How To Cook A Smoked Ham Recipes

HOW TO COOK A SMOKED HAM

Steps:

• Remove completely defrosted ham from fridge about 60 minutes prior to cooking. Mix all ingredients except whole cloves and maple syrup in a dish and use your hands to evenly coat the ham with the spice mix.
• Preheat oven to 325F. Line a large roasting pan with tin foil and set aside.Place spice covered ham on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to make 1" diagonal slices (about 1/4" deep) into the layer of exposed fat. Repeat in the other direction to make a diamond pattern.
• Place one whole clove in the middle of each diamond.
• Move ham to roasting pan and place in the oven. Bake, undisturbed for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Remove roasting pan and baste ham with 1/2 of the maple syrup. Return to oven and continue cooking for 15 minutes.
• Remove and raise heat to 450F. Baste ham with remaining maple syrup and return to oven for an additional 15 minutes. If there are any very dark spots that you think may burn, fold a small piece of tin foil into a square and gently cover those spots.

BAKED HAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place ham in a roasting pan, and press whole cloves into the top at 1 to 2 inch intervals. Pack the top with a layer of brown sugar. Pour enough water into the bottom of the roasting pan to come to a 1 inch depth. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil or a lid.
• Bake for 4 1/2 to 5 hours in the preheated oven (about 22 minutes per pound), or until the internal temperature of the ham has reached 160 degrees F (72 degrees C). Make sure the meat thermometer is not touching the bone. Let stand for about 20 minutes before carving.

HICKORY SMOKED HAM

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Remove ham from package. Place Spiral Sliced Ham face down in roasting pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil; bake ham 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare sugar rub. Combine brown sugar with dry mustard, lime rind, ginger, allspice, cloves and finely chopped pecans in bowl. Mix thouroughly with fork. Stir in lime juice to moisten sugar mixture evenly. Set rub aside.
• Remove ham from oven and uncover pan. Pat and rub sugar mixture over warm ham, covering top end first, then smearing mixture down the sides as evenly as possible.
• Return ham to oven. Bake uncovered 30 to 45 minutes, basting meat with pan juices every 15 minutes. Ham is done when center reaches 150 degrees F. On meat thermometer.
• Remove ham from roasting pan; place on wire rack and let rest 10-15 minutes.
• Carve ham off bone and serve.

TRAEGER SMOKED HAM

Steps:

• Fire up your grill according to manufacturer directions, and preheat to 325°.
• Score the top of your ham in a cross-cross pattern, and place into a large baking pan that has been lined with foil.
• Place the pan, uncovered, into the preheated grill, and cook for 1 hour.
• While the ham is cooking, combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, and simmer until the sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
• After the ham has been on the Traeger for an hour, brush it liberally with about half of the glaze.
• Cook for an additional 30 minutes, and then brush with glaze again. Cook another 15-20 minutes, or until the ham reaches at least 135°.
• Turn the grill to the SMOKE setting, or the lowest temperature before the smoke setting, and smoke the ham for 20-25 minutes.
• Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Slice and serve with any remaining glaze that didn't get painted onto the ham.

HOW TO SMOKE A HAM

Steps:

• What you put in your spice rub will depend on personal tastes.
• Salt, sugar, onion powder, and paprika are all popular options. Any kind of barbecue spice mix could work, as well.
• Once the rub is assembled and mixed together, take a sharp knife and cut perpendicular lines through just the skin on your ham (it should look like a checker board by the time you're done).
• Coat your ham in the rub and pat it firmly against all sides, making sure the rub gets into the cuts you made.
• Place your ham on a metal baking sheet and cover it with plastic wrap, placing it in the refrigerator for at least four hours and up to fourteen to allow the meat to absorb the flavor.
• Simply light a few chunks of charcoal and your wood chips (or log if you prefer) and allow the smoker to come to temperature, somewhere between 230 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Take the ham out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap or aluminum foil, letting it warm up slightly for half an hour (to save time, you could do this part right before you start up your smoker).
• After the ham has come up to temperature, place ham directly onto the smoker grate, flat side down.
• You should not place ham too close to the firebox, as this could cause the sugars on the outside of the ham to burn rather than caramelize.
• You'll want to smoke your ham for at least three hours, though you should only go longer at your own peril.
• Keep the heat at a consistent temperature for the entire time.Medium heat is fine.
• If the heat starts to drop down, adjust the temperature as needed and check to see if you need to add more charcoal or wood to keep the firing burning hot and the smoke cloud dense.
• While these steps are optional, they make your meat that much more succulent and delicious and are more than worth the effort.
• Every half hour, thoroughly spritz your ham with apple juice in a spray bottle.
• After around two and half hours of smoking, you can apply barbecue sauce to the outside of the ham, coating liberally.
• You could mix around 1/4 of a cup of honey into your sauce for extra sweetness and to add a marvelous shine to the outside of your ham once it's finished.
• Once you've reached your desired level of smokiness, remove ham from the smoker and serve it however you like.
• As the ham was already cooked before you started the smoking process, you won't need to let it rest before digging in.

HOW TO COOK A PICNIC HAM - SMOKED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Place picnic ham on a large roasting pan or baking dish, fat side up. Pour 3/4 cup of water into the bottom of the baking dish.
• Cover roasting pan with foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. This allows the rind to be removed easily.
• Remove the foil and peel the rind off the top of the fat cap. Cut cross check slits into the fat and about 1/2 inch into the meat of the ham.
• Puree remaining ingredients (oranges, brown sugar, vinegar, honey, mustard, cinnamon, salt and cayenne) in a blender to make the glaze. Brush some of the glaze all over the ham, making sure to get into the slits.
• Bake for another 2 hours, uncovered. Brush the glaze after 1 hour cooking time and then again about 30 minutes later. Bake the remaining 30 minutes.
• Once done cooking, the fat should be starting to crisp and the glaze nicely caramelized. Let the ham rest for about 5 minutes before carving.
• Carve the ham into nice sized serving slices. Serve with glazed carrots, potatoes, squash and more!