April 21, 2006
Injection Is Nice
The foster-niece who will be our guest at this Sunday's belated Easter feast (she and the wee wifey both worked last Sunday) likes canned ham baked with pineapple as the festive main course. Jewel had a spectacular price after Easter on huge bone-in shank hams so we decided to try a variant on the theme. We also decided to try the Acadian Injectors which had been sitting in the kitchen drawer for donkey's years. Between a 10 pound shank portion and a 12 pound shank portion we injected a 64 oz. can of pineapple juice, putting an entire syringeful (I'm guessing around 30 cc) every couple of inches. One thing we learned is that the good injector, with a proper metal Luer lock on the needle is worth the extra pittance. the cheap one snapped off early in the shooting up of the first ham.
Each ham was cooked separately, in a covered roaster which was lined with lumnum foil. We poured a cup of cola (cheap store brand; I doubt name brand would have made a difference) over the ham before starting, and another halfway thru. Roasting was done at 400 degrees F. Twenty minutes per pound produced a ham which might need a little more cooking in near the bone; it is going to get sliced and grilled on Sunday. Thirty minutes per pound produced a ham which was a little overcooked at the periphery, but was falling apart tender. Both tasted absolutely delicious during initial experimental nibbling.
By the way, if I have the time I will make up a batch of my previously posted pineapple barbecue sauce for the grilled ham and the burger patties which will also be part of the feast.
Update:
I grilled the ham without any sauce, and it was a great success. Next time, however, I will not trim before grilling. The few bits of fat I left turned into the finest pork crackling I've ever tasted.
Posted by triticale at April 21, 2006 10:09 PM | TrackBack