smoking a ham

   / smoking a ham
  • Thread Starter
#11  
I hadn't thought of using a spiral sliced ham, but that sure sounds good, as does the recipe. I'll have all day both Christmas Eve and Day, so I get to choose when to go for it. I may substitute some maple syrup for the honey because we brought back the syrup from our trip to New England this fall. I bet I get visitors when word gets around that the old man is doing a ham even if there's no good time for the whole family to gather. Three out of four of the nurses are the womenfolk, so we may be looking at a guy gathering.....with ham who needs side dishes???!!!

Chuck
 
   / smoking a ham #12  
Chuck, with the wife working Christmas Eve and Day you should smoke up two and bring one to the hospital for the nurses/employee lounge. As you mentioned it is pretty good cold or hot. Some of the small party buns, mustard, mayo, KFC cold slaw and your a hero. It is an easy cook if you have a smoker that you can monitor the temps. with. If not, it is a cooked ham so error on the conservative side for temp and time.

Good idea using the Maple syrup. That is what makes smoking fun, everyone has their own secret touch. I had one but I told Jim about Cayenne pepper in the basting/mopping sauce. :eek::eek::eek:

MarkV
 
   / smoking a ham #13  
Great thread, and I'm getting to it late, but here are my experiences.

First, I do a lot of smoking. I have a Big Green Egg and do a lot of low and slow 12 to 20 hour cooks for pulled pork, brisket, etc. Recently I have started to learn how to brine and cure, as well. I haven't tackled a full ham yet, but I wanted to throw into this discussion that a "fresh" ham isn't going to taste like ham at all without a significant investment of time and effort. The brining and curing process is days or weeks in preparation to smoking.

So if you want it to taste like "ham", you're on the right track to buy a fully cooked ham. Among smokers what're you're getting ready to do is called "double smoking". The ham is already smoked, but you're going to add more smoke in the re-heating process. I do this a lot. It's one of our sure fire winners when we're having company. I have one "foodie" friend that spent a weekend with us back in the summer who still talks about the ham I fixed every time we talk.

Of course, the most important part is to start with a really good ham to begin with. I personally am not a fan of spiral sliced hams. They're convenient, no doubt, but I think they dry out more than an unsliced ham. I also value the bone in a ham. I think it adds flavor, and it's going to be a part of a great pot of beans once the ham has been carved away from it.

Go the the meat department of your favorite supermarket and talk to the manager. He should be able to recommend a favorite fully cooked bone in ham. Name brands are tricky, because some of the best hams are locally or regionally produced.

If I remember right, the package on most hams says to heat at 325 for 20 minutes per pound, to an internal temperature of 140 degrees. So, you need a smoker or grill where you can control the temperature accurately over several hours. Ham will absorb a great deal of smoke, and it is easy to get carried away and make it too smoky. I use just a few chunks of hickory in the coals in the early part of the cook. Use a drip pan under the ham with no coals directly under the meat. You didn't say what you were doing this in, but whatever you use, you want an indirect heat, carefully controlled, and just a hint of smoke.

Glazing is another personal choice. I'm not a huge fan of syrupy glazes, but I know I'm the exception, not the rule in this case. Most people love the combination of salty ham and sweet glaze. Molasses can make a very interesting glaze that will be unlike most that your guests will have tried. Molasses, bourbon and a shot of espresso is one I'm going to try this Christmas.
 
   / smoking a ham
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I've got an electric smoker....can't recall the name....and it lets me control the temperature fairly well. The darn chip container never worked because it just didn't get hot enough to char the wood, but placing chunks of wood right on the heating element works fine. There's a built-in pan for whatever liquid you want to use, but another design flaw (IMHO) is that it shares space below the grids with the smoker box. Drips go every where instead of just into the pan. I'm going to put a full-sized drip pan on top of the existing pan and have that for whatever liquid I use. I can easily keep this in the 200-225 degree range. The main problem is that I'll have to go pick up dear wifey at the end of the day, so I won't be able to indulge in the usual beverages while carefully watching the smoking process.

OTOH, since I'll have to stay sober anyway, I'll have lots of time to make other things that can be consumed on a whenever-someone-drops-by time schedule. I've got some homemade horseradish that would go good in some kind of roasted potato dish. I remember having that one Christmas, so it is probably a Southern Living recipe. Then there's deviled eggs with just a touch of horseradish in them. Horseradish slaw? Maybe. I have a feeling my place will be popular for the drop-by crew.

The idea of taking a ham to the hospital is a maybe. I'll have to see how SWMBO feels about that.

Chuck
 
 
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