Easter Ham

watsonace

I'm looking to wow the family this Easter with a delicious ham.  Was thinking about ordering a high quality ham through mail.  Anyone have a favorite or any suggestions?

hoosier_egger

Do this and SRF hams are delightful http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/kurobuta-pork/kurobuta-half-ham.html

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1133627/maple-bourbon-ham/p1

fishlessman

this is my favorite, someone will post egrets ham, its good as well. skip the expensive hams. if you go this option you need to mail order some ingredients now

Dr.

Chicken’s

Double

Smoked

Ham

By Connie and Leonard Webb (Lenscamp)

(original by Dave Spence, aka “Dr. Chicken”)

Ham should be a fully cooked or partially cooked half-shank variety or can be shoulder variety

(water added can be used, as long as the water added does not exceed 23% water added product.) If

it is pre-smoked with hickory, that seems to work out best. Patti/Jean or Cooks among the best, but

other varieties can be used!

Glazing

Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup (use dark grade B real maple syrup if available)(dark grade B has more flavor

than grade A)

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 – 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules (use a good brand because it makes a difference)

1 tablespoon dry ground mustard

2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate (a good brand provides better flavor)

Blend all ingredients in a saucepan with a wire whip and heat slightly until everything combines into

a viscous or thick looking sauce.

Cooking

instructions:

Score outer skin of ham to a depth of ? inch in a crisscross diamond pattern. This will allow the

glazing sauce to penetrate below the skin, into the actual ham. Place ham (un-glazed) into a shallow

roasting pan or roasting rack. If pineapple and cherries are desired on the outside, add them when

you start the glazing process. Cook in oven @ 275° – 300° with a loose tent of aluminum foil over

the top for 25 to 30 minutes per lb. Baste with glazing sauce the last hour of cooking time and

continue to cook until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140°. Remove from oven and

allow to sit covered for 20 to 30 minutes before carving!

Cooking

instructions

for

outdoor

cooking:

This can be done on a grill over indirect heat or in a water smoker or other type of cooker, again

over indirect heat or “low & slow” type cooking. Do not tent over ham if done on grill, water

smoker or other cooker; this would prevent smoke from penetrating the ham.

Place water soaked chunks of mesquite, hickory or pecan (we prefer the smoke of pecan over all the

others) on coals 5 minutes before putting ham on cooker. This will allow the ham to obtain

maximum smoke flavor during the second cook cycle. (The first cook cycle is the cycle the

processor uses.) If even more smoke flavor is desired, place ham in freezer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours

prior to cooking to allow outer edges of ham to start to freeze. Go easy on this procedure; you

don’t want the ham frozen hard!

Maintain temperature of cooker/grill at 225° to 275° during cook cycle.

If using a water smoker, fill water pan 3/4 full with hot water and add 2 cups of orange, pineapple,

or orange/pineapple mix, sweetened grapefruit or apple juice to the water. (All of them act as

tenderizer as the steam penetrates the meat.) (I use a 3/4 full drip pan when cooking on the Eggs,

filled with a 50:50 mix of water and orange juice.)

Again, cook for 25 to 30 minutes per lb. until internal temp on the ham shows 140°. A couple of

books suggest 145° and 160° respectively. Shirley O. Corriher in her book “CookWise” suggests

140°. We found this to be exactly right. After removing from the Egg, it will climb up to 145°

internally. The ham will retain it moistness and the flavor will go thru out the ham this way.

Baste ham with glazing sauce every 10 to 15 minutes during the last hour of cooking time. Glazing

compound will burn, so do not start glazing the ham until the internal temp of the ham reaches 120°.

NOTE: The secret to this process is plenty of smoke and the real maple syrup and granular coffee

crystals in the glazing sauce. Use a cheaper cut of ham like mentioned before, and people will think

you bought an expensive ham that you had to “hock” your kids for! Yuk! Yuk! (See my pun

there?) The glazing sauce will give the ham a fantastic taste, smell and color!

Enjoy!!! El Chefo Dave (aka: Dr. Chicken)

Note: Use an injectable marinade such as Tony Chachere’s Pecan-Honey-Praline in the ham just

before cooking to “explode” the flavor of the ham. Be sure to use it at the recommended rate of 2

fluid ounces per pound. It really does take that much to do the job right!

Dr.

Chicken’s

Sweet

Kiss

of

Death

Injectable

Marinade:

First off, let me give a little background into the idea behind this injectable marinade and the

reasoning behind it.

Years ago, my Grandma and my Mom both cooked such delightfully good hams at Christmas time;

it would make your head swim in delight. The aroma would make our house smell good for days!

Tender, sweet, moist (most of the time) and just plain scrumptious, it was a memory like all of us

have. I always wanted to duplicate the recipe. But, by the time I got around to asking my Mom

about it, she was nearly bed ridden and had trouble remembering yesterday much less 40 to 50

years ago. Mom passed away 2 years ago last Valentines Day in 2000. But, I’ve continued to

search and work at that memorable cooked ham.

Five years ago, I took a challenge from my oldest brother to duplicate that recipe in an outdoor

cooker.

He

said,

“It

can’t

be

done!”

Any

of

you

that

have

tried

my

“Dr.

Chicken’s

Double

Smoked Ham” recipe knows that remark was not true then and is not true now!

