Ham for Easter... need advise/pointers

iowaeggboy · April 2012

I am wanting to do a ham for Easter, but don't know the first thing about it. Are they precooked/ smoked? Will me smoking it on my egg be overkill? What is the best ham to ask my butcher for? etc then... What temp to cook it? How long etc? Any advice out there would be much appreciated! Thanks Egguniverse.

egret · April 2012

I heard a lot about this one :

Maple-Bourbon Ham

by John Hall (egret)

Ingredients:

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

Preparation:

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) and regular grid on plate setter. Put 3 or 4 good size chunks of wood on coals, then place ham on grid. Cook until internal temperature reaches 140°. (this should take about 5 hours).

Maple-Bourbon Paste:

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

bigguy136 · April 2012

I second egert. I've made several of these for my parents. Maybe back off a little on the pepper if there is going to be someone who doesn't like heat.

stike · April 2012

I'll second that ham. And his recipe is pretty excellent too.

)

Mickey · April 2012

Have done Egrets ham over a doz times. Will do it many dozen times again.

iowaeggboy · April 2012

Do you leave the ham in the pan? Do you cover the ham at all? Thanks everyone!

Mickey · April 2012

Sorry, pan? I set on grid w/o pan.

smokinbulldawg · April 2012

anyone done this with a green ham? I have a green 10-12 pound whole bone in ham ordered. I am trying to get an idea on a timeline. Anyone tried resting a ham in a cooler or oven (or other device) for several hours?

We will leave for Church at 8:40 Sunday morning, and be back home around 11:40. I am concerned how best to cook, and serve the ham, without stressing for the 3 hours I am at church.

stike · April 2012

a green ham is a roast, really. or you could cook it all the way to pullable.

resting helps roasts and steaks, but i wouldn't rest it in a cooler, because the idea behind restign a roast/steak is too allow it to cool a bit so that it will hold in juices a little better when you finally cut into it.

keeping a butt in a cooler doesn't need that (at 200 degrees, the moisture is long gone, and any 'wet' is fat and gelatin), and plus it is all mingled togther anyway, not sliced. any juice that spilled out would go right back into the mix.

resting PP in a cooler is good if the PP is done too early and you want to keep it hot. it doesn't benefit like a roast does from a rest.

if you roast it, you can go at 325/350 for a couple hours until 155-160 max. i would pull around 140-145 myself. it's safe at those temps.

personally, i'd dial back to 220 and put it on when i went to church. then bump it when you got home. depending on size, and when you wanna eat, you could put it on when you get home

smokinbulldawg · April 2012

I was thinking cook at ~225-250. we would like to eat at 12-12:30. The other solution is to cook it early. Then reheat just before serving, or serve it cold.......although I would prefer to take it off the egg, and serve soon after, so it is still hot. My thoughts were that ~140-150 range....just unsure of my timeline to get to that temp with such a large piece of meat....

Lt_Dan · April 2012

Do you put the ham on the grid flat side down?

KingRover · April 2012

Do you put the ham on the grid flat side down?

I had a bone-in half shank, and put the flat side down directly on the grid.

So we are having our easter dinner this Friday. Does the above bourbon recipe have to have bourbon? Or could I simply omit that ingredient?

Its only a tablespoon, I would think you could get away with omitting it. You could substitute wth a small amount of vanilla (1 teaspoon?) maybe if you wanted to.

I followed Egret's recipe (used a little less pepper, used only apple chunks, re-applied the paste at the end of the cook to glaze), it turned out terrific. Thanks to Egret and the tips on this forum for a terrific Easter dinner!

KingRover · April 2012

@mountaindewbass

We have pregnant friends sharing our ham. I'm sure the bourbon would cook out. But why chance that. I'll try the vanilla and hope that works. Thanks

Vanilla extract is like 35% alcohol, so if you are not comfortable using bourbon for that reason, you may not want to use vanilla extract either.

Little Steven · April 2012

I would guess that any of the alcohol in the bourbon would be long gone after 4 to 5 hours. More like 4 to 5 minutes.

stike · April 2012

and when you realize that a person would have to eat the entire ham to get a tablespoon of alcohol.... hahaha

gonna be kind of tough to get fetal alcohol syndrome from one slice of a ham where a tablespoon of alcohol flavored 12 pounds.... but that's just me being careless

)

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2012

and when you realize that a person would have to eat the entire ham to get a tablespoon of alcohol.... hahaha

gonna be kind of tough to get fetal alcohol syndrome from one slice of a ham where a tablespoon of alcohol flavored 12 pounds.... but that's just me being careless
)

stike · April 2012

lotta guys here don't seem to be able to talk to their wives for some reason.

'help me convince my wife (to buy an egg)"
"my wife won't eat pink pork"
"my wife won't let me dry age in the fridge"
"my wife won't let me use the same amount of alcohol in one dose of cold medicine spread over a 12 pound ham"

)

Little Steven · April 2012

I would like a new fishing Rod. Couldya make a call for me man?

KingRover · April 2012

@mountaindewbass I did a 7# at 250, took about 3.5 hours to hit 138.

And yeah, there is no risk with a tablespoon of bourbon spread over an 8 # ham and cooked for 4 hours. But when you play host, sometimes you gotta accomodate.

stike · April 2012

you'd better leave out the vanilla too then (it's also alcohol)

Ham for Easter... need advise/pointers

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