Holidays

For Your Easter Table: Ham in a Hurry

Ham is hog’s leap to immortality. But that leap takes time. From a few weeks for your basic cooked ham to up to a year or more for a truly great dry-cured, cold-smoked ham like Italian speck or German schwartzwelder schinken (Black Forest ham). Even the “fast” version of the Smokehouse Shoulder Ham I demonstrated on episode 207 of Project Smoke, it requires a week of curing and 24 hours of smoking.

But what if there was a ham you could cure in just 4 days and smoke in just 2 hours?

Quick Ham for Easter

Well, there is, and it was inspired by my friend Vitaly Paley. He invigorates the traditional brine with cinnamon, star anise, and fennel. Fresh orange juice and Jack Daniel’s pump up the traditional brown sugar glaze. Thanks to the lack of bones, you can slice it as easily as you would a pork loin. In fact, it starts with a pork loin, which adds a degree of speed and convenience not associated with traditional ham. I call it Ham in a Hurry, and you’ll definitely want to try it.

You’ll need to know about one special ingredient—a fast acting curing salt made by Morton called Tender Quick. It contains salt, sugar, and less than 1 percent of the curing agents sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite. It cannot be used interchangeably with pink salt. In fact, Tender Quick is white, not pink. It comes in 2-pound pouches and is available at some supermarkets (particularly in more rural areas where hunting and pickling are popular) or online.

You can even hasten the curing process by injecting the ham with the brine.

Easter Ham Recipe

Check out our 1000+ Recipes section here on Barbecue Bible.Com

Also, sign up for our Up in Smoke newsletter so you don't miss any blogs and receive some special offers! PLUS get Raichlen's Burgers! PDF for free!

Follow Steven on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and Pinterest!

Check out our store powered by BBQGuys!