Last night we had some family over for dinner and I thought about this recipe idea. I made a few adjustments and whipped up the glaze (also called a mop) just before putting the ham on the BBQ. The initial review of the sauces smell and flavor was a bit lackluster by my wife, who thought the experiment should wait for a dinner without company. I, however being as stubborn as any mule within sight, went forward with the plan. I thought the sauce was perfect and loved the aroma.

The ham was a Butt half ham weighing about 9 pounds. I laid the ham on the BBQ with the cut side pointing to the side. A person could put the cut side down but I thought that would dry the ham out more. All of the other sides have been through the smoking process already and are able to withstand the heat without as much moisture running out into the flames. Since this is a fairly large piece of meat, I used an indirect cooking method. My BBQ has two burners, so I placed the ham over one burner and used the other to provide the heat. If you don’t have that option make sure you turn the meat two or three times during cooking (Not a bad idea anyway). If you are using briquettes, try to keep the pile to one side and the meat on the other. The downside of cooking such a large piece of meat is that the bottom gets the most heat through the whole cooking process. It could be a bit overdone on one side if you don’t have some way to shield it.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1/4 cup water ( just enough to dissolve to dry ingredients)
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Mustard (I used a spicy deli variety)
• 1/4 tsp Cloves (ground)
• 2 Tbs Honey (optional)
• 1 tsp Garlic powder or 1/2 clove of Garlic (optional)
• 1 tsp Horseradish (optional)

In a small sauce pan bring the water to a boil and add the brown sugar and spices. After stirring these in and bringing it back to a boil add the mustard. Give it a few minutes to simmer and the mop or sauce is done. Take it and the ham to the preheated grill. Place the ham on the grill and mop down the ham with the sauce. Use a basting brush or your hand to apply the sauce (have a towel handy). Close down the lid and let it cook. Your target cooking temperature is 325 or so, although mine was more like 375 for most of the cooking time. I use a meat thermometer to gauge its progress. The internal temp should be 160 plus and on the 9 pound-er I cooked, this took 4 1/2 hours. The ham should also be mopped with sauce at least 3 times during the cooking process to keep the outside moist.

Our ham turned out very good, even my wife liked the finished product. I kept some of the mop so that it could be used as a sauce on the ham at the table. The outside does dry out a bit but the inside was juicy and tender as could be. It was a big hit. Thanks to Seriouswriter for pointing me in the right direction. It worked great.

Good luck with your next ham dinner. Let me know how you adjusted this recipe for your tastes.

So here we go.

First of all, I am most familiar with using a brine to cure and flavor the meat. In a bit of research about what is out there I see quite a few recipes from people that are not worried about using a cure, in addition to salt, for low heat cooking. I think this is a bit risky, especially on poultry and fish, unless you are using a fairly high salt content by today’s standards. In ideal circumstances there would be no problem, but if the meat has a higher bacteria count than normal (maybe Earl at the plant got a bit careless when moving Porkchop to the breakdown area and dropped her on the floor, giving her an unintentional marinade in unmentionables or perhaps you were distracted as you were getting the ham out to put it down in the brine and the game you gave up on became a higher priority than that special project that got a bit warmer than intended before brining) you may wish you Had upped your protection. Point is that a cure is a great insurance policy against the unknown without having to make your brine too salty. The low heat cooking process is a more favorable environment for bacteria than a normal cooking process. The meat will spend twice as long in the ideal range for bacterial growth. So I recommend incorporating a cure in any Low Heat Cooking.

The original cure used in this process is salt. However we have other preservatives we can use, so the level of salt needed is lower and more a factor of taste than necessity. These other preservatives are the dreaded Nitrites, Nitrates, and Phosphates we spent a decade or more fearing. When the big studies were conducted to put the nails in the coffin of preservatives like these, the scientists were red faced to report that there were no links between these preservatives and health problems. In fact they found that there may be some health benefits from them. So when putting together a recipe, I recommend including a cure with your other ingredients or substitute a mix like Morton’s Tender Quick. It includes salt, sugar, nitrites, and nitrates. You use a 1:4 ratio of Tender Quick to water by volume. The directions say 2 cups of Tender Quick to 8 cups of water.

Hot Smoking Similar to Barbecuing but generally done at slightly lower temperatures. Smoke can be used for adding flavor.

Kippering Devised in particular for fish, this process relies on both the curing and cooking of meat. Smoke here is also used as a flavor enhancer.

Cold Smoking The process involved the use of smoke to preserve meat. Today, cures are used to help kill bacteria and parasites. Some people will also use a period of time (3 or more days) in the freezer to eliminate parasites, especially from fish. The cure alone only slows the growth of bacteria.

