First, you need a leg of pork with bone in. I get my butcher to pump and brine it for me for about 3 days but you can also do that at home. This leg is 3 kg of top quality free range Pork with the bone in.
I picked up the pork the day before it was due to be cooked and patted it dry, then put it in the fridge for 24 hours.
Set up the kamado (or other cooker) for an indirect fire at 110c and added some chunks of applewood (hickory goes well too) in different places around the fire so they catch at different times. That saves having to open the lid to place in more chunks during cooking. The pork goes in on the grill rack, not in a tray. This allows the heat to circulate evenly around the meat.
After 2 hours, the internal temperature of the pork was 38c and I increased the oven temp to 120c.
After 2.5 hours, the meat was at 46c so it was time to remove the outer layer of skin (the rind). I used a sharp stanley knife to gently cut away the rind but leaving the layer of fat attached to the leg.
The fat layer is then scored in a diamond pattern and the whole leg is brushed with fig jam, pushing the jam in to the gaps of the fat layer.
You can use marmalade instead of fig jam but almost anything similar like apricot jam
The leg went back in to the kamado which is still at 120c and held there for the rest of the cook.
Overall, the meat gradually increased in time as follows:
3 hours from start (30 minutes from basting) Internal temp 51c
3.5 hours in, 55c
4 hours in, 58c - almost there and gave it another brush with the fig jam.
4.5 hours from start, internal temperature of the leg is 62c - and it's done !
Make sure you take the internal temperature away from the bone and in to a deep part of the leg.
I let it rest for about 30 minutes and it was ready to serve. In this case though, I was cooking it the day before Xmas day so it was placed in a dish, covered with glad wrap and placed in the fridge. (Not sliced up, still a whole leg)
The next day, it was carved and we really debated whether to heat it up, it was so good and tasted like smoked ham. But we sliced it all and heated it (on half power) covered in the microwave, turning it a few times to make sure it heated evenly. It maintains the moisture and was simply delicious served with a cranberry sauce ! It has the taste of ham but the look and feel of roast pork.
I'm still eating left overs in fresh bread for lunch
