Bear - Brine Necessary?

[Bigfeet14]

I've got a bone in bear ham that I'd like to make for a friends get together. My idea is to smoke it.... Is it it reaaallly necessary to brine it for XX days? Or would even just an injection the night before be sufficient. I'm not against brining, just the timing and fridge space required is a hinderance. Thanks!

 

[go_deep]

The brine is what cures the meat to make it safe to smoke at low Temps. If you don't cure it, just cook it at a higher temp more like a roast and it'll be fine.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

I had a spiral Christmas ham made out of one once, and the butcher brined it. It was great.

 

[Yoteassasin]

Brine it and make sure you use instacure #1 if you want it to keep well

 

[HuntFishFight]

Never done bear specifically, but I think the prep/curing process is the generally the same for all smoked meat. For that reason, I HIGHLY recommend brining. If you have the time, it will be well worth it.

 

[butcherboy]

Inject it and brine overnight. Use the pink cure salt in your injection and it will spread everywhere and accelerate the process. I do this on hams and bacon on a weekly basis. Use whatever flavor you want in your injection, just be sure to add the curing salt to it. Whatever is leftover, use for your brine.

You can smoke at low temps as long as you hit your projected done temp. I would shoot for at least 160-170 degrees. It will take longer at lower temps and you would probably need to increase the smoking temp gradually or higher right at the end to hit your target finished temp.

 

[92xj]

If you are positive that you can get every aspect of the ham above 140 degrees in under 4 hours, you don't technically need the cure that is in the brine or injection. But, to smoke it correctly and have a good product that doesn't make you potentially poop water for a few weeks, I'd brine/cure. Also, you will have a MUCH better ham taste if brined with your desired ham flavor brine.
This is the last one I did. Slow long smoke after 3 or 4 days in the brine and then injected the night before around the bone just incase the brine didn't make it in that far.

 

[Trial153]

I like to brine bear hams for sure. Though I bone them out in on piece, then I brine them and net them …-after that I smoke them.
Netting makes it more uniform and easier to get a consistent temp from smoking.