Smoked Ham
Yesterday, I was staring at my new smoker and wondering
what I should cook up next when my wife saw me.
She walks over and says “Ya know, ya oughta smoke a ham.”
So, off to the internet I went looking for some
help. I found several sites but the jist
of it was that you smoke the ham about 4 hours to an internal temp of 140-150
degrees. Most also used a glaze.
The interesting part was whether or not you use a
“cured” ham (already cooked) or a raw one.
I don’t ever remember seeing a raw ham in the grocery store, so I
decided on a ham already fully cooked.
I went down to the store to see what my selections
were. Turns out there was hardly a
choice. It not being a holiday, they
only had a couple to choose from. They
did have an already cooked spiral sliced ham but I thought I’d rather slice it
after the smoking. I grabbed a five
pound sugar cured ham for $1.99 a pound.
I got this $10 ham home and went to work. First ting, of course, was to clean the
smoker from the last time I used it.
Smokers, like bbq grills get backwards treatment in that after you use
it, you just let ‘er sit. Unlike
anything else you use to cook that gets cleaned immediately and put away ready
for the next use. Interesting!
The first thing I did was rub a Dijon
I let it sit while I fired up the smoker with a full pan
of water and a smoke box of pre-soaked “cherry” wood chips. Once the smoker gets up to about 200, it’ll
start smokin’ and your ready to add the ham.
I had pulled out two of my three racks and had left the last one close
to the bottom. The rubbed ham went
directly on the rack.
I’ve learned that the trick to smokin’ with a gas smoker
is to make sure there’s plenty of wood chips in there to keep the smoke going
and to keep the water pan with water as to provide moisture for whatever you’re
cookin’.
After an hour, I turned the ham over, added some more
cherry chips and some water and let ‘er go another hour.
After that second hour, I pulled out the entire
ham. I placed it on some foil and
sprayed that baby with some canned pineapple juice. I had debated whether to use pineapple or
apple as another recipe mentioned and decided on the pineapple. Then wrapped the ham with the foil and put it
back in the smoker.
Now, at this point, you don’t need to add any more chips
cause the smokes not gonna make it through the foil. You might not need the moisture either, but I
added some water to the pan. The
indirect heat at 225 is what you’re looking for.
After another hour, I pulled out the ham and unwrapped
it making sure not to allow any of the juices to run out the foil. One recipe called it making the foil into a
“boat.”
I poured brown sugar all over it, then sprayed it with
some more pineapple juice. The spray
immediately made the brown sugar into a glaze.
Then wrapped it back up and back in for another hour. I also added some more water to the pan.
After another and final hour, I pulled it out. I checked the internal temp and got right at
about 145. This bad boy was ready and I
was dying for a taste, but nope, ya gotta let ‘er rest for a while cause it
worked pretty hard in that heat.
Most recipes agreed between 15 and 30 minutes so I
figured what the heck 30 minutes oughta
do it. That bad boy should be well
rested and ready for a knife and fork.
I unwrapped the ham.
I slowly cut a circle around the bone, then cut off two slices. The first one had glaze on it, so I let it
sit on the plate, while I gave a taste of the second juicy slice.
Oh my god, you gotta try this! Delicious!
Now, I’m not like most recipe publishers who would leave
things right here. I want to tell you
the bad as well as the good.
First off, some of the meat closest to the outside was a
little dry.
There’s a lot of fat on a ham, and there’s skin over
that. You have to cut it off.
If you’ve ever carved a small ham with bone, it’s about
as easy as carving a turkey or a chicken.
You end up with a lot of chunks.
That’s ok, ‘cause you can use them and that fat, along with the bone for
ham and beans.
Unless you’re using a huge ham like they cook in
restaurants, you’re not gonna get a lot of thin sandwich ready slices, even
with a slicer. Be prepared to eat
delicious smoked ham sandwiches with pieces.
I don’t think it makes a big difference what kind of
wood you use. While I was cooking, I
thought, “this cherry smoke smells just like hickory and mesquite smoke.” It’s smokey.
You experiment and decide if you think it makes a difference. Let me know.
Lastly, a whole ham is covered with that layer of skin
and fat. That’s the outside, except for
one end. I wonder if there’s a necessity
to glaze it. Maybe just spray it or
baste it to keep it moist. I don’t know.
I’ll try to remember the next time I
smoke one, and I’ll let you know.
I’ll definitely do it again but I’m sure this won’t be
one of those weekly things, maybe once or twice a year. I’m thinking when I have guests so I can use
a huge ham.
All in all, the smoked ham was delish and I give it a
thumbs up!
Enjoy!
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