Home-Cured Holiday Ham

I have enjoyed preparing Easter dinner for the past 16 years. I seek out a good ham, not smoked, as local as possible, with some pretty good results. This year I purchased 1/2 pig to support a friend's new farm endeavor, and therefore had a leg of pork. I did not want it smoked, so fresh ham it was. I followed this recipe, no changes, and it was the most delicious ham I have ever served up at our family Easter dinner. The flavor is complimentary to the meat, but not overpowering. I did pick up a meat injector for about $4, and injected the brine evenly through the leg of pork before brining. I would recommend doing this. After brining I did the coldwater soak for about 6 hours, and the salt level was just about perfect to my taste. I don't like overpowering salt flavor. I served the maple honey glaze on the side, it went well with everything, from the ham to the potatoes to shrimp! Try this recipe, homemade is amazing!

Followed recipe except for the pink curing salt. I did not have any in house. Still came out Perfect! 2 1/2 days brining followed with a half hour of clean water soak. Grilled it on the Big Green Egg. Amazing! Next time I will make the sauce.

I made this with 2 pork loins, and have been making bacon and Canadian Bacon for some time. BUT the salt and cure levels are RIDICULOUSLY HIGH. Normal curing uses the EQ method. A seven pound piece of meat should use, in a brine ... just over 1/2 ounce of cure. The salt should be ... 5 ounces of salt. This is CRAZY high. Pink salt or curing salt is toxic to humans but is not present in finished, cured meats in a high enough dose to cause illness or death.

I used two boneless pork butts, one 8lb one 9lb, and cooked them differently. I followed the brine recipe except I didn't have pink salt so I subbed sea salt. I was able to brine both butts in same large ss stock pot. I brined for 3 days then rinsed in fresh water for about 15 min. I tied the butts. I smoked the 9lb butt in my Masterbuilt electric smoker at 275F with Hickory chips until it reached 150F, about 2.5hrs. I baked the other 8lb butt in the oven as per recipe but without star anise, instead used ground cloves and cinnamon. The verdict: Both were super juicy, but everyone thought the smoked butt was FANTASTIC. The baked butt ended up tasting salty but still OK. Next time I will rinse in fresh water for longer. As for the sauce, I used Hazelnut syrup instead of Maple and it was also Fantastic. Thanks for the recipe.

My first home-cured ham. This recipe could not have been any easier! I soaked my ham too much so it was not as salty as I would

I rate 1st try with this recipe a 5 star...Recipe inspired me to fulfill another try at making a holiday ham...last year was 1st attempt and well it came out like apork roast.....this year much much much b etter...I bought a fresh ham from the market cured for 2 1/2 days...the steps to follow were self explanatory in which is another plus for me because I am the type who over thinks on things when doing for the 1st time...We are very happy with the results ...Thank you Chef John

This was the best ham ever! Yes, you do have to plan ahead, but the results are so worth it. Made this for a New Year's Day party and it was a hit.

added another half cup of brown sugar,1/4 cup of pickling spice. Brined 7 days.. Apricot Rum glaze ( 1/2 cup apricot jam, 1 tbs yellow mustard, 1/4 cup brown sugar. 1.5 shots of rum) smoked 5 hours at 160 with hickory, last 3 hours 250 degrees, glazed an hour before it finished. it is just crazy good

Wow. This recipe was the best. Thank you for making our Thanksgiving dinner to die for with this ham recipe

Tasty. I used cured pork (ham) as base for my split pea soup. Superb.

Did everything except the curing salt and it was just as delicious!!

I made the brine per the recipe but used a whole 8 lb pork loin. Amazing!

Conversions of kosher salt ounces to cups consistently read 1oz. = .098 ~ .10 cup. So, 18 oz. would be 1.8 cups. This is a far cry from 2 1/2 to 3 2/3 cups! Even those two approximations differ by >50%??? Anybody pass grade school down there?

Fantastic Recipe! Made my first Christmas Ham and it was a hit! Used a bone-in pork shoulder and worked fantastic. Wondering if it would work with a boneless pork loin too!

I made it for the first time Followed recipe exectly it came out Perfect! 1 1/2 days of brining followed with 10 minute water soak. Grilled it in Neff Oven Using Thermo Roasting setting at 160c for 3 hours.

This came out fantastic. I kept as close to the recipe as I could with just two small changes. As he hinted at in the video, I cooked this on my gas grill with hickory wood chips to give a nice smokey flavor to the ham. Also, I didn't have any maple syrup for the glaze so I used honey instead. The only thing I would change next time would be to put it in a roasting bag for the brining process to help keep down the mess when I move the tub around in the fridge. I will be doing this one again in the future.

First time to try to cure a ham... I used the rear leg HAM part ABOUT 8 LBS and followed he directions... I used 3 cups of pineapple juice as part of the brine.. fresh sea salt.. cane sugar and the spices mentioned. After cure, I did the clean water soak overnight 9-10 hours I also used the glaze recipe mentioned My cook was on my Akorn Egg BBQ with 350F and 425F as in the recipe and using pecan chucks for smoke. 3-4 hours total time It turned out great! I did have a very small uncured area in the center of my ham .. so I will increase the cure time next time by a day. Flavor and texture is wonderful.. saltiness is perfect for our tastes and the slight taste and sweetness of the pineapple juice is barely present but nice. The smokiness is in the outer layer and the fat maybe 1/2 in. I love pecan wood for smoking and use it in my bacon recipe also.

My God man. This was incredible!

I followed your recipe for the brine exactly, but I cooked it differently, using an Instant Pot instead of an oven, but glazing under the broiler, and making my pineapple glaze that I am used to. But I incorporated the mustard. I didn't think it would turn out as tasty as a holiday ham but I was wrong! It is better than store-bought without a doubt.

My family is all going ballistic as I type this, and our 4.25lb. pork shoulder is going to be gone by tomorrow night for sure!

5 stars plus, and thank you for making our night!

Very good recipe. I’ve made it several times and would recommend a couple of things. I wouldn’t make a shoulder (picnic ham) again, way too fatty for me. The butt is a much better cut of meat and makes a nice presentation. Second I would leave the meat in the cure an extra day for a 8lb. ham longer for a larger one, so that the entire center is cured. I also soaked 1 day in water to reduce the saltiness.

This is perfect. It is nearly the perfect amount of salt. After reading the reviews and doing my own calculations from the weight of most hams made, I came up with 2.5% salt content. This is equilibrium brining. Those that say is this was a ridiculous amount of salt have been doing dry brining. When wet brining, you add the weight of the pork and water and multiply it by the percentage of salt you want. I have seen anywhere from 2 to 7%. I think most that use Equilibrium brining shoot for 2%.

Used an 8lb pork butt. Cured for 4 1/2 days. Used erythritol brown sugar substitute. Soaked in cold water for 2 hours and dried on rack with a fan. Smoked at 275-300 for about 4 hours. Turned out FANTASTIC!! Definitely worth the time!

Made it with a boneless pork shoulder and kept the flavors savory with a garlic rosemary rub.

Has anyone used Chef John's Honey Glaze on the home brined ham? I just put my 8 lb picnic ham in the brine and am planning on pulling it out in 4 days. The honey glaze sounds better than the one on his home-brined recipe. Thanks!