Maple-bourbon twice-smoked ham

Texas Geezer

<p />M-m-m-m. Did I ever find something special and good to cook on the BGE![p]This is a maple-bourbon glazed twice-smoked ham. I got the paste, mop, and glaze recipes from the book "Smoke and Spice," but otherwise generally followed the technique in Dr. BBQ's first book.[p]Starting with a 11-lb precooked ham, I used an indirect setup with platesetter, and smoked the ham in a V-rack over a drip pan. Dome temp 275 degrees, until internal temp was 160 degrees. I used a chunk each of pecan, cherry, and apple. It took just less than 6 hours cooking time.[p]The extra smoke, and the maple-bourbon-mustard-vinegar taste the paste, mop, and glaze added is like nothing I've ever tasted (combined, those took 1 cup of bourbon! So it's a really unique - for me anyhow - flavoring). My much better half sez this is the best thing I've produced yet.[p]

Lawn Ranger

Texas Geezer,
I just ate and am now hungry again! Very nice.[p]Mike

Unknown

Texas Geezer,
My wife is drooling on the keyboard. Care to share a recipe?
It sounds great and we are expecting company from out of town.
This would be a great thing to cook up for them.
Thank You![p]

Texas Geezer

K_sqrd,[p]Following are the paste/mop/glaze details from the book "Smoke and Spice" (available at most large bookstores), pp. 78-79.

Maple-Bourbon Paste
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Dijon or honey-Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder (I used minced onions)
2 teaspoons coarse salt, either kosher or sea salt

mix all the above and rub on the ham the night before you intend to smoke it. Wrap in plastic or place in large bag, and refrigerate until ready to smoke.

Maple-Bourbon mop
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Maple-Bourbon Glaze
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup bourbon
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons butter, preferably unsalted
2 tablespoons minced onion
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
(I mixed and heated in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes to melt the butter, then mixed again - just with a spoon used for mixing.)

10-14 pound cooked ready-to-eat ham (mine was about 11 lbs)

Remove the ham from the refrigerator about 45 minutes to one hour before putting it in the BGE

Start the BGE, and stabilize temperature at 275 degrees dome. Add 2-3 chunks of mild wood chunks (I used one each of apple, cherry, pecan), but 2-3 chunks of either of them will work just as well. Put placesetter in place (or whatever you use for indirect cooking). Place ham in V-rack over drip pan on grill on top of placesetter (see picture) at BGE forum.

I used the mop sauce to baste the meat about every hour until the internal temperature reached 150 degrees, at which point I switched over to the glaze. I glazed the ham once at 150 degrees (internal) and again at 155 degrees - which was almost exactly 30 minutes apart at the 275 degree dome temperature. Remove from BGE when internal temperature reaches 160 degrees (another 30 minutes).

Notice that each step in the process used progressively more maple syrup. That last glaze should not be put on until about one hour before being done, else the heavy concentration of maple syrup will burn.

All those pastes, mops, and glazes are a lot of trouble to assemble the ingredients, but well worth it when you taste the final results. (Notice though, that many of the same ingredients are used in each step, just in different proportions.) This is not something I'd do again casually. I was trying it out for more formal occasions to follow, which I can assure you, I will do.

SirKeats

Texas Geezer,[p]Looks awesome!![p]mmmmmmmm bourbon.....

Texas Geezer

PS: The recipes for the paste, mop and glaze came straight from the book. Actually, the glaze amount was too much for just two moppings and even pouring a bit on the finished ham while resting.[p]So... next time, I'll cut the amount of ingredients in the glaze in half, and should still have some left over.

BigWings

I was looking for a double-smoked ham recipe and stumbled upon this.   Incredible results.  

My family has just been turned into a clan of ham addicts.