Smoked Boneless Ham

Smoked Boneless Ham

Smoked Boneless Ham

Brining and smoking hams is fairly easy if you have the patience. You get to control what goes into the ham without them being overly processed. It will cost you a fraction of the price while delivering better results than any store bought ham you can find.
The brine for the hams is straight forward. 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tbsp of pink curing salts, plus a few other seasonings. The brine is enough for 2 sirloins. The pink curing salts are very necessary in the ham making process. Without them, you will have a smoked pork sirloin and not ham. A good rule for curing hams: cure the pork 1 day per pound to ensure that the meat is penetrated by the brine all the way through.
As far as what cut of pork to use; ham is always made from the leg. Pork sirloin is your best option if you’re looking to make small boneless hams that aren’t spiral cut. You can find pork sirloins at just about every grocery store for $3/lbs or less. They all average around 3lbs for a whole one. You can definitely buy a pork leg and bone it out, but that will require a lot more work. The pork sirloins I cured brined for 3 days. Place them on a rack in the refrigerator to dry out for 1 day.
Plain, basic hams can really be smoked with any type of wood; depending on the flavor that you are looking for. I smoked my hams with maple and applewood. You will need to preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the pork sirloins for 2 hours, maintaining a smoking temp between 225-250 degrees. At the 2 hour point, take the temp of the hams with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke the hams until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Mine took an additional 30 minutes. Let them rest for a day before slicing.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Brining Time3 days
Course: Main Course
Keyword: electric smoker, main course, Pork
Author: Alex Gorgos

Equipment

  • Electric Smoker
  • Probe Thermometer

Ingredients

  • whole pork sirloins

Brine

  • 1/2 gallon water
  • 1/2 cup sea salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp pink curing salt
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp thyme
  • 5 bay leaves

Wood Chips

  • maple wood chips
  • applewood chips

Instructions

  • Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the pork sirloins in a gallon sized storage bags along with all of the brine. Brine the pork for 1 day per pound. These sirloins were 3lbs each.
    Smokers, main course, pork
  • Let the pork dry out on a rack in the refrigerator for a day. Let rest for an hour at room temp before smoking.
    Smokers, main course, pork
  • Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your sirloins in the smoker.
    Smokers, main course, pork
  • Smoke the pork for 2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, take the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. You want the internal temp to read 150 degrees. Both of my sirloins took an additional 30 minutes to smoke.
    Smokers, main course, pork
  • Let the hams cool completely before slicing.
    Smokers, main course, pork
Smokers, main course, pork
Smokers, main course, pork