If I tried to include all of the different sources that contributed to all the ways of smoking meat, we’d have a book or two not a recipe.

That having been said, how about a recipe for something.

First, a good recipe for brine.

• 1 gallon water (Hot)
• 1 cup salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whole cloves (ground cloves are fine)
• 1/4 cup ground nutmeg
• 6 cinnamon sticks ( ground is fine, but I don’t have an amount for you, My guess 1/4 cup)
• 1-2 oz of liquid smoke (2-4 Tbs)

The original recipe calls for boiling the mixture. I combined the ingredients I used very hot water out of the tap and mixed it until the ingredients are dissolved as much as possible. If the ingredients aren’t dissolving as much as you would like, boil the brine for 20 minutes or so. Either way make sure the brine is cool or even cold before putting the meat down into it.
I adapted this from About.com And is by Derrick Riches.

I used this recipe because it is the most similar I have found to the recipe we used in the Smokehouse ( Yes, I added and subtracted a bit). The ingredients we used were only available commercially. This recipe does not include any cure, so here are some options. Add 1-2 oz of Tender Quick to the recipe or find a cure with no salt and follow the directions or substitute Tender Quick for the salt and the sugar.

Anytime you are making a brine or marinade you should be able to sample it and get an idea if the ratios are right. It will always be too strong to call tasty but it will give you an idea.

As far as time in the brine, that will vary a lot depending on the type of meat. Something small (A cut of chicken or a fillet of Salmon) can be cured in 8-12 hours. Something large (A Ham) may take 7-10 days. Also anything thicker than 2 inches should have brine pumped into it. We use, shockingly enough, a brine pump for this. It is a giant syringe like device, but with a needle about the size of a large nail, only longer. No you won’t want any flu shots with this. You pump it up like a beach ball and put it down in the brine. This is handy and recommended on hams, shoulders, and even loins.

After the meat is cured, you need to rinse it. For the large cuts, 1 1/2 - 2 hours under running water. It doesn’t need to be running at full tilt, just a light flow around it. In the meat business we use a sink that over flows into another sink, so the meat is immerse. You can use a container that can overflow into you kitchen sink or (raised eyebrow time) a container set in the bath tub overflowing into the tub. (There go the brownie points with the wife) You get the idea, use your imagination and have some good excuses ready.

And finally, you cook it up. An oven will work fine. Set it at about 225 and figure on 6 hours although it could take 8. A meat thermometer is critical here. Small or thin cuts will cook much faster, probably in 3 -4 hours. When it gets to 165, its ready. Remember in lost cases it will be heated up again, so don’t expect this to look like dinner. Smaller cuts may be ready to throw on a plate but the larger cuts normally are going to be cooked again. If you find the outside is getting too well done before the temperature gets to your target, then cut the temperature back to 210 or so. Adjustment is the name of the game.

Smoked meat is a lot of work, but it is very rewarding. I highly recommend that you write down exactly what you do to make your product. It will make adjusting your recipe much easier and since there are so many steps it can be hard to remember what you did a week ago when you made that brine.

I am normally sane and I do not usually mix math, philosophy, and cooking in my titles, but it somehow seemed right.

For Thanksgiving we had turkey of course, but we also had ham. As I have mentioned in other posts, I am not a big fan of turkey. I eat a little now and then (once a year). Ham on the other hand is food worth cooking and eating.

First, if you should decide to have a ham for Christmas or New Years, what kind of ham should you get. Does it matter? You bet it does.

The boneless processed and shaped hams (chopped and formed) are handy for lunch meat but even the best of these hams can’t hold a candle to a bone-in whole ham or half-ham. The difference is in the flavor and texture. They may not be as convenient but they are worth the effort.

A bone in ham has more flavor because of that annoying bone. In our society today people are unaware of subtleties like flavor. People are caught up in the marketing terms and catch-phrases like lean and convenient, or worse cheap. Flavor, real good deep flavor, is not insignificant to people like it used to be. My advice. Don’t hold back if you are serving a ham for dinner. Especially for a special dinner. Go bone-in. You do not have to go to the top end to reap the benefits of flavor. You certainly can go to a Honey Baked Ham store and get an excellent ham from them. A less expensive Hillshire Farms ham at your local grocer or one of many other makers of bone-in hams will reward you with a solid flavor and a good smell spreading from your kitchen. There are also hams smoked by small local smokhouses around the country. Find one that fits your needs and go for it.

