Ham. What a fickle meat. Unlike beef, which has a variety cuts but comes one way; uncooked and definitely not spiral-sliced, buying a ham can lead one down the bone-in, semi-boneless or totally boneless trail, up the spiral cut or uncut mountain and across the fresh or already cooked fields.
Personally, I like the semi-boneless, uncut, cooked ham. I believe that the bone adds to much flavor to be omitted, the pre-cut hams have a higher chance of drying out in the smoker and the cooked ham spends the perfect amount of time in the smoker; enough to pick up the smoky flavor without it overwhelming the taste of the meat.
Smoking a ham is easy enough, but keeping it from drying out is the trick. My method was to coat everything but the cut side of my 8-pound ham with honey mustard (your favorite brand will do), then pat a light layer of dark brown sugar over the mustard. That was all the prep it needed.
Once the Lang BBQ Smoker cooker hit 225 degrees, I added a soaked piece of mesquite and laid the ham, cut side down, on the grate.
After an hour and a half of smoking, I removed the ham, poured a bit of fresh orange juice over it, laid it on a big piece of foil, and closed the foil up. I put the ham back on the grate and let the meat cook for an additional hour and a half.
During that last smoking time, I made the glaze, letting it reduce down to the right consistency. When it was ready, I uncovered my ham, leaving it on the foil, which became a ‘plate,’ and poured the glaze over the meat. I smoked the ham for an additional 15 minutes, then removed everything to a platter, which I loosely covered the meat and let it rest for 30 minutes.
The results were an incredibly tender, juicy ham with a fantastic citrus, sweet yet spicy glaze.
Methods of Cooking this Recipe
Low and Slow
Recipe
- For the Glaze
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tangerine, thinly sliced
- 2 cups fresh orange juice
- 1 cup champagne
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1" piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 8-10 pound ham; bone-in, uncut, cured
- ½ cup honey mustard
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- Mesquite wood chunks, soaked
- Prepare your Lang BBQ Smoker cooker and bring the temperature up to 225 degrees.
- While the smoker is heating up, coat the ham with the honey mustard then gently press the brown sugar into the mustard.
- When the smoker is ready, add a soaked chunk of mesquite wood to the coals, then lay the ham on the grates, cut side down.
- Smoke the ham for an hour and a half.
- Remove the ham from the smoker and lay it cut side down on a large piece of aluminum foil. Pull the sides of the foil up to make a bit of a bowl, then pour the orange juice over the ham. Close up the ham in the foil, then return it to your Lang BBQ Smoker, cut side down, and cook for an additional hour.
- Meanwhile, combine all the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a fast simmer over medium heat, cooking until the mixture reduces down to a syrupy, thick glaze. Pour through a strainer into a bowl or measuring cup.
- At the two and a half hour smoking mark, uncover the ham, but leave the foil around it like a bowl. Pour half the glaze over the ham and allow it to cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove the ham to a platter, pour remaining glaze over it, loosely cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Cut the perfectly smoked ham into nice thick steaks and enjoy.
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Wow. Looks good. I will shop today. Saturday. The weather in the SF Bay Area is perfect right now. I will attempt it on Sunday. Just thinking about my sandwich the next couple of days