Feral Hams

[MDC]

A couple of days before Christmas, I brought home about a 75lb feral pig. This is what happened to his rear end.

Brined the hams for about a week. My recipe calls for 1 day per 2lbs but I'll leave them a bit longer. I also inject a fair amount of brine around the bone

This is how they look after curing

I soak them in clean water for about 8 hours to leach some of the salt

Then pat them dry and let them sit in the refrigerator uncovered for about 24hrs to form a pellicule, then into the smoker at 225 with hickory wood

This is what I ended up with



Rather tasty

[DanishM1Garand]

mmmmmm

[jdfoxinc]

You didn't hang them for 6 months? I really want to go to NM to trap hunt pig. Only about 8 hrs from me.

[5Shot]

Looks fabulous

[Hogtamer]

What is your brine/cure recipe if I may ask? Thanks

[MDC]

Yes sir

2 liters hot water
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp cloves
3/4 Cup kosher salt
4 tsp Insta-cure #1 measured exactly

Mix in the hot water and stir until all sugar and salt is dissolved. Refrigerate overnight. Make sure meat is completely covered in the brine. Hams will cure at about 2lbs per day but I'll leave them an extra day or two.
You can add other spices if you prefer but I find this simple and very good flavor. They can also be cooked in the oven if you prefer not to smoke them. I normally pull them off the smoker at 140*-145*, let them cool then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate them overnight then reheat in the oven to 150*-155*. They just seem to be better after sitting for a day or two.

[Fishman]

Very nice!

[skeettx]

Here piggy, piggy, piggy
YUM!!

[woodbutcher]

Well,that will do for me.What are you gonna have.That do look delicious.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Kimber1911]

The only thing I smoke is meat! pork being my favorite, but the DEC eradicated all the ferals around here. I did grow my own a few years back, they were yummy!

[AllanD]

To Make a curing brine what I've always done Is to determine how much water you need to cover the ham or turkey warm that water to room temperature and add Kosher Salt until it will float a fresh egg Keep track of how much salt you use (by volume) then add an equal volume of sugar.

[Lloyd Smale]

Looks good. I did the same with a ham off a 150 lb sow once and it turned out kind of dry and stringy compared to store bought hams. Was told by one guy that with leaner wild pigs its best to cold smoke them for a day then bring them to temp. He cold smokes them for a day and does the finish cooking in his oven. Have to say his tasted better then mine. My brining is a bit different. Its pork so I first inject a mix of water and prague #1 into the meat then brine it in a bucket with enough salt to float an egg. You should allways use a cure with pork. I don't put anything else in the water because it doesn't seem to impart much flavor diluted that much anyway. I take them out of the water let them dry overnight and rub them down with brown sugar. What id like to try IF I ever get another wild hog is corning one then smoking it.

[MDC]

I've heard a brine will float an egg, but have never tried it.
This pig had no fat on it. I didn't trim any from it. What is shown in the pics is all there was. This one was a little tougher than normal but it wasn't dry at all.

Next year I plan to make pastrami with a top and bottom round of venison. If I can ever get a good pig with enough fat, I'm going to make my own bacon.

[Lloyd Smale]

when brining something thick like a ham just dumping it in a bucket isn't going to get it done. You need to inject cure into the meat too. You could brine for 3 days and it would never penetrate into the center of the meat. Most of the problem bacteria you need to kill by curing is located near the bones.

[mattw]

OMG that looks so good. I really love a salt cured ham, did them with venison a few years back. The flavor was outstanding.

[buckwheatpaul]

MDC can you elaborate on: " I also inject a fair amount of brine around the bone", i.e., how deep do you inject and about how much......thanks! Paul

[jdfoxinc]

European bacon is very lean. The English started fattening pigs to ridiculous sizes for but butchering.

[MDC]

I use about a cup per pound and use a marinade injector to get the brine all around the bone. The bone will be the first to sour if anything is going to.
Paul I also replied to your PM.