But, in all honesty, even the double smoked ham recipe left something to be desired. Sometimes it

left the ham tasting great, but a little too dry. I believe it was Earl or Sprinter or GFW from the BGE

user’s forum that suggested I use an injectable marinade in the ham, such as Cajun Injector’s or

Tony Chachere’s Honey-Pecan-Praline marinades. Believe me, they both did a great job, but neither

of them added the “punch” like I wanted. So, I have kept on trying.

Well folks, I think I have come up with what I wanted. Either recipe is a winner, but using them

both on the same ham will result in by far the most fantastic tasting ham you will ever try.

Please give both recipes a try! You will love the results! I hope too, it will become a “family

tradition” like my Mom’s and my Grandma’s was in our family.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Good clean water (if your city or well water has an offensive taste, please use bottled

water)

1 cup of light Karo syrup (make sure it is light Karo brand syrup)

1/8 cup of Amaretto liqueur (use the real stuff it makes a difference)

2 tablespoons of Watkins brand Butter Pecan extract (this is the only Butter-Pecan extract I could

find)

1 tablespoon of Rum extract (again, I used Watkins because of the better taste than store bought)

1 teaspoon of Orange extract (this compliments the orange juice concentrate used in the glaze or

basting sauce)

1 to 2 tablespoons Vanilla extract (again, I used Watkins because of taste after the first run)

Directions

for

blending:

Into a medium size sauce pan add the water, Karo syrup and Amaretto. Stir frequently and heat very

slowly to avoid scorching the sugars in the syrup.

Then, add all the remaining ingredients and continue to stir and heat slowly. When the mix looks

uniform in color and smooth, remove mix from the stove and allow it to cool to almost room

temperature.

Directions

for

use:

Wrap ham in 2 layers of plastic wrap before starting the injection process.

Using a marinade hypodermic syringe, inject at least 2 fluid ounces per pound of meat in a grid

pattern through out the entire ham and don’t be afraid to use up to 3 ounces per pound of meat.

Continue to inject the marinade into the ham until the entire amount of marinade is injected evenly

into the ham.

Cook the ham as shown in the “Double Smoked Ham” recipe. Be sure to you your favorite wood

for smoke flavoring.

Do not cook the ham beyond 145° internal to prevent over cooking and drying out the ham

GregW

I decided to do Egret's ham last weekend. It was an epic quest to find a ham. I went to 7 stores. Some didn't have any hams at all, others only had the 23% water added hams.
I sadly wound up at Walmart. They at least had a ham without added water. The brand was " Kentucky Legend"
I followed the Egret's recipe. It was nothing special when I tried it. I cooked it to 130 Deg internal temp, and to me it was a little drier than I would have liked.

I really don't think my disappointment had anything to do with the recipe. I think the quality of the ham and reheating to 130 Deg resulted in the sub-par results.

I do have a question for the people that love Egret's ham, what brand of ham are you using? and is it a 23% water added ham? or a natural juices ham?

 

egret

GregW said:

I decided to do Egret's ham last weekend. It was an epic quest to find a ham. I went to 7 stores. Some didn't have any hams at all, others only had the 23% water added hams.
I sadly wound up at Walmart. They at least had a ham without added water. The brand was " Kentucky Legend"
I followed the Egret's recipe. It was nothing special when I tried it. I cooked it to 130 Deg internal temp, and to me it was a little drier than I would have liked.

I really don't think my disappointment had anything to do with the recipe. I think the quality of the ham and reheating to 130 Deg resulted in the sub-par results.

I do have a question for the people that love Egret's ham, what brand of ham are you using? and is it a 23% water added ham? or a natural juices ham?

 

Greg, there's a brand I can find around here called Guatney (sp?) that I use sometimes, but, I use the Smithfield brand most of the time. I never paid any attention to moisture content........it was either use this one or do without. I never had a failure following the recipe........

GregW

@egret thanks for the clarification on the ham. I know that there are countless people who have used your recipe with outstanding results, so I knew the problem I had was due to a low quality ham and me overcooking it.

The majority of hams available in the grocery stores are the water added type. You really have to make a determined search to find anything else, particularity if its not a major ham cooking holiday.

I'm going to try one of the water added hams next time. It certainly would be less prone to drying out. I cooked the ham that was a little dry on my pellet smoker. It has a convection fan that moves a lot of air. The air movement may also have contributed to the dryness.

Thanks again for your reply.

egret

GregW said:

@egret thanks for the clarification on the ham. I know that there are countless people who have used your recipe with outstanding results, so I knew the problem I had was due to a low quality ham and me overcooking it.

The majority of hams available in the grocery stores are the water added type. You really have to make a determined search to find anything else, particularity if its not a major ham cooking holiday.

I'm going to try one of the water added hams next time. It certainly would be less prone to drying out. I cooked the ham that was a little dry on my pellet smoker. It has a convection fan that moves a lot of air. The air movement may also have contributed to the dryness.

Thanks again for your reply.

Greg, yes by all means, just try a regular old store-bought ham and cook it in the egg. I've been doing it for years and always get good results. Cooking temp. isn't all that critical.....anywhere from 250-300 degrees works fine. You can also put the ham on the grid and cook it, or leave it in the pan you've prepped it in........be sure the pan fits in the egg first. 
The ground ham makes awesome ham salad sandwiches and the bone works wonders in soup or beans........
Good luck with it.

pgprescott

Whatever you do, don’t. It a spiral cut IMO. I have had great luck with Cooks brand hams. Very inexpensive and always great. I’m quite sure some of the fancier ones might be even better. 

fishlessman

have had good luck with cooks, carando, and appleton farms (aldis hams).  butt section is better than shank for tenderness