Thirty bone-in hams from market weight hogs were used in this study, three groups of 10 each. One group was brine-cured, frozen and stored (F/S) at -20°C for 90 days prior to heat processing and smoking. A second group was similarly cured and frozen, not stored (F/NS), but thawed immediately, and heat processed. The third group was cured and heat processed without frozen storage (NF/NS). The three treatments were concurrently evaluated for weight loss, total moisture, color, shear value, and lipid oxidation. A 10-member sensory panel evaluated treatment samples for intensity of seven characteristics. F/S hams had greater overall weight loss (p < .01) than both F/NS and NF/NS hams, and greater loss during freezing (p < .05) Smokehouse losses did not differ significantly, but were rather large (> 15%) for all three treatments. Total moisture in F/S hams was also less (p < .01) than in the other two treatments. F/S hams had greater (p < .05) L-values (lightness) than NF/NS hams, while b-values (yellowness) for F/S hams were greater (p < .05) than for other treatments. No differences were found in shear values or lipid oxidation by TBA analysis. Sensory panelists found F/S hams to be less firm and paler in color than other treatments (p < .01). For Treatment F/NS, a negative correlation (r < -0.8) was found to exist between sensory panel scores for color and percent weight loss. / Graduation date: 1992