Maple-Cured, Apple Wood-Smoked Shoulder Ham Recipe

Servings: 6
Prep time: 45 minutes
Total time: 12 hours

Ingredients

for the shoulder:
1 boneless, skin-on pork shoulder
maple syrup
kosher salt
sodium nitrite

equipment:
bucket or container to fit pork shoulder
measuring jug
scales
smoker
apple wood logs or chips

Directions

1. Place the pork shoulder into a bucket and cover with cold water. Tip out the cold water and measure the volume. Calculate the measured water and add 7.5% salt, 7.5% maple syrup, and 3.7 grams of sodium nitrite per liter of finished brine.
2. Whisk the salt, maple, and nitrite into the water until completely dissolved.
3. Place the ham into the brine. If it floats, place a dinner plate on top to weigh it down to ensure the meat stays submerged. This is very important; any exposed meat will go off.
4. Place in the refrigerator to cure for 4 days.
5. Take the pork shoulder out of the bucket and discard the brine.
6. Roll the shoulder as tight as possible into its original shape and truss tightly with plenty of string or spring netting to make a football shape.
7. Place on a wire rack and let it dry overnight.
8. Set your smoker to 170°F|77°C. Make sure there is plenty of apple wood chips or logs burning so it produces a lot of smoke. Place the pork shoulder into the smoker for 8-10 hours or until the internal temperature is at 150°F|65°C.
9. Eat immediately or store in the refrigerator and slice as necessary. Unsliced, the ham will keep for around 2-3 weeks.
10. Alternatively peel the skin off, score the fat, and glaze with any desired ingredient, be it maple syrup, apricot jam, pineapple juice, or cola.    Get recipes like this and more in the Munchies Recipes newsletter. Sign up here.