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mushy ham??

Started by rober, December 30, 2017, 05:36:09 AM

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rober

I bought a Costco spiral cut ham for Christmas. Put in the weber/Cajun bandit at 250* with heavy cherry smoke for 45 minutes & finished in the oven in a roasting pan with my ho-made glaze. a little over 1/3 of the meat was mushy. I mean like pate. you could have literally spread it on bread with a butter knife. the other 2/3 was also softer than normal but still resembles I've baked & smoked at least 200 hams in my life & have never encountered this. is there something the processing plant could have over-done to cause this? I'm pretty sure it was not anything that I did.

bigssa

I got a similar consistency when I made a swineapple. In my case, the acidity from the pineapple completely denatured the pork and turned into this awful consistency.
I'm not sure about your specific case, but I believe that anything with a high level of acidity would cause this.
When you took the meat out of the packaging, did it have an off smell or feel? Did it feel solid to you when you grabbed it?

rober

the bottom slices felt normal & it smelled ok too. I found the mushy part to be inedible. the texture really put me off. I did for the 1st time tooth-picked pineapple rings to the outside of the ham. I think you just nailed what happened.
my glaze is non-acidic.

hawgheaven

Yup. Me thinks the pineapple did you in.
Multiple kettles and WSM's. I am not a collector, just a gatherer... and a sick bastard.

Rub

I think you got a bad ham. For it to turn mushy you'd have to inject it with heavy acidic stuff and leave it for hours. A glaze won't do that.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app
In the market for unicorns to complete my collection: Ambassador, Plainsman, Meat Cut, Custom, Blue 18 MBH, Green 18 MBH

bigssa

Quote from: rober on December 30, 2017, 05:53:49 AM
the bottom slices felt normal & it smelled ok too. I found the mushy part to be inedible. the texture really put me off. I did for the 1st time tooth-picked pineapple rings to the outside of the ham. I think you just nailed what happened.
my glaze is non-acidic.
I was told that only fresh pineapple will denature the meat. So if you used canned pineapple then it may not be the true culprit in this case. If the bad consistency was around the areas that the pineapple was placed then I would bet on it being the cause of this.

Shoestringshop

Quote from: Rub on December 30, 2017, 07:07:46 AM
I think you got a bad ham. For it to turn mushy you'd have to inject it with heavy acidic stuff and leave it for hours. A glaze won't do that.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

X2 I have done a lot of hams. I don't do the spriral ham thou as I enhject mine, but why I think a bad ham is that when I enjected the last one I used Apple juice, pineapple juice, and apple moonshine. Finished buy spraying with same mixture and used maple brown sugar. Thanks @CatskillSmoker for the maple brown sugar.
Wife said "No more GRILLS in this house!" So I bought a 2nd house!

rober

the pineapple was fresh. the more I think about this while I've never personally used pineapple before I've eaten ham that was baked with pineapple rings before & those hams were fine. this reminds me of when I was a kid & my mom had the brain fart to soak a chuck roast in some sort of tenderizer. it got shoved to the back of a lower shelf of the frig. & was forgotten about for over a week.  that roast was almost as mushy. like the ham I could not eat it. the texture made my body say that this does not belong in my mouth. yuck.
I still have the price tag & a sample of the ham. Costco is real good about refunds. I need to get over there anyway to see if the they have any pork crown roasts left. they only have those around the holidays & that is some of the best pork I've ever eaten anywhere, ever.