The 10 days is actually curing the ham. Like salt curing pork or curing a pastrami. From what Ive read it kills parasites. So if you dont do the curing, you want to cook it up to 155, like ernie said. One thing the curing does is also keeps the meat nice and pink/red like pastrami. without curing at 155 it will have a more gray or brown color like well done beef.

Turns its a ham, then several smaller cuts that look like the backstrap, each about 2lbs.

If you want to cure it, use curing salt- it has Salt Peter in it and that's what causes the red color- regular salt won't do that. I saw a show with Jacques Pepin, where he cured a beef tongue with it and explained what's in it. Said it helps to tenderize the meat, too but IIRC, he cured that for three days.

This OT post wins the internet.... all I can think of Dwight Shrute from The Office or Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock.

I have cooked and eaten a lot of bear meat. The Trichinosis thing is not something to take lightly. Bear MUST be cooked fully to kill the parasites and even seasoned chefs can under-cook it. Once in your system, Trichinosis most likely wont kill you, but you will seriously regret it for a very LONG time. Please do not make any assumptions about brining or other alternative methods to kill this bug. The only way to be sure is to fully cook. I personally prefer 165 internal as some sources list this as the minimum temp for safety.

From what I read, curing salts don't have salt Peter any more. They do have nitrates. The problem is I couldn't find any locally.

How big is the ham?

I would estimate it about 10lbs.

How heavy is the ham and how fatty is it? I'm asked by a friend who is a pretty dedicated BBQ guy. Worked his way onto a pit master team a few years ago.

I would guess the ham is about 10lbs and the fat cap (with the bone in) was already trimmed off. Some things I read suggest covering with a layer of bacon to get some fat to render through. But other stuff says the meat is greasy, so I don't know how you get low fat and grease.

Having just rewatched the movie Contagion, I'd find a local nuclear lab and do a few hours of neutron bombardment just to be sure.

Look in the Kosher aisle. Is it Sodium Nitrate?

I have kosher salt in the brine I made for the last couple days. Kosher salt is sodium chloride. The mix in the curing salt called Tender Quick is "Salt, Sugar, .5% Sodium Nitrate, .5% Sodium Nitrite, Propylene Glycol."

sometime tonight (I think about 3:00am) I need to put the ham on the smoker, so we will just see now how it goes.

Well, Smokey is in the box. Now all I can do is wait and see. I'll let you know tomorrow how it turns out. My expectations are not high this time.

So how was it?

Yeah I am curious as well