You can get a whole or a half ham, depending on how big a piece of meat you need. The half hams come as butt-end (or upper end of the ham) or shank-end (AKA leg-end hoch-end, this is the lower end of the ham) The butt-end has more meat on it and the meat is of higher quality.

What always surprises me about a bone-in ham is how good it is as left-overs. It seems to improve with a day in the frig. You can’t say that about turkey.

How long to cook?

About 13 to 15 minutes per pound. Oven temperature should be about 325. I watch the bone, on a butt-end ham, when it is starting to separate from the meat it’s done. You will find that all of the indicators of the ham being ready will come along near the same time. Outside color, internal temperature, the timber of the meat (how it pulls apart and separates from the bone). You will have the best results when you can look at several things about a dish and see how it is progressing during the cooking process. Each piece of meat is different and each will vary a little as it is prepared. You are shooting for an internal temperature of at least 120 degrees. A ham, unlike other meats you are cooking, has been through one cooking process already. It has been smoked or cooked to about 160 degrees internal by the smokehouse. The objective then is to get it warmed up, without over cooking it and drying out the outside.

This year we used a cooker to heat up the ham. It is like a giant crockpot and uses indirect heat to cook. This helps keep the ham moist. It also catches the juices allowing the ham to bath in them. We did not baste the ham but doing so can help keep the outside moist and soft. However you cook your ham, cover it and catch the juices. Also, you can cover the outside of the ham with brown sugar or honey. Other sauces or flavorings can be used to help moisten the ham or to add to it’s flavor. If you decide to BBQ the ham be aware that this is one technique that will tend to dry out the meat. I recommend using something to baste the ham like a sugar or honey based sauce. If you prefer your ham a little dryer you won’t be disappointed with one off the BBQ. If you like a moist ham and prefer to have it without any sauces or flavors added then baking is the way to go in my opinion.

Consider ham for your next special meal. It will make a great meal and the left-overs are just as good as the original meal was.

Table of contents for Tools of the Trade

1. Tools of the Trade Part One of Three
2. Tools of the Trade Part Two of Three
3. Tools of the Trade Part Three of Three

Their Barbeque Spicy Rub is excellent. It’s full of flavor an not too salty, so I can slather it on as thick as I like. The complaint I have had with other fine rubs is that their salt content was a hindrance to it’s heavy use where a person wanted more flavor. Not with Zach’s.

If you prefer a sweeter flavor their Barbeque Sweet Style Rub is quite good. Some people don’t want a lot of spice on their BBQ. In these instances I use this sweet rub. Again not too salty, so you can decide how much flavor you want.

In addition to these products they offer many other rubs, batters, sausage and jerky seasoning, and seasonings for making soups, chili, and other dishes.

I can recommend them based on my good experience with their products. You can order them online at Zachspice.com or find them in meat departments around the country.

When looking to add a spice, marinade, or other ingredient to your arsenal it is nice to know what you are getting into. Having a recommendation from someone else can help save some time in trying to find that new thing. All of the spices I mentioned in these three posts are ones I use, and I did not get a thing from the manufacturers (darn it). These will work on their own or make a good base for you to expand on in your masterpieces.

Please let us know how these things work for you or recommend your own ingredients you’ve used in making ‘The Good Stuff’ in your house.

I hope this is useful and Keep Cooking

Table of contents for Tools of the Trade

1. Tools of the Trade Part One of Three
2. Tools of the Trade Part Two of Three
3. Tools of the Trade Part Three of Three

As we continue looking at some spices I use in my cooking, and the companies behind them, I am taken back to my time in the Meat Department. Quite a bit of what I learned about meat comes from that time, including my experience with Vecchi’s Seasonings.

We used spices from several different companies in the Meat Department in the making of pre-seasoned main courses and for making sausages of different types. I used Vecchi’s Italian Sausage seasonings and their Poketta Seasoning. In fact I still use those today.

Here is a description of the company from their website:

About Vecchi’s Seasonings

Vecchi Seasonings, Inc., is a family owned business that has been successfully marketing their special blend of seasonings since 1989. It is owned and operated by Ann Vecchi and her son David P. Vecchi. The first products introduced to the market were our private blend of Vecchi’s Italian Porketta Seasoning, Vecchi’s Sweet Italian Sausage Seasoning, Vecchi’s Hot Italian Sausage Seasoning, and Vecchi’s Country Sausage Seasoning. These blends are used in bulk by numerous meat departments to make their own porketta roasts and sausages for their trade.Due to many requests from our patrons we developed the retail jars. Now the seasonings are available for the user to use at home. Our line of seasonings has now grown from the four original blends to nine, offering a unique variety of special flavors.Our seasoning blends are all natural with no additives, preservatives or MSG. We have them available in four different sizes. Bulk (10 pound boxes), PC1, PC5, and Retail Jars.

