Using the CSG for a ham

[wallie]

I am dry curing the top half of a small leg of pork aprox weight 2 kilo and fancy having a go at smoking with the CSG.
I would like the general opinion on whether the Cold smoke generator would be ok for the ham smoking process.
I know hams are generaly hot smoked, but all I want is the smoke flavour followed by cooking in a vacuum pack at about 70C.

Any comments on this appreciated.

wallie

[Ianinfrance]

Hi,

I'm afraid I can't help over thre csg, but I wanted to query your suggestion that hams are generally hot smoked.

I had to look where you came from because if you lived in the USA, I might have said to myself that was why you said it.

I am not suggesting that nothing is hot smoked in Europe, far from it, but surely - in the UK at least - more food (salmon, trout, haddock, kippers, bacon, ham, I thought, ) has traditionally been smoked cold than hot (bloaters, mackerel sausages).

I'm asking this more to elicit information than to dispute, and would be very interested to see what answer you get. I've got three largish gammon joints curing in the fridge at the moment, which I was intending to take out on around the 7th March and cold smoke after drying off to create a pellicle. I was intending to use the CSG, and would really like to know if this is a bad idea.

[saucisson]

I will usually cold smoke my ham and then cook it, particularly if planning to simmer it. If I was going to roast/bake it and it was convenient then I would probably hot smoke it.

There's nothing wrong with either approach to my mind.

Dave

[wheels]

IMO the CSG is the ideal thing to smoke hams. It's ability to produce a trickle of smoke over long periods of time is just what's needed for ham.

Phil

[wallie]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Ian
I too always cold smoke my fish and have great results with the CSG.
But was not to sure about the hams.
I am now going to give it a go, I am thinking of loading the CSG up twice to give a longer smoke.

Regards
wallie

[wheels]

Wallie

Erlandson recommends anything from 48hours to 6 weeks smoking for a ham - so it may take longer than just a couple of refills.

Phil

[Ianinfrance]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies.

48hours to 6 weeks smoking for a ham

GULP!!!! Well, I'm not going to have the patience for that! My gammon joints are all skin-off, and weigh from 2.4kg to 3.8kg, roughly. I admit was thinking of giving them two fills. Oh well. Maybe it will be more!

[wheels]

...he is talking about a full ham there!

[Ianinfrance]

Hi again Phil,

Yes indeed. The problem is that the only way to find out whether it was smoked enough, is to eat it! And then it's a bit late to decide to give it more.

By the way... I've read that when smoking cheeses, it is best to leave them a week or two to settle down after smoking, do you - or anyone else - know if that's true of bacon and ham as well?

[wallie]

Not a full ham Phil.

My original post.

I am dry curing the top half of a small leg of pork aprox weight 2 kilo and fancy having a go at smoking with the CSG.
I would like the general opinion on whether the Cold smoke generator would be ok for the ham smoking process.
I know hams are generaly hot smoked, but all I want is the smoke flavour followed by cooking in a vacuum pack at about 70C.

I have just weighed it 1.9 kilo

Regarding Ian's post on drying after curing bacon I always hang mine in the fridg for a week before slicing.
I think it improves the flavour immensely.

wallie

[Batman]

Ian, good question. We complain about the lack of a good, predictable chemical model for curing but I think it is even worse for smoking.

Smoking is a surface treatment which we then suppose is transported throughout the food item using diffusion(?) given that the smoke compounds are mostly organic chemicals as opposed to salts.

As to the rate of equalisation, I haven't a clue, apart from I suspect that the larger the piece of food the longer it will take.

Interesting to hear other views

[wheels]

Not a full ham Phil.

My original post.

I am dry curing the top half of a small leg of pork aprox weight 2 kilo and fancy having a go at smoking with the CSG.
I would like the general opinion on whether the Cold smoke generator would be ok for the ham smoking process.
I know hams are generaly hot smoked, but all I want is the smoke flavour followed by cooking in a vacuum pack at about 70C.

I have just weighed it 1.9 kilo

Regarding Ian's post on drying after curing bacon I always hang mine in the fridg for a week before slicing.
I think it improves the flavour immensely.

wallie

Sorry Wallie, what I meant was that Erlandson's timing refer to a full ham.

Batman

I always leave bacon 3 or 4 days after smoking. I have no scientific basis for doing it - it just 'feels' right!

Phil

[Ianinfrance]

Thanks for your replies folks,

I certainly take (EDIT) Batman's /EDIT) point that smoking has GOT to be even more unpredictable than salting as the variables are going to be wider and harder to measure. Like:- what measure would one use for smoke density? What effect does smoke temperature have on speed on migration into the meat? Does the type of wood have much effect on migration speeds?

I suspect that in principle, the thicker the meat, the more it weighs (blindingly obvious really) so the more smoke it needs to get the same level of smokiness on the mouth, and therefore the longer smoking it needs. And by the same token the longer it will need to get into the middle.

Phil, it has to make sense to leave my streaky bacon a few days after smoking, (even if like you I've little other than"feeling" to guide me). I guess (what hardship!!) I'll just have to fry a few slices after 3-4 days and then repeat every few days to see what happens. As for the gammon, I'm hoping someone with ham/gammon smoking experience can share their experiences.

[wheels]

Ian

We've seen this with the CSG; I smoke for longer than others even though I only lightly smoke, I put this down to me having a quicker throughput of smoke.

If I was smoking a 2kg B & R piece of ham, or a good thick chuck, I'd expect to do it for 3 days or so.

Phil

[saucisson]

I tend to veer towards the "short sharp shock then let it penetrate" camp.

If the corner of my neighbours house wasn't 10 feet from my smoker I might be more inclined towards a three week trickle

Dave