AboutEnrique Torres Expertise How to cook meat (beef, poultry, pork, fish, shrimps, lamb) using pan friying, grilling and steem systems.
Experience My company has been deveploping studies in meat cooking since 2000, my expertise is based on the last studies in meat histology changes related to cooking process and recipes. My expertise is focused on juciness, tenderness and yield increasing.
Education/Credentials La Salle Univ. Animal Scientist 1986-1992
National University of Colombia Food and Science Technology focused on meat processing.1992-1994
Andes University (Colombia) Marketing Specialist 1997-1999
Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia) Food Marketing 2001
Meat processors consultant since 1995.
Question Hi. we bought half a fully cooked ham (about 8 pounds) from the local grocery store, and my husband put it in our outdoor smoker to dry it somewhat and give it that good flavor. He smoked it about 6 hours, and the outdoor temperature that day was about 60 degrees. The inside smoker temperature was about 80 degrees. We refrigerated the ham as soon as it was taken out of the smoker. Question...Do we have to cook the ham to at least 160 degrees before eating it, or does the smoking preserve it, so we can actually eat it "as is"? What is the rule on this? Thank you.
Answer GrannieB:
The product you bought is ready to eat without any additional cooking process, for that reason you can eat it without any problem.
Smoking process helped to increase shelf life and to increase taste, flavor and improved color and you can keep it refrigerated for more than 15 days.
You can eat it without heating or cooking but if you want to heat about 150F to prepare some sandwich,salads, snacks and to fill pies.
Here the rule is: eat without spend time cooking or heating.
