How to Cure and Smoke a Ham

Full disclosure, I did not like ham until I made my own. This recipe will show you how to cure and smoke a ham. I like to use a boneless pork butt to make this recipe instead of the full ham to greatly reduce the curing time. There is no sacrifice in taste. You can also experiment with glazes to amplify the flavor of the already delicious ham.

As with all cured meat, it is important you use precise amounts of cure on your meats to avoid spoilage. 3% of the weight of the meat is perfect. no more, no less.

Be sure to try my bacon recipe here.

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Homemade Cured and Smoked Ham

How to make your own ham. This is better than anything you can buy at the store. It takes a little while to finish due to the curing process, but it is definitely worth it. This recipe is designed for a smaller pork butt. If you want to make a whole ham, use a wet brine.

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Course Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American, BBQ

Equipment

• Vacuum Sealer (optional) it will tremendously help with the curing process
• Digital Thermometer
• Meat Slicer (optional) helps to make uniformly sliced strips of bacon
• Scale

Ingredients

  

The Cure

• 3 percent by weight Cure Rub 3% of the total weight of the meat (1 pound of meat is 453.59 grams). If the meat is one pound you will need 13.6 grams of cure. This is important to calculate the correct amount of cure
• ¼ cup Brown Sugar

The Glaze

• 1 cup Softened Butter
• 2 cups Brown Sugar

The Meat

• Boneless Pork Butt I like 3 pounds or less to reduce the curing time.

Instructions

 

Make the Cure

• If not already completed, mix all the cure ingredients together and store in an airtight container. You will have extra if you follow my recipe.

Cure The Meat

• Measure 3% of the total weight of the meat (1 pound of meat is 453.59 grams) of cure. If the meat is one pound you will need 13.6 grams of cure. This is important to calculate the correct amount of cure
• Mix ¼ cup brown sugar with the cure from the previous step
• Apply all the set aside cure to the pork butt. Rub it on all sides of the pork. It is important to apply all the set aside cure to the meat, or the meat will not fully cure
• Vacuum seal the cured meat. You can also tightly wrap the meat with Saran Wrap
• Place the meat in the refrigerator for at least 14 days. Flip the meat 1-2 times daily. The cure will penetrate the meat at approximately ½ and inch per 5 days.
• After the meat is done curing, pull the meat from the refrigerator and rinse off any remaining cure with cold water. The meat should have turned a redder color.
• Pat the meat dry and return it to the refrigerator for one more overnight period

The Glaze

• Mix the softened butter and the brown sugar

Smoke the meat

• Preheat your smoker to 225°F – 275°F using your favorite heat/smoke fuel. Use a lower temperature for a smokier flavor.¹
• Rub the meat with the glaze you made above.
• Smoke the meat until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F
• Pull the meat and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator wrapped in Saran Wrap

Serve the ham

• Using a meat slicer, slice the ham into uniform slices and serve.

Notes

1 – I like 225ºF for a smoky flavor.

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Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!