Neighbor's spiral ham

Sandi

Hi guys! My neighbor, who is coming for Easter dinner, has a spiral ham that she bought someimes back, in her freezer. She insists on bringing this ham for dinner. Question: what can I do to make it eatable????[p]Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

mad max beyond eggdome

Sandi,
if its already been spiral sliced, i'm not sure there is much you can do. ...heating it up too much will probably dry it out. .. .if youb are able to keep it "tight" (maybe tying it up good with butchers string, you could at least give it a good glaze and heat it up in the egg at around 250 degrees for a couple of hours to add some smoke. ...[p]here is dr. chicken's double smoked ham glaze which we love"[p]1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (get the good stuff)
1/4 cup honey
2 T cider vinegar
1 to 2 T worcesteshire sauce
2 T instant coffee granules
1 T dry ground mustard
2 T orange juice concentrate[p]blend all ingredients in a sauce pan with a wire whip and heat until everything combines ..[p]brush it on the ham every 15 minutes for the last hour. . .[p]also, set up a drip pan with orange juice under the ham. . .[p]HTH, and i hope it doesn't dry out on you. ..

BlueSmoke

mad max beyond egg dome,
My first experience with Dr. Chicken's method was with a spiral sliced ham, and was disappointing. (Guests ate it like it was going out of style, but to my taste it was noticably dry.) It occurred to me then, that if I were to do it again, I'd wrap the ham securely in foil even though it would mean foregoing the "second smoke".[p]Ken

fishlessman

Sandi,
you need a water pan or it will dry out on you, fill it with juice, chicken stock, coke some cloves brown sugar honey, maple syrup etc and baste often. your not cooking it, your just warming it up. follow directions that come with it for times and temps. light cherry wood smoke

Smokin Joe

Sandi,
Along with the glaze that Mad Max suggests it may be a good idea to inject the spiral slided ham with Dr Chicken's Sweet Kiss of Death Marinade. I can't seem to find the link right now - sorry. I couldn't find all of the extracts he mentions so I am substituting the butter pecan syrup for the butter pacan extract. Just google Dr Chicken's Double Smoked Ham and you will find the recipe and cooking instructions. I'm doing a full shank this way for Easter. It will be my first time doing it so I'm looking forward to the results. Good luck! Joe

BlueSmoke

Smokin Joe,
When I did the spiral sliced mentioned below, I tried injecting it, but the slicing interfered - you'd have to inject every slice. Marinating in Kiss of Death might work better.[p]just my $0.02[p]Ken

tach18k

Sandi, One note here, if it is a Honeybaked Ham, it is serverd cold. Most sprial cut hams are pre cooked and servered cold. I would thaw it out and serve it with rolls and condiments. I have had many and they are just fine. I would not think of injecting anything into it.

Smokin Joe

BlueSmoke,
Definately and option. Fortunately I have a whole shank and do not have to deal with the spiral slice issue. I suspect I'll inject my ham tomorrow afternoon and cook it on Sunday. Joe[p]Just a thought - if one did have to deal with the spiral issue would it be an option to inject it perpendicular to the spiral slices as opposed to parallel with the slices? Just curious more than anything - inquiring minds want to know... LOL

Unknown

Sandi,[p]Man..that's a tough one. The spiral slicing means it'll dry out real quick. If you read the directions on the ham, they probably instruct you to wrap it in foil for the whole cook. If you really do have to cook it for the neighbor..I'd consider putting it flat down in a pyrex dish, to force the weight of the ham to keep the slices compressed together, then I'd smoke the majeebers out of it for the first hour at low temps (225 or so) just to get some smoke flavoring into the ham, then I'd wrap it in foil completely and boost up the temps the same as the directions say. Remember you are not really cooking it, just warming it up. I don't really care for spiral sliced hams. because they dry out real quick if your not careful. Heck...the only reason they spiral slice them is so folks don't have to slice it themselves. Apparently there's some kind of problem with people slicing hams themselves. Those ham loving folks probably kept cutting themselves..bleeding all over the hams..so the company decided to slice them before hand. Couse I should talk..I mean I can't even begin to tell you how I cut at least one finger everytime the wife buys me a new knife..which she seems to be doing at an alarming rate these days..go figgure.[p]TUS

Toy Man

Those slices are thin. I think you would have problems injecting it no matter which way you tried.[p]We have always eaten them just the way they come. Taste's like candy to me.[p]Toy Man

mad max beyond eggdome

TheUnStump,
ok, whats up in NH. .. .this is the second day in a row you have actually posted good info in a dialect that everyone can understand. . .i didn't have to pull out my stumpbaby translatin dictionary even once. . .. putting that ham face down to keep the slices all tight is pure brilliance. .. [p]but i miss my stump!!!!

Pakak

tach18k,[p]I know they recommend serving them (Honeybaked Hams) cold BUT I just don't care for the taste that way. I always wrap them tightly in foil and warm - not a whole lot because they WILL dry out. At Christmas, I did the warming on the egg - not to gain any benefit from any smoke (because it was wrapped in foil anyway!) but because it freed-up the oven for other things. Worked great.

Smokin Joe

Toy Man,
We like the spiral cut hams also. In the Hotlanta area the Publix stores have a very good one that (dollar for dollar) beats the heavenly hams every time. This time I thought I would show off my egg skills and do the Dr Chicken Double Smoked Ham so I have a full shank Smithfield Ham ready to inject & smoke with some pecan. We'll see how it goes. Have a good one! Joe