This year I finally found somebody to go halves with my on buying
a fresh-killed hog -- and Slaughter Day turned out to be a week after the
day a friend brought me a nice small deer

So we cut & wrapped & froze like mad b*st*rds -- and only managed
by cutting various corners, one of which near the end was just to wrap
and freeze the ham and the bacon just as they were.

That *may* be a benefit -- what I have is a propane-fired smoker,
with a cast iron smokewood box right over the burner, then a water bath,
and the racks above that. I'm hoping that the cold weather will enable me
to operate it at a much lower temperature than in summer.

I'd rather not pre-cook these meats; otoh, with my blood
pressure, I'm sure as shootin' NOT going to brine them. (After all, once
they're smoked and cooled, I'll put them back in the freezer till I want
them.)

So am I better off taking them straight from freezer to hanging
from a rack? Or do I *have* to thaw them beforehand for some reason??

--
Beartooth Staffwright, PhD, Neo-Redneck Linux Convert
Remember I know precious little of what I am talking about.