I love all foods Creole and Cajun. I love making jambalaya, étouffée, gumbo, and dirty rice. To really make authentic, unbelievably tasty dishes I like to add homemade tasso ham. Sometimes it’s hard to find tasso ham here in Indianapolis, so I set out to make my own and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Not only tender, spicy and tasty, but incredibly easy to make too, the homemade tasso ham was a success. All you need is a pork butt or shoulder, a few spices, and a smoker.

The process…

Homemade tasso ham takes 3-4 days to age before smoking. I started out with an 8 pound bone-in pork shoulder. Ideally you’ll want a smaller, boneless pork butt, but that day in the market a shoulder was all I could find. Cutting the shoulder into “steaks”, each about 1″ thick, I kept the bone section and smoked it at the same time I smoked the homemade tasso ham. The bone-in section will be great in a pot of beans at a later time.

The meat is generously covered in a cure and placed on a rack in the fridge for 3 hours. It lost a LOT of moisture during this process.

Curing…

Next, I rinsed off the cure and patted the meat dry. Onto a rack and back into the fridge for 3-4 days. The meat will firm up during this time.

Onto the smoker…

The last day, I sprinkled the meat with rub and put it onto a 250 F smoker over hickory for about 3 hours until the internal temperature reached 170 F. I removed it, rested it, and then sliced it thick for later use in jambalaya, beans, etc.

Yummy results

The end result is a spicy, almost-hammy meat that is absolutely fantastic. Although you could eat it by itself, homemade tasso ham is primarily used for flavoring dishes.

Weber Pecan Wood Chunks, for Grilling and Smoking, 4 lb.

Weber Apple Wood Chunks, for Grilling and Smoking, 4 lb.

Weber Cherry Wood Chunks, for Grilling and Smoking, 4 lb.

This homemade tasso ham is fantastic in my crispy shrimp in tasso sauce and spicy corn and tasso casserole.

Also try my smoked shanks and homemade Canadian bacon.

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5 from 1 vote

Homemade Tasso

Not only tender, spicy and tasty, but incredibly easy to make too, the homemade tasso ham was a success. All you need is a pork butt or shoulder, a few spices, and a smoker.

Course Main

Cuisine Creole

Keyword homemade, tasso

Prep Time 3 days days 3 hours hours

Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 days days 5 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 pounds

Calories 1617kcal

Author Mike

Ingredients

• 1 4 pound boneless pork shoulder or butt

For the cure

• 1 cup kosher salt
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon pink curing salt

For the rub

• 2 tablespoons cayenne
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

Instructions

• Slice the butt into 1″ thick “steaks”, each about a pound or so
• Combine all cure ingredients and rub generously over the pork.
• Place onto a wire rack over a baking pan and refrigerate for 3 hours.
• Rinse cure off the meat and pat dry.
• Return meat to rack in the fridge and let it age for 3 days.
• Fire up a smoker for 250 F cooking. Use hickory or a lighter wood for smoking.
• Combine the rub ingredients and spread gently over the meat.
• Smoke for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until the meat reaches 170 F internally.
• Foil and let rest for 30 minutes before slicing thick.

Nutrition

Calories: 1617kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 257g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 680mg | Sodium: 58376mg | Potassium: 4549mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 2264IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 189mg | Iron: 12mg

Nutritional values are approximate.

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