My family never smoked them. Just hand rubbed in curing salt, & rubbed some more. Dad, my mom's dad, dad's sister, neighbors, the whole bunch cured the same. They all dreaded doing it as their hands would get so raw.
Put inside a heavy paper sack & hung for about a year. That might indicate the expense of one that's properly done. A big slice cooked med-rare in cast iron & country eggs fried in the ham grease might be the best breakfast there is.
This...PaPa's meat house was a cinder block building under a huge Water Oak. He used a lot of salt, pepper and some brown sugar. Seems like we would rub the hams for days but as kids didn't mind because we knew Granny would be making us some fresh crackling. That is the best breakfast ever! No 2 slices were the same when PaPa cut it off the bone! Still love it but I am about the only one who eats it here now. Soaking in water does remove a lot of the salt but it doesn't taste as good.
Most places that sale it whole also sale individual slices if your not sure you will like it.