The Porketta pork roast recipe in the post titled ‘A Pork Roast Surprise!’ is done, at least in my kitchen, using Vecchi’s. The blend of spices is perfect for Pork Roast. Complex and flavorful but not overpowering.

Vecchi’s Seasonings have a very good reputation in meat departments around the country. Again, I find that this company has a larger selection of spices than I was aware of. I sense a ’spice’ buying spree coming on. Vecchi’s will be on that list.

Their products come in a variety of sizes and they have a gift pack so we can try their whole line. You may also find these products in your favorite Meat Department. That’s actually where I get mine. They also take phone and fax orders if you can’t find it nearby.

Our final company is in Part Three,

Brutus.

Table of contents for Tools of the Trade

1. Tools of the Trade Part One of Three
2. Tools of the Trade Part Two of Three
3. Tools of the Trade Part Three of Three

Cooking is like any other bit of art. Whether made with paint or music, the artist is the ingredient that differentiates between one piece of work and another.

The same is true for cooking. The dish may be the same between two cooks and the ingredients largely the same, but the way they are combined makes each unique. So I can post an idea about a meal and when you make it, it will be your version or interpretation of that recipe. That is one of the fun parts about cooking.

That having been said, I think it is helpful to know what other people use in their recipes. So I am writing today about a few of the spices I use and the companies who make them. I hope these are tools and paints you will find useful in your works of culinary art.

First on our list is Oregon Flavor Rack.

By now it’s not hard to guess this is an Oregon based company. Here is an excerpt from their website to give you an overview.

I am the “Spiceman”!! I was born under the name David Johns on July 24^th in Hartford, Connecticut, along with my beautiful twin sister Diana, we were the second set of twins in the Johns family. Diana and I are number nine and ten of eleven children of Gladys and Kenneth Johns, who so graciously gave their love, time, wisdom and oh so important their discipline. When I was 7 years old, my family relocated to San Francisco, California, this is where I spent the remainder of my childhood and part of my adult life. I grew up in the heart of the city (in the Potrero Hill and the Fillmore Districts)……

….In the fall of 1991, we decided to create Oregon Flavor Rack, a quality line of salt free seasonings and gourmet condiments. We also manufactured custom blends for restaurants, as well as wholesale manufacturers. The business was started in our home; the products were actually made and packaged in our converted garage.

Within a few months we quickly out grew the garage and secured our first warehouse facility. It was a day to rejoice when we needed to expand and we took over the lease and all of the warehouse space. It was also just in time because shortly after we applied for and were accepted to participate in QVC “Quest for America’s Best: 50/50 tour.” At this juncture in the business, this was the largest order Oregon Flavor Rack had filled. I was extremely proud of my staff, who at that time was comprised of injured workers involved in a Preferred Workers program offered through SAIF Corporation and the state of Oregon.

Currently Oregon Flavor Rack is still a family owned business. Our products are marketed through Natural Food Stores, The Wild Oats chain and the Market of Choice stores, in the California, Oregon and Washington state areas. Our products can also be purchased through approximately 35-trades shows we attend each year and may also be purchased via our web site: SPICEMAN.COMor by telephone at: 1-800 Salt-Fre..e

They have an extensive line of products available. Enough that I can’t describe them all and haven’t even tried them all (shame on me).  I can tell you that they have quality products and they are definitely worth a try. Specifically I have used their Garlic Lover’s Garlic. This is not dried granulated garlic powder (Vampires Beware).  It is oily chunks of garlic seasoning. It is the most intense garlic seasoning I have ever seen. If you want more intensity you’ll have to grow it and concentrate it yourself.

They also have many other spices, specializing in salt free varieties. They have a salt free BBQ rub, which is handy for those who avoid salt for whatever reason. Other salt free spice mixes include Cajun Spice, Herb de Provence(a blend of French spices), Italian Herb Blend and several other interesting combinations.

They also have a variety of sauces. Dare I say, exotic sauces. Just the descriptions make my mouth water.

They also offer their spices in a variety of sizes. So if you are a ‘Jumbo Spicer’, they have the tools for you. If you are like me and just want to try a little dab of each of their products, they have ‘Gift Sets’. Including one which includes all of their available spices. Yeah, I think I will start there, next time I order.

The next company will be in part two

Brutus

Well, first I can highly recommend this seasoning. It does work best on a roast, in my opinion. You can use it on any pork you’d like of course, but I prefer it on a larger piece of meat.

The flavor is mild and complex. It compliments the pork and the fat very well. I normally use it on a Pork roast from the shoulder or more specifically the Boston Butt. This portion of the shoulder has a fairly high fat content and good flavor. The roast will cook down to be quite tender. Because of the fat content it is very forgiving as far as moisture content goes. It is even a good piece for the BBQ, believe it or not. The key is to make sure it is done. It needs to get to 170 degrees all the way through. When your thermometer gets to about 160 or a little more take it off the flame or move it to a place to set for 10 to 15 minutes so it will finish cooking, unless your like me and like the outside pretty well done. I actually like to test it by checking how the meat pulls apart. As it falls apart easily and pulls away from the bone (if there is one) easily it is perfect for me. This will be after it has reached the safe targeted temperature but you should use a thermometer to be sure. As a starting point you can figure the time will run about 20 minutes per pound.

As far as adding the spice, if you are doing it yourself, you can lay it on pretty thick. It does not have a high salt content, unlike many BBQ rubs on the market.

If you’ve ever wondered about trying one of these, dig in and give it a try. Whether you cook it on the BBQ or in the oven it will melt in you mouth.

Brutus

There is such a variety available that you can fulfil almost any desire from somewhere on a beef.  Except the veggie or sushi crowd I suppose.

Do you prefer the lean cuts?

Top sirloin as either a steak or a roast is quite good.  Tri-tip is a fine choice.  London Broil is good to go.  There are differences in these but they have similar characteristics and pitfalls.  I am intentionally leaving out the New York Strip, T-Bone, and Porter House cuts because they have a higher fat content and have quite a bit of marbling.  Much of what I am posting here can be used for these cuts but the cuts themselves are of higher flavor, higher fat content and in general tenderer and more forgiving than the others mentioned here.

Biggest problem, over cooking and drying them out.  Either-or turns these into a chore rather than a pleasure to eat.  Because they are from the hind-quarters, they have less marbling, and less flavor.  Drying them out will cause them to turn uncharacteristically tough, at least in relation to their great potential.  The flavor is also reduced by the fact that they are boneless.  The tendency of people to like their meat well done combined with a desire to BBQ the steaks is one of several ways people ruin what should be a good time.  In my not so expert opinion these steaks are excellent candidates for marinades.  Preferably hours before cooking or even the night before the BBQ.  BBQing tends to dry meat out anyway.  The juices are lost to the flame rather than being caught by the pan.  Also adding moisture to the meat on any lean cut will make the final product juicier and more flavorful.  Any marinade will do, BBQ sauce or any flavor you like. Teriyaki for example.  It’s not about tenderizing the meat but moisturizing it.  When marinading a tougher piece of meat acids are useful and time is a necessity.  Here, however, it is about moisture and flavor.  Steak sauce will work too.  Find a flavor you like and go for it.  I often use dry rubs for BBQs but in this case it will not be helpful for maintaining the moisture we need. 

Another point about lean cuts, it is sometimes easier to keep the juices in if you cook them as a roast instead of cooking steaks. It does take longer, maybe three or four times longer depending on the thickness and size of the roast but it will give you more variety of done-ness to serve. If most of you party prefers well done meat then make sure you don’t cook a huge slab, cut it down to two or three smaller roasts.  In order to make sure you don’t have a huge piece of shoe leather I recommend using a meat thermometer to check the progress.  For a roast 1 1/2″ thick or thicker 325 is the target temperature for cooking.  This will keep the outside from being inediblly hard.  For thin cuts like London Broil,  higher temps are used, 425 or even higher.  The bigger the roast, the slower you want to cook it.  Unless you like your roast to have a skin of dry course meat.  The target temp for the meat ranges from 120 for rare to 160 degrees for well-done.  After removing the meat from the oven or grill, it will continue to cook for as long as 20 minutes. 

What ever you decide to cook, have fun with it.  Brushing your marinade in during cooking now and then will help the moister content and keep the outside from being crusty.

I could not list all the spices that are good on beef but here are a few I like.  Garlic, Basil, Crushed Red Chili or Cajun Pepper, and of course horseradish.  By the way I’m not saying these should be combined together, just a list of options.  I use several dry rubs and specific brands of spices I will post later in a kind of ’spice blogroll’.

For more specific info on cuts and cooking times I found this link. 

Texas Beef

Have a good one and enjoy the fruits of your labor,

Brutus