Friday, November 17, 2017

Smoking a Wild Hog Ham




Cherie asked:

My husband and I were wanting to smoke a wild hog ham and were wondering if there was anything special I needed to do and for how long do I need to smoke ?


 Hello Cherie,

 Thank you for the question and congratulations on your hog harvest! I love processing wild pigs and one of my favorite products is smoked wild boar ham and I would be happy to give you a few tips. I've had allot better success injecting my hams rather than simply submersing them in brine. I feel it gets the brine in next to the bone allot better and making sure the ham is well cured next to the bone is very important. If you don't get enough cure/brine down next to the bone you can actually sour the meat down near the bone and no one likes that!

I mix my ham brine and use a Weston injector to do the job, I inject ample amounts of brine along and around the shank bone that travels down the center of the ham. Next I inject the rest of the ham in a 1" grid pattern on the front and back. Next simply cover and place in a covered pan, place the ham in refrigeration and then in 5-7 days you can remove the ham, rinse it well in cold water and then place it in your smoker. I always begin by setting the smoker at 165F for 1 hour just to dry the surface of the ham slightly, this will prevent the smoke from adhering to the surface to quickly and creating a "muddy" appearance to the ham. After drying the surface for an hour at 165F then increase the temperature to 175F for 3 hours while smoking, then increase the house temperature to 200F until an internal temperature of 156F is achieved.

 Good luck and let us know how your product turns out!

Brad Lockwood
Koola Buck Inc.
Outdoor Edge Cutlery