Easy Homemade Ham Leg
I’m always impressed when I see one of those big Spanish Iberico hams standing straight up in a butcher store or in a restaurant. It inspires me and I wanted to do my own style of ham with my own style of flavors but also in a quick way. With this recipe you will get access to an amazing smoked ham within just one day!The easiest way to smoke a big leg of ham at home without spending all that time. Topped off with an amazing glaze this ham will make your Christmas complete.
Ingredients
- 6000 grams Iberico leg of pork fresh
- 75 grams fresh parsley fine chopped
- 10 cloves of garlic fine chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
Dry Brine
- 1000 grams fine kitchen salt
- 250 grams sugar
- 3 tbsp fresh thyme
- 3 tbsp fennel seeds
- 3 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 3 tbsp fresh sage
- 4 tbsp fresh parsley
- 1 lemon
Honey Cinnamon Glaze
- 200 grams sugar
- 100 grams butter
- 1 star anise
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 3 tbsp honey
Instructions
Dry brine
- Start by making a dry brine. Take a tray that is large enough to hold the leg and add the salt, sugar, the fresh herbs and the juice of a lemon and mix it all up.
- Place the ham on a tray and apply the salt mixture to the meat. Make sure to coat both sides of the leg. Add more to the spots where the meat is most exposed.
- Place it in your fridge and let it sit for 20 hours.
- Take the leg out of the fridge and scrape off the salt crust.
- Rinse off the excess salt with water.
- Place the ham on your board and pat it dry.
Preparing the ham
- Chop fine the garlic and parsley and mix it up
- Drizzle on some olive oil on the ham and sprinkle on the herb and garlic mixture.
- Add some fresh ground black pepper. because of the dry brine it won't need any extra salt.
- Set your Burnhard smoker to 180C and place the ham on the grates with the thickest part facing towards the heat source.
- Stick a thermometer into the thickest part of the ham.
- Let it smoke until the ham reaches a core temperature of 65C/149F.
- Take the ham out of the smoker and let it rest.
Honey cinnamon glaze
- While the meat is resting, it's time to make a beautiful glaze to go with it. Place a pan over the fire, add the sugar and let it melt. Be careful, this stuff gets hot!
- Once it's melted down, add the butter, star anis, cinnamon and honey to the pan.
- Mix it up, and the glaze is done.
- Slice up the ham and pour over some of that delicious glaze!
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 1232kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 131gFat: 52gSaturated Fat: 20gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 424mgSodium: 39119mgPotassium: 2395mgFiber: 2gSugar: 51gVitamin A: 1170IUVitamin C: 23mgCalcium: 138mgIron: 5mg
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