Queensland ham is smokin'

"When they came out of the smokehouse, one of the three hams in particular was just nice and plump and had a terrific shape and even colouring," he said.

"I was so excited about it I started taking pictures and emailing them around the place."

Mr Rae's bone-in-leg ham was recognised as the best ham in Australia at the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards for Excellence.

He had selected three legs from Marcelford Wholesale Meats, Ipswich, specifically for the competition.

"I was really looking for legs weighing about 10kg that had a nicely shaped, stocky shank. The legs also had to come from female pigs with 12mm or under of fat."

Mr Rae said he had gone to the effort of using the "old fashioned" method of artery pumping using the veins in legs to cure the pork.

"It's a much more hands-on and time-consuming process than modern methods, but the flavours of the ham through this curing process are far superior."

This season the Aussie Smokehouse will process about 30,000 legs of pork, much of which will be sold to independent butchers and a limited number of IGA stores.

The hams will also be sold through Mr Rae's Master Meats shops at Warana and Tewantin.

Mr Rae said while imported pork continued to challenge the Australian industry, bone-in leg hams had appeal as an eating experience.

"All bone-in ham can only be Australian," Mr Rae said.

"We're reintroducing more Australian pork back into the market because leg ham carved off the bone it is something that just cannot be done with imported pork."

Mr Rae also exhibited the champion traditional bone-in leg ham at both the 2012 and the recent 2013 Brisbane Food and Wine Festivals.

John Yeo, Westridge Meats, Toowoomba, won an award for Queensland's best traditional boneless leg ham.

About 75pc of smallgoods are now made from imported pork. Australian ham accounts for about 35pc of the total domestic ham market.