Ingredients:
- 1- 6 lb “fully cooked” ham
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- ½ cup honey
- 1-1/2 tblsp vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon papirika
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons dry mustard
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
The night before you plan to smoke or bake the ham, mix pepper, paprika, sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon of dry mustard and cayenne. Massage entire ham with grapeseed oil, then cover entire surface of the ham with seasoning mixture. Wrap in plastic and store in the referidgerator fo 8 to 12 hours. Before you are to begin cooking the ham, unwrap and leave it rest on the counter for 1 hour. Smoke or bake at 210 degrees for 6 hours. I f the ham is bigger adjust your time to 1 hour per lb.
Mop:
Mix chicken stock, ¾ cup pineapple juice, vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon dry musrtard and cloves.Warm over medium heat until mixed. Turn down to simmer to keep warm. Baste ham every 30 minutes.
Glaze:
Mix together honey, ¼ cup pineapple juice, ½ teaspoon dry mustard and a pinch of ground cloves Brush generously with glaze a couple of times during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
One important note is I place my ham cut side down in a pan and keep it covered with foil the last half of the cooking time.
Can I smoke a fresh ham?
All hams start out as a roast from the hind leg of a hog. This is called a fresh ham. Before it is prepared it is no different than any other pork roast. The processing procedure to make a ham out of the roast offers several different options.
- Aged
- Brine cured or wet cured.
- Cold smoked
- Cooked
Brine cured Hams
Theyare most popular and this method is usally the process used on hams that we buy at our local grocery stores. This process involves injecting the ham with a combination of salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, sodium erythorbate, sodium phosphate, potassium chloride, water and flavorings. The ham is then cooked to a temperature of 150 degrees F. The combination of the chemical brine and the cooking will kill off bacteria and make a ham.
Cold smoking
Cold smoking is done at temperatures under 100 degrees F and can go on for days or even weeks. Because the temperature is so low, bacteria is controlled by chemicals in the smoke and the slow drying process. A cold smoked ham does require salt curing (typically in a brine) to keep the bacteria under control during the curing process.
All hams that are processed are ready to eat. There are several different ways and recipes to build the flavor profile to a much more delicious level. The recipe above is the best one I have found that is perfect every time. I always use a smoker to heat up the ham with a cherry flavor wood to put a hint of smoke flavor on the meat. I am not resmoking the ham, but simply heating it up and using the heat to set my spices, glaze and mop. The smoke will not penetrate the meat much but you can notice the difference.
Be careful when using smoke, if you over smoke or use too harsh of a wood, you can make the ham bitter tasting.
So you can’t put a fresh ham in your smoker and have it for dinner that night? Sure you can, but it won’t be a ham in the way you think of ham. It would be much more like a smoked pork shoulder, picnic ham, or Boston butt all commonly referred to as pulled pork.
Do Not try this on a spiral cut ham !!! It will dry out !!!