Old-school baked ham harkens fond holiday memories for many people. You can cure and bake your own wild game equivalent with this simple recipe. I used a whole feral hog ham here but you can do this with a variety of meats.

The important thing to cure this ham—and give it that distinctive ham flavor—is to allow the curing salt time to fully penetrate the meat to the bone. I brined mine for 10 days. It’s also very important to get the ratios of water, kosher salt, curing salt, and brown sugar just right. I also add some smashed garlic, quartered onion, cloves, and cinnamon sticks to my brine.

Trim up your ham before brining it to remove any damaged meat and glands. Open up the ball joint and loosen the meat around the knee to allow the salt to completely penetrate. And be sure to pour enough brine into the Ziplock to totally submerge the meat.

After 10 days in the fridge, the meat will look a lot different, somewhat gray on the outside but rosy on the inside. After an hour in the smoker at 165 degrees, that nice smoky flavor really develops. Then I’ll make my spice mixture, about the same as the brine, and pack that brown sugar coating on there thick. I wrap and seal that all up in three layers of tinfoil and put it back in an oven or smoker at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes per pound. That came out around one hour, 15 minutes for this 4-pound hog ham. After pulling it out, allow the meat to “carryover cook” and cool in the foil packet for another 40 minutes. This will harden the sugar crust and seal in all the juices to make the ham all the more delicious. Slice thinly and pour over the remaining liquid.