The Auld Country

The “proper breakfast fry-up” that my English friends have served me is a confusing fare, but I don’t fault them for it.

My roots are kind of all over the place, but I love my traditions. For many years we hosted the “Sausage Fest” at our place when I would hand stuff eighty pounds of wursts and grill them for our guests.

We also love our Mexican food here. Tomorrow I’m combining our traditions and I’m smoking a ham for “pulled ham” (not the same as pulled pork) and we’re having pulled ham tacos. I’ve already set my alarm so I can get up early to start the fire and launch the ham.

dedmiston wrote:
The “proper breakfast fry-up” that my English friends have served me is a confusing fare, but I don’t fault them for it.

My roots are kind of all over the place, but I love my traditions. For many years we hosted the “Sausage Fest” at our place when I would hand stuff eighty pounds of wursts and grill them for our guests.

We also love our Mexican food here. Tomorrow I’m combining our traditions and I’m smoking a ham for “pulled ham” (not the same as pulled pork) and we’re having pulled ham tacos. I’ve already set my alarm so I can get up early to start the fire and launch the ham.

Those sound great. What kind of smoker do you use?

dedmiston wrote:
The “proper breakfast fry-up” that my English friends have served me is a confusing fare, but I don’t fault them for it.

My roots are kind of all over the place, but I love my traditions. For many years we hosted the “Sausage Fest” at our place when I would hand stuff eighty pounds of wursts and grill them for our guests.

We also love our Mexican food here. Tomorrow I’m combining our traditions and I’m smoking a ham for “pulled ham” (not the same as pulled pork) and we’re having pulled ham tacos. I’ve already set my alarm so I can get up early to start the fire and launch the ham.

Interesting word, "ham."

Dedmiston, is this a raw "ham" (rear leg of the pig) or a cured ham?

Many years ago I ordered a raw ham from Sysco and got a Virginia Cure 81 ham from Hormel. I sent it back, clarifying what I want. They sent the SAME ham to me the next day. I sent it back again and called my salesman. "Hams are always cured and smoked," he said. "Nope" was my response and I described it to him: the rear leg from the hip joint to the knee (hock). He told me Sysco (the world's largest food distributor) didn't carry anything like that. I went to a local butcher and got exactly what I needed.

I'd love to hear more about your process. Do you brine the leg? Cook it bone-in? Have a favorite wood for smoking?

Pics of tacos. :-)

propchef wrote:


Many years ago I ordered a raw ham from Sysco and got a Virginia Cure 81 ham from Hormel. I sent it back, clarifying what I want. They sent the SAME ham to me the next day. I sent it back again and called my salesman. "Hams are always cured and smoked," he said. "Nope" was my response and I described it to him: the rear leg from the hip joint to the knee (hock). He told me Sysco (the world's largest food distributor) didn't carry anything like that. I went to a local butcher and got exactly what I needed.

I've also found that my local meat sources are more versatile than Sysco. I'm seeing more meat specialty shops popping up and I'm glad too. If I want bacon cut extra thick, I can get it. If I want pork belly, I can get it.

I personally think the full Irish, has the full Scottish, beat, more flavor in my humble opinion Both are very good though, but did struggle with the blood pudding a bit in the full Irish

propchef wrote:
Interesting word, "ham."

Dedmiston, is this a raw "ham" (rear leg of the pig) or a cured ham?

I've been slow to post the photos. We had lots of family in town to celebrate grandma's 85th birthday and I never had a minute to sit down at the keyboard.

The pulled smoked ham was a huge success and I'd definitely do it again. I wouldn't use the meat for tacos again though because the meat was too salty. And since I made my own rub, I would delete the salt from the rub altogether.

To answer some of your questions:

GRILL: I use a pellet grill for smoking (a.k.a "Easy-Bake Oven"). I absolutely love these things. I have my original smallish Traeger, a travel GMG for the RV, and my beloved GMG Jim Bowie Prime that my wife gave me for my birthday early on in the pandemic.

HAM: This was not gourmet whatsoever. It was in the discount section of our Ralphs (Kroger) market after the holidays. It was already cured and smoked ("Fully Cooked"). Their cure used a ton of salt unfortunately.

The meat was fantastic though and I'd definitely serve it with my wife's cheese potatoes (or as some of our Mormon friends recently told us they call them, "Funeral Potatoes").

The meat was very moist and the flavor from the seasonings mixed perfectly when I pulled the ham. I usually add a lot more rub to the meat when I pull a pork butt (the inside is usually pretty gamey), but the glaze from the bark mixed in just fine and the meat was plenty juicy.

I used Susie Bulloch's recipe for the ham. I like her sensibilities and her recipes usually turn out perfect: https://heygrillhey.com/smoked-pulled-ham/. The glaze was 50/50 BBQ sauce and apricot preserves, which sounded disgusting, but it worked great.

It took 9 1/2 hours from start to finish, not counting the rest and shredding the meat. I snapped some pics along the way.

I smoked it to 165° IT and then moved it to a foil pan and added the glaze and a cup of water to braise it. I took it off the grill at 207° and it was absolutely perfect for pulling. All of the fats and connective tissues were completely broken down and there was nothing tough inside. The fats and skin were easy to separate out and our dogs enjoyed the scraps. The finished meat fed seven of us for two meals, and then my wife and I killed the leftovers last night after we had the house to ourselves again.

#drool I will snack on those little chicharron squares all day. Nice!

propchef wrote:
#drool I will snack on those little chicharron squares all day. Nice!

Ohmigosh - Those nubs of bark were spectacular. Guess who got first pick while he was shredding the pork? :C

The bark is my favorite and this looks fantastic! Well done. Thanks for the website. I'm always looking for new ways to do old faves. The pellet grill can be quite good for hams and other sturdy meats.

I was hoping to see some more interesting entries here. Anyone else have anything to share?