Cooking Spiral Cut Ham

Bob In Texas · November 2007

I'm either cooking a ham or turkey for Thanksgiving, and the other for Christmas. I've been shopping hams, but all the whole hams I find are spiral cut and cooked. Most are half hams with the big open end. Wouldn't the spiral cut cause the ham to dry out some during its smoke, and being precooked, is it going to come out of the BGE being over cooked? I'm sure someone has experienced this. I need some information.
Thanks

stike · November 2007

Bob In Texas,
those precooked hams are meant to be heated up, rather than cooked as you say, so it's generally a 325 to 350 oven, and quick enough not to dry out. [p]still, in the egg, it is just about the only thing that DOES dry out. if you go too long, that is.[p]the reason you probably want to use the egg is probably for smoke, right? ...so foil for a good bit of the cook, and add smoke at the end. if you are just using it to free up some room in your kitchen oven, and don't care about smoke, just foil it for the whole cook and glaze at the end (homemade glaze, preferrably!)[p]folks (guests, i mean) seem to love the spiral cut, so we often acquiesce and do one in addition to the turkey (or leg of lamb, if it's easter). if i were doing ham as a centerpiece of the cook, i'd get a country ham, or at least one unsliced.[p]

egret · November 2007

Bob In Texas,
You'd be better off going with the "half hams", bone-in. Those spiral cuts come out ok, but, either version you choose don't go past about 140 degrees internal and they won't dry out. Here is a recipe I have used many times with excellent results : [p]Maple-Bourbon Ham*
by John Hall (egret)[p]Ingredients :[p]Maple-Bourbon Paste (recipe follows)
10-12 # cooked, ready to eat ham (bone-in Butt or Shank section)
1/2-1 cup Maple Syrup
Cherry and Apple Chunks[p]Procedure :[p]The day before smoking, place ham in a pan flat side down. Inject in multiple locations with maple syrup (use more than 1 cup if it will take it).
Smear the Maple-Bourbon Paste all over the exposed surfaces (except flat side). Cover loosely with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator until ready to smoke (You can remove ham from refrigerator up to one hour before cooking).
Stabilize egg at 250° with plate setter (legs up) regular grid with raised grid attached. Put 3 or 4 good size chunks of wood on coals, then place ham on raised grid. Cook until internal temperature reaches 140° (this should take about 5 hours). I, sometimes, inject with more maple syrup about one hour before ham is done.[p]Maple-Bourbon Paste[p]2 Tbls. pure Maple Syrup
2 Tbls. freshly ground Black Pepper
2 Tbls. Dijon or Honey-Dijon Mustard
1 Tbls. Bourbon
1 Tbls. Vegetable Oil
1 Tbls. Paprika
1 Tbls. Onion Powder
2 tsp. coarse Salt, either kosher or sea salt[p]*This is a truncated version of Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham that was posted on the forum (author unknown).[p][p][p]

Bob In Texas · November 2007

stike,
Actually, the smoke flavor is what I am looking for. I could just foil it and cook in accordance with the instructions on the ham, and then in the BGE just as if it were going in the oven @325°, and drizzle or spritz it with something. It's kinda hard to add smoke near the end, having to take the meat out, then the grill, then the platesetter, and putting it all back. Is there an easier way to get smoke. No longer than it will be in the dome, I may just start with some pecan chunks. I'm still going to try and find an uncooked one.

Bob In Texas · November 2007

egret,
Hey, thanks egret. I think this is just what I was looking for. Now, you have me on the right path. Gotta print your instructions out.

stike · November 2007

Bob In Texas,
you can always add smoke at the beginning.[p]in my mind, i was picturing what i do at easter, which is take out the lamb, and add the ham, then i drop some hickory splits (long, thin) between the grate and below the platesetter.[p]but sure, add smoke up front, too.

tach18k · November 2007

Bob In Texas, we have one every holiday. We eat ours cold, (Honeybake), I would not heat one of those up or one that has that glaze on them. All the glaze will do is melt off and then its just a ham. You can find non cooked hams, try one of those.

Bob In Texas · November 2007

tach18k,
In my opinion, the Honeybake's are the Cadillac of the precooked, spiral cut hams, but this year I wanted to go one step further, and have a BobBaked Ham out of the BGE (and compare).

BajaTom · November 2007

Bob In Texas,
Try talking to the meat guy at your local grocery store. They should be able to get a fresh ham for you in a couple of days. We use to do fresh hams all the time in our weber water smoker. I just haven't done one on my egg. We use to inject the ham with a mixture of maple syrup and coke. I would smoke indirect at 300/325 to an internal temp of 160/165. We use to get big 20lb hams. Good luck, Tom

Chef Wil · November 2007

Bob In Texas,heres what I do for Thanksgiving......
put a heavy dose of glaze on the spiral ham, cook at about 250 degrees for about 1/2 hour. The ham is already cooked and no matter how hard you try, it will cool off and start to dry. I use pecan or oak for smoke and I use pepper jelly heated in the microwave for my glaze.
Good Luck.

Cooking Spiral Cut Ham

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