Cuts for Smoked Ham

[sawhorseray]

We just finished off the two small porkbutt hams I smoked for sandwich meat awhile back. Tho it was very tasty the large swirls of fat visible in the meat after being run thru the slicer left some of the fans a bit concerned, namely my wife. I'm thinking the next effort will be a whole tenderloin, just as with Canadian bacon, only sliced paper thin instead of about 3/8" thick. My butcher at the local Safeway said a picnic ham would be a leaner cut but from what I can find they appear to be about as fatty as a porkbutt, not to mention the deboning aspect. A friend of mine gave me a three pound container of Honey Ham cure from the Sausage Maker that he doesn't have a smoker for, makes about three gallons of brine. I think I just might incorporate that, see how it comes out. RAY

[ssorllih]

Ray using butts for smoked ham is always a bit of a crap shoot because there are so many muscles in that part of the pig. The "ham" or hind leg has only the top, bottom and eye rounds and some small minor muscles. All of the muscles will be cushioned from each other by the fat and the large blood vessels are wrapped with fat.

[sawhorseray]

Thanks Ross, great explanation. When I do my wild hog I'll smoke the hams whole with bone in after injecting and brining. I ended up getting a whole pork loin in the bag for $1.99lb, 8.7 lbs. I've got it brining and will be ready to smoke next Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. I cut it in half and will most likely thin-slice one half for sandwich meat and the other a little thicker for Canadian bacon breakfast fare. I had to agree with my wife, the visible fat in the porkbutt ham slices didn't enhance presentation, best to just turn it into sausage. RAY

[ssorllih]

ray this is about as lean as I have gotten. I sorted through about fifty pictures of smoked and rolled butts to find these one.