Smoking a turkey & ham together???

[john1069]

Hi,
I'm a new member & just got my 1400 & I've read the entire manual, but It doesn't mention smoking ham butts. In my old smoker I could put the turkey on the bottom rack & the ham butt on the top rack & cook together, but with this new ST1400 I'm thinking there's nowhere as much room to do the above. It's a 12 lb turkey & a 8.8 lb ham butt. I think they will barely fit, so could they be cooked together or should I cook them separately? Any suggestions & cooking times? I know 50 min per lb on the turkey @ 225 for about 10-11 hrs, but not sure on the ham butt...


thanks,
Dr. John

[bigwalleye]

Dr John,
Welcome to the forum!!!
Are you talking about a raw ham or a previously smoked bone in ham? I think there are folks here that have worked some with raw hams, and they'll likely be along shortly. A bone-in, previously smoked ham only needs about 160 internal, so I'd think something on the order of 7 hours would give you a good start, but I do most things by temp. I'd rather give myself more time, hit my target temp early, then foil it, wrap it in an couple old beach towels, and pop it into a warmed-up cooler to hold until I'm ready to serve it.
I've seen folks here, and elsewhere, talk about time for turkeys, and there are a couple Thanksgiving themed threads recently that talk on the very subject, and I think you're range is about right at 10-11 hours, but, again, internal temp is everything. 168 in the breast meat should be your target.

Let us know how things go, keep a journal of your successes and failures, settings, brines, seasonings, etc., wood chunks are usually better than wood chips, don't be afraid to experiment.

[john1069]

Thank you for your response, and yes a bone in smoked ham, so if I put them together to cook, could i start with the turkey & then add the ham @ the appropriate time to finish them out together?

[bigwalleye]

I think that would be fine, I'd try to keep the ham on top so you're not dripping turkey juice onto the ham. You could also set the ham in a small stainless pan so you're not dripping ham juice onto the turkey, but in either event, I'd run the ham on top. If no pan, I'd try to offset them as much as possible from one another.

[ia_james]

If you can physically get them both in there, no good reason why not.

[john1069]

Sorry for replying late, but been down with a stomach bug, but how many minutes per pound on the ham?

[bigwalleye]

See my post above for more info, but I'd think something like 6 hours at 225 for a previously smoked/cooked would be plenty, as you're adding smoke, but not really "cooking" it per se, and I'd watch your internal temp, 160-165 would be plenty.

[john1069]

Thanks for all the advice guys!