extremely long time.......if you have a thermo setup to check the internals fairly deep, go by what your article or the packaging says for finishing (my guess would be 155F)......

ADD the smoke first &glaze toward the end of the time.......that way you'll get the smoke to it & the glaze will retain it's flavor a bit separately..............

IF....it's a whole piece (not the spiral cut) maybe cut in a few diagonal cuts thru the outside to allow your smoke in a bit..............just adding an hour's worth I bet will be pretty rich, as it's already smoke-cured, eh?

The last part I have a question.....are you going to eat when done, or have some & store most (the refrige question) ?
If most or all is to be chilled, then let it sit for a half hour or so, then set in a food grade bag of some type & ice it down.....get it down around 40F, or at least below 60f before going in the fridge....couple reasons:

For the sake of the ham, keep it cold after cooking & for the sake of other items food safety in the fridge, chill it pretty far before storing.............

Have a great Christmas ham (i'm guessing that's what it is !!!)

[AcrossFromHoss]

Hey Andy, I don't have experience with wood chips but I've smoked plenty of super market hams. the plus of using a pre cooked ham is that its pre cooked so your really only adding smoke and crusting a glaze without having to pay much attention to internal temperatures. The problem with pre cooked hams is they are easy to dry out. I've had my best results smoking the ham naked on low temperature with a water pan then taking out the pan and adding a fresh chimney of coals to crank up the heat for glazing. I also like to score the rind of the ham to give the smoke better access to the meat. From my experience the less time the ham is on the smoker the more moisture the final product has so once your happy with the amount of smoke you've put on that bad boy get the temp up and add your glaze to finish. 

Man I want to cook a ham now. I'm going to look through the freezer to see if I have a bag of smoked ham tucked away somewhere. Smoked ham, shrimp and pineapple fried rice is a beautiful thing if you have a few extra pieces laying around. Best of luck with your cook hope to see pictures of the final product.

[AcrossFromHoss]

haha @1buckie posted while I was proof reading what I had wrote covering everything I said and then some. Cheers and Happy Holidays!!

Here is a few pics of  scored bone in hams that haven't been spiraled (one jerk one naked)

Free Image Hosting


Free Image Hosting


After Glaze

Free Image Hosting

Those cubes on top are a nice little treat for the chef and those keeping them company through the cook. Horizontal lines as mentioned above would make for a much prettier ham for the Holidays.

[cartandpeg]

Thank you guys,that was very helpful info.It is a whole shoulder ham,not leg as I stated.Though I would imagine cooking would be the same?

Great tips,that answers my questions,but opens a few more.

Cooking time,the one I was going with was for about 4+ hrs,doing the same as I am wanting to do.

You both tended to mention a small amount of time,due to already cooked and drying out. Which makes sense. So add hickory chips as need be for the smoke side of things and get the temp of the meat to say 155,then glaze and remove.Assuming the meat needs to get to 155,if I was to focus more on the smoking side and retaining moisture,than the cooking temp of meat,because it has already been cooked,would that have everyone sick, as i did not get the meat heated all the way through.

I  watched two people get ill from a bad chicken once and could not believe how ill they where with food poisoning.So I need to know if getting the meat the right temp is the best way.

Appreciate the pics.


Thanks guys.

[1buckie]

"Assuming the meat needs to get to 155,if I was to focus more on the smoking side and retaining moisture,than the cooking temp of meat,because it has already been cooked,would that have everyone sick, as i did not get the meat heated all the way through. "


155F is just a guess on my part Andy......it was kind of an assumption to not try for a real high heat deeply internal, as Across F. H. is saying, that would merely dry it out, or at least the outer edges.....

A cured, pre-smoked ham is done & cooked & as far as I know can be eaten as is........

Check the packaging or with the store where you purchased to be sure, but that's the way I've always seen them, cured & long-smoked, ready-to-eat......the heating is just 'cause most folks like it better warm / hot..........this is also why I was wondering about refrigerating after your cookup.......is your dinner coming later on?


The 4+ hours may be based on size of piece & getting to a certain temp, as it could take that long at a somewhat lower 'heating' temp
So just make sure it's NOT an uncooked, fresh ham.......
We do need to take care with wording, as some countries / areas call different things by the same name......
A ham here is from the high side of the rear leg; a 'shoulder' is from the front leg with the top end called a Boston butt & the lower end called a picnic shoulder (this part often is cut  to look sort of like a ham)


Great pics from our buddy there, eh what?  !!!!!!!!

[cartandpeg]

Thank you 1buckie,
I actually read what type ham it was,I just grabbed it off the shelf when shopping,as it was the cheapest there and looked the part.



It is a picnic shoulder and all smoked,no instructions,other then keep in fridge.

For what I want to do it will done two days prior to consuming.

Found this info and the link.Good page on most aspects of hams.                                                                               

Cooking or Reheating Hams
Both whole or half, cooked, vacuum-packaged hams packaged in federally inspected plants and canned hams can be eaten c
However, if you want to reheat these cooked hams, set the oven no lower than 325 °F and heat to an internal temperature of 140 °F as measured with a food thermometer.
Unpackaged, cooked ham is potentially contaminated with pathogens. For cooked hams that have been repackaged in any other location outside the processing plant or for leftover cooked ham, heat to 165 °F.




  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/ham-and-food-safety/CT_Index/!ut/p/a1/jVFdb4IwFP018AYt4owuIQshIeqmzugm8mIqXD6MUNYW2fbr17IX5nSzTdPbe8_pbc9BIQpQWJJTnhKR05Ic1Tkc7PASD6yRh6eLkeXjyfx1uXj0PDxc3UnA9g_A3L6Rf2W4-D_-9IYGPTbzZikKKyIyIy8TioIUhEFK3gDjKEgojQ1OEhAfRkIiYfAMQMhCAUQYFYOKsFYQFGSkkLzY6FBQ4K13kzKGd7RB4c_nYEvOydxe9cfTuY0X_XPABb2-AdcFkT9Oj3TfmrN1y709lF9jkAADZtZMpjMhqnsNa7hpGjOlND2CGdHCJLWGJeCBE0foLBLOQX9zdOAscrjOac0icBrY61HsWFg_Qexgz-8v_YM71SXPUfdqlu1qVs9XS12f8JybNY-JbHRqkxVXW0WZIEcVKYTaBa3yqI26ekNcR622qtBx5RzX8UWVzp1RuQveqLS3viRURrlAwS-BUFW8BJ9P7hjnz8VmyN0vJwpb0Q!!/#5


Ok,bit of an update,re-read your replies,showed the good wife the pics.AcrossFromHoss thank you for those pics,it gave me a home cooked pic to look at and see what the end results will be and for the attached comments to them.

From that link above,I am pretty right on temp it should be at and looking from what you guys have said,RE: smoking the chips/drying out etc,that was great,answers where just what I was asking.The temp was my concern, as I said I seen two people ill and I would hate to make someone ill just for the fact that I wanted to smoke this ham as I am the one who likes a meat with more smoke flavor.

Cheers guys for the help. Any other info I am all ears.:-)