Ham and/or turkey for Easter

Unknown · April 2006

I have had my Egg for about a month now and have made pizza, T-Rex steaks, wings, ABT's, basic stuff. I am interested in cooking either a ham or a turkey (or both, but will they fit?) on the Egg for Easter. How long do each take? What temp? