So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.

What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?

Just looking for some ideas.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, VA

On 10/27/2014 7:14 PM, wrote:
> So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>
> What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>
> Just looking for some ideas.
>
> Bill Ranck
> Blacksburg, VA
>

I sometimes treat it like a leg of lamb: stab it all over and insert
slivers of garlic, then rub with olive oil and sprinkle with black
pepper and rosemary. Roast at 325 until it reaches 150 degrees interior.

On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 16:14:26 -0700 (PDT), "
> wrote:

>So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>
>What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>
>Just looking for some ideas.
>
>Bill Ranck
>Blacksburg, VA
What did you get? A ham or a pork butt? Ham is from the back end,
pork butt is from the front end? They take different approaches.
Janet US

Janet Bostwick wrote:
" wrote:
>
>>So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>>What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>>Just looking for some ideas.
>
>What did you get? A ham or a pork butt? Ham is from the back end,
>pork butt is from the front end? They take different approaches.
>Janet US

Eggzactly... two very different cuts.
For a pork shoulder this method works very well:
http://www.elboricua.com/pernil.html

On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:57:14 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 21:56:41 -0400, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>
>> Janet Bostwick wrote:
" wrote:
>>>
>>>>So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>>>>What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>>>>Just looking for some ideas.
>>>
>>>What did you get? A ham or a pork butt? Ham is from the back end,
>>>pork butt is from the front end? They take different approaches.
>>>Janet US
>>
>> Eggzactly... two very different cuts.
>> For a pork shoulder this method works very well:
>> http://www.elboricua.com/pernil.html
>
>He specifically said a _FRESH HAM_. Sheesh, Sheldon.
>
>Bill has evidently heard your "Fresh Ham Rant" ("Nobody knows what a
>ham is!") that you've recited a dozen times over the years.
>
>-sw
But his post is entitled 'Pork butt (shoulder) roast'. That indicates
meat from the front shoulder. His first sentence reads 'So I bought
a fresh ham today.' He speaks of two different cuts of meat. A fresh
ham comes from the back quarter.
Janet US
Janet US

On Monday, October 27, 2014 8:25:49 PM UTC-4, Janet Bostwick wrote:
> What did you get? A ham or a pork butt? Ham is from the back end,
> pork butt is from the front end? They take different approaches.
> Janet US

The package says, "Fresh Pork Picnic." It's the shoulder portion that would be called a "picnic ham" if it was cured, but it's not. I said shoulder. I do know which end of the pig it came from.

Maybe a crock pot recipe . . . I had not thought of that, I was thinking roasting in the oven with minimal moisture, but maybe braising is an idea.

On the other hand I did like the suggestion of treating it like a leg of lamb. That would probably work, too.

On 10/28/2014 4:17 PM, wrote:

> The package says, "Fresh Pork Picnic." It's the shoulder portion that would be called a "picnic ham" if it was cured, but it's not. I said shoulder. I do know which end of the pig it came from.
>
> Maybe a crock pot recipe . . . I had not thought of that, I was thinking roasting in the oven with minimal moisture, but maybe braising is an idea.
\\

The picnic has a lot of fat and can take a lot of oven heat. I've done
then low and slow and I've done them at 400. Tasty cut of pork.

On 10/27/2014 04:14 PM, wrote:
> So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>
> What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>
> Just looking for some ideas.
>
> Bill Ranck
> Blacksburg, VA
>

The best pork shoulder roast I ever had was a 4 lb. boneless "Porketta,"
pre-seasoned by the butcher. Low and slow is indeed the key. The problem
you'll probably have with the Porketta is finding a suitable spice mix.

On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:41:30 -0700, Whirled Peas >
wrote:

> The best pork shoulder roast I ever had was a 4 lb. boneless "Porketta,"
> pre-seasoned by the butcher. Low and slow is indeed the key. The problem
> you'll probably have with the Porketta is finding a suitable spice mix.

Look up "mock porchetta" from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook
by Judy Rodgers. It's super good and you can do it yourself.



--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.

On 10/27/2014 09:03 PM, sf wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:41:30 -0700, Whirled Peas >
> wrote:
>
>> The best pork shoulder roast I ever had was a 4 lb. boneless "Porketta,"
>> pre-seasoned by the butcher. Low and slow is indeed the key. The problem
>> you'll probably have with the Porketta is finding a suitable spice mix.
>
> Look up "mock porchetta" from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook
> by Judy Rodgers. It's super good and you can do it yourself.

Thanks for the tip, SF. I'll try to hunt that recipe down. I'd like to
NOT have to depend upon this one particular butcher if I can find the a
better price on the meat elsewhere!

On Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:48:11 -0700, Whirled Peas >
wrote:

> On 10/27/2014 09:03 PM, sf wrote:
> > On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:41:30 -0700, Whirled Peas >
> > wrote:
> >
> >> The best pork shoulder roast I ever had was a 4 lb. boneless "Porketta,"
> >> pre-seasoned by the butcher. Low and slow is indeed the key. The problem
> >> you'll probably have with the Porketta is finding a suitable spice mix.
> >
> > Look up "mock porchetta" from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook
> > by Judy Rodgers. It's super good and you can do it yourself.
>
> Thanks for the tip, SF. I'll try to hunt that recipe down. I'd like to
> NOT have to depend upon this one particular butcher if I can find the a
> better price on the meat elsewhere!

You're very welcome! Let me know if you have trouble finding it (you
shouldn't) and I'll post it here.


--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.

On 10/28/2014 12:11 PM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:48:11 -0700, Whirled Peas >
> wrote:
>
>> On 10/27/2014 09:03 PM, sf wrote:
>>> On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 17:41:30 -0700, Whirled Peas >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The best pork shoulder roast I ever had was a 4 lb. boneless "Porketta,"
>>>> pre-seasoned by the butcher. Low and slow is indeed the key. The problem
>>>> you'll probably have with the Porketta is finding a suitable spice mix.
>>>
>>> Look up "mock porchetta" from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook
>>> by Judy Rodgers. It's super good and you can do it yourself.
>>
>> Thanks for the tip, SF. I'll try to hunt that recipe down. I'd like to
>> NOT have to depend upon this one particular butcher if I can find the a
>> better price on the meat elsewhere!
>
> You're very welcome! Let me know if you have trouble finding it (you
> shouldn't) and I'll post it here.

Found several right away that mentioned "Zuni Cafe". The ingredients
started looking the same and then the directions started looking alike
also. I chose one recipe that looked like it was copied directly from
the cookbook, without any "improvements."

While I was looking, another group of recipes citing "Iron Range",
"Minnesota" or "Hibbings" popped up. These are from the area that claims
to have invented the American version of Porketta. All of these use
dried spices and herbs instead of the mostly fresh herbs in the Zuni
version. I'll have to compare a few in the last group to choose a
most-typical regional variation.

Thanks again for the tip to look in the Zuni Cafe cookbook.

On 2014-10-27 23:14:26 +0000, said:

> So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I
> want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke
> it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do
> something different.
>
> What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time,
> etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a
> quick marinade?
>
> Just looking for some ideas.
>
> Bill Ranck
> Blacksburg, VA

I'm doing one tonight actually. I just browned each side, salted it a
bit and put it in the oven. I usually cook them for several hours at
275 to 325 just depending on my whim and how fast I want it done.
Since this is such a large piece of meat, and butt is amenable to being
reheated and combined with other stuff, I never season the roast. It's
good with just salt. If I want to pull part of it and put some BBQ
sauce on it or whatever that's doable later.

On 10/27/2014 7:14 PM, wrote:
> So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>
> What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>
> Just looking for some ideas.
>
> Bill Ranck
> Blacksburg, VA
>

I'm confused. The subject line says butt roast but you say you bought a
ham.

The butt (part of the shoulder, butt and picnic) comes from the front
leg. Tough and fatty unless properly cooked. When cured, they are
sometimes referred to a picnic hams

The ham is half the rear leg and is lean and tender.

If you have a butt, I'd rub with salt, pepper, garlic and roast at 350
until it hits about 180'

On Monday, October 27, 2014 7:12:19 PM UTC-7, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> I'm confused. The subject line says butt roast but you say you bought a
> ham.
>
> The butt (part of the shoulder, butt and picnic) comes from the front
> leg. Tough and fatty unless properly cooked. When cured, they are
> sometimes referred to a picnic hams

> If you have a butt, I'd rub with salt, pepper, garlic and roast at 350
> until it hits about 180'

Butt is also good for low and slow barbecue cooking.

Also consider picking a recipe for fresh sausage (say, kielbasa) grind,
and add the appropriate spices. I don't do stuffing, but you could
shape into cylinders of the right diameter and roast in the oven.
Pork butt usually has the right mixture of fat and lean for sausage.

If you pick Italian sausage, for meat sauce or pizza, there's no need
to stuff it.

On Mon, 27 Oct 2014 16:14:26 -0700 (PDT), "
> wrote:

> So I bought a fresh ham today. Not cured, just plain old pork that I want to roast. I'm thinking low-and-slow in the oven. I could smoke it, but I've been smoking a lot of stuff lately and kind of want to do something different.
>
> What would folks here recommend for seasoning, temperature and time, etc? It's got plenty of fat so I don't see any need to brine, maybe a quick marinade?
>
> Just looking for some ideas.
>
A fresh ham is not a shoulder, but put that aside. IMO, if you're
going to braise pork - use whatever seasonings you like best, but use
beer for the braising liquid. Beer and pork are meant for each other.
Cook it long and slow for pulled pork - no higher than 300° in a
covered dutch oven (I turn it, but you don't have to).


--
Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them.

Mojo criollo (orange juice, lime juice, garlic, and more) is a new
favorite of mine for chicken and pork. I buy Goya brand, but you could
certainly search for a recipe.

Tara