Sunday, September 16, 2012

Another Busy Sunday

We had two hams that had been in the cure 11 days and needed to be smoked today. Phil ran to town because he can't live without a Sunday paper (we tried having them delivered once, they sent them on Mondays) and I wrestled the smoker through the house and out the back door. ( I had to stop in the kitchen as I had scared Hippo half to death and he was trying to claw through the window.). Here are what the hams looked like when they went in. I wish I had a way to weigh them. I would love to know how  much they weighed. It was a good bit, I can tell you that. The smoker was set on 225 F and left to..smoke.
I, then, fed all the animals except the meat birds. They are long overdue to be butchered and I was determined to get at least two of them done. They aren't stupid; they know what I am doing when I step in the pen and they run. They are slow and easy to catch but they are also HUGE now and heavy. I skinned and cut the breasts and thighs and legs off. Because there is no freezer space, I had to can the meat. I started with the breasts and cut them into chunks. I was going to raw pack them but there is just something about putting raw meat in the jars that just doesn't sit well with me. So I put the meat in water and boiled them for a short time. Then I packed the meat in the jars, set the lids and pressured canned them for 75 minutes. The breasts made 8 pints, the thighs and legs another 5 pints and I filled the other three pint jars with the stock left from cooking the legs and thighs. It was exactly the 3 pints I needed.
At about 5:30 p.m. the hams reached and internal temperature of 160 F. and looked done when we checked them so we got them out. Here is the one we cut for supper.

We had this and some canned potatoes that Phil made into our favorite fried potatoes with garlic and thyme.
And here is the other, larger ham.
The only other thing I needed to do was to rack the wine but I think it is going to have to wait until next time.

15 comments:

  1. I raw pack most of my chicken, unless it's boneless breasts. I like the extra flavor the bones add and I'm lazy. LOL I do some boneless skinless breasts in pint jars when I can find a good price, which is almost never now. But whole chickens I cut up, skin and stuff in a quart jar. It works great. I am totally out of canned chicken now. I found chicken on sale last week for 88 cents a pound. I bought 2 but didn't have room in my cooler for more and we were too far away from home and still had things to do before we got home so I had to pass on more. Can't believe I think that's a good price. :(

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    1. I don't even know what the price of chicken in the stores is here now. It has been so long since I had to buy any :)

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  2. Well, the regular price at our smaller stores is $1.49 a pound! I haven't been to Walmart in awhile to check their price. We are going to Huntsville tomorrow for some more tests on Dean' heart and I hope he feels up to stopping at Sam's. I need coffee but I wanted to check their prices of hamburger and chicken. I usually get hamburger when it's on sale but that's not even a good price anymore. And I am totally out of hamburger except for one jar of canned. I am hoarding that. LOL

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    1. We seldom have hamburger now. It is expensive here but when we do get it it is like having a treat. I have not tried canning hamburger yet, it never sticks around here long enough.

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  3. The hams look delicious Becky! I remember your post when you first bought your smoker a good while back. Can you remind me, I think you ordered it from Amazon? The old memory just ain't what it used to be, LOL!

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    1. Yes, I ordered it from Amazon. It's funny because I had heard all sorts of things about making them work better on a meat smoking forum. I really don't know why anyone would think it needs any kind of improvement as it works great just the way it is. Plus with Amazon you get free shipping and this thing weighs a lot.

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    2. Thanks Becky, I'm thinking about this as a combined Christmas gift for me and my husband to "give to each other".

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  4. That ham looks like Christmas dinner....yum yum..

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  5. The Hams are beautiful! Are you going to portion them up and then freeze it?

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    1. Can't freeze them- no room in the freezer but I do have a plan...

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  6. Yum. I usually get about one ham a year. I love it but the husband isn't so fond. I love the left overs the best as it seasons a lot of my winter soups.

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    1. We used to get just a few hams a year but we will have quite a few this year, lol.

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  7. Hi Becky! Those hams look delicious! So glad you showed pics of those and the potatoes! I love fried potatoes! That's great you canned those birds! Never a dull moment there is it! Blessings from Bama!

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