[boar_d_laze]

Brining time depends on the size and density of the meat and the strength of the brine. Three days is a minimum; four or five days in a standard brine ought to do it right, while six or seven would be excessive. The downside of too much brining? "Too hammy." Really.

I agree pretty much with everything Mary said. Yes to the Prague powder, for instance. You don't have to worry about special salt as long as you use pure and not-iodized salt. The iodine will turn everything purple on long exposure. Speaking of color, the Prague powder will give you a professional, pink look. Otherwise the meat will be kind of gray brown. Even if it didn't make for a better product, it would be worth it.

If I understand Mary correctly she's talking about an actual brine and not a wet rub, which is what you indicated you favored. You can make a wet rub plus injecting work -- but less well. Brining is the best way to handle ham, because it's so lean.

When I brine a big piece of meat I use a fair bit of alcoholic beverage in the brine as an acid, as a preservative, and to "power" the diffusion process which carries some of the other flavors in your brine into the meat. For instance with a holiday ham, I'd most likely build the flavor profile around peach and ginger which would mean using peach schnapps and Vernor's ginger ale to build the brine -- along with other complimentary ingredients such as onion and star anise.

A ham offers you the chance to play off a lot of elements against one another -- the taste of the meat, the juices, the browned (and rubbed) surface, and the wonderful fat. You want to make them work together, holding on to their natural flavors, while enhancing them. It's worth the work.

You talked about wood choices -- I find that pecan and/or any and all fruit woods are the best choices for ham. I'd put strong woods like hickory, oak, walnut and mesquite, and very mild woods like alder as second tier choices.

BDL