How do you cook a picnic shoulder ham?

Answer 1

Smoked Shoulder is the basis of many a New England Boiled Dinner, producing moist, tender meat which is less salty than ham. It makes a great dinner and great leftovers (scalloped potatoes with ham, ham Sandwiches, ham and potato hash) And the salty flavorful broth can form the basis of more delicious meals such a split pea, black bean, or navy bean soup. Start by covering the shoulder with cold water.You may soak it all night, change the water, and start the cooking, but I skip the soaking. I bring the water to a slow and steady simmer, make sure there are no papers or greasy combustibles nearby, and simmer the shoulder all night while I sleep or all day while I am at work. The slow low simmer is what you want so the water will not boil away and the shoulder stays covered. What I do next is chill it so that the broth jells and the fat forms a layer on top that can be pulled together with a fork and discarded. My Mom used that white fat in cornbread or biscuits, but we know better now(even though they were delicious). A couple hours before serving I heat the meat up just a bit, pull it out, and by that time you should be able to take large whole muscles off the bone and scrape off the fat between them. There is also a large brown skin underlaid with fat that should be pulled off and discarded. Now you have some large chunks of meat which can later be pulled out of the pot and sliced or cut into serving sized pieces. This meat is now deliciously tender, and pink to red in color. You can stop here if all you want is meat. For a complete boiled dinner, keep reading. IMPORTANT!!!Pour off half the salty broth and dilute with water. If you are thrifty you can save the pored-off broth for bean or pea soup stock but it will also need diluting. Put the large chunks of meat (unsliced) back into the pot and bring to a simmer. While it is heating, get together: Some peeled, halved carrots or half a bag of baby carrots) Some nice clean scrubbed small red or yellow or white waxy potatoes (Cut bigger ones into halves or thirds) Two or three young rutabagas, peeled and cut into chunks A couple-three onions peeled and quartered Some nice fresh cabbage cut into wedges (core removed) About every 10-15 minutes add a vegetable in this order: 1. rutabagas 2. carrots 3. onions and potatoes 4. cabbage wedges. When everything is tender, fish it out onto a platter and slice some of the pork pieces. Serve in soup plates with some of the broth, some butter for mashing into the vegied, and some crusty bread, Sweet-hot grainy mustard and also horseradish sauce are great condiments. Everything should be sweet and edible. Some of the pork will have a brown color and a texture on the outside, as it is hung in cheesecloth bags during smoking; they are fine to eat and are not skin or anything but you may cut those edges off inf you dislike the texture. For me, this is true comfort food; with six kids in the family we probably had it once a month through late Fall to Early spring, and it is still quite economical (and more delicious) compared to ham. I made it today for some West Coast friends who were extremely impressed with how good it was and how many more delicious meals will be had. Try it; it's mostlty simmering and not so much prep or pot-watching at all!

Answer 2

A smoked picnic ham has already been cooked, and it only needs heating thoroughly. Thaw it out if it is frozen. My aunt always cooked hers in a big brown paper bag ( like the ones at the grocery store), and it just keeps in that smoked flavor. It sure is good. But I don't do it anymore because I worry about the ink on the bag. Get those oven bags.

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Only do that if the ham is labeled "precooked." Prosciutto is a precooked ham. Canned hams are also precooked, but they're not hickory smoked. If you eat an uncooked ham you're eating raw pork. That would be bad.

To cook a ham requires an oven and a meat thermometer. Put the thermometer in the meat and set it in a roasting pan. Preheat the oven to 325. You can put pineapple rings or cloves on the ham before you cook it. Put the ham in the oven and leave it there until the internal temperature is 160 degrees, and then it's done.

If you have a "country ham" many people add another step: soaking it in water to draw out the salt. Country ham is made so it doesn't need refrigeration until you cut into it. They get it there by dry curing it in salt, then smoking it. It takes a LOT of salt to preserve meat.

Answer 3

Your best bet is to cook (in a grill or smoker) over "indirect" heat at a temperature of 200 to 225 degrees. If your cooking a whole picnic, you'll need to cook for 8 to 9 hours, if your cooking a half picnic, you can probably get by with 6 or 7 hours. Due to the long cooking time, charcoal briquettes work better than lump hardwood charcoal. It also adds a good deal of flavor if you throw some wet hardwood (soak the wood in water for an hour or so before cooking) on the coals every couple of hours. Once cooked, it should more or less fall apart and you can chop it or shred it to your liking. This is the best cut of meat for standard pork BBQ.

Answer 4

Here's an easy recipe for you...

http://homecooking.about.com/od/porkrecipes/r/blpork103.htm

Answer 5

Very slow. About 225 degrees

Answer 6

Electric oven

Answer 7

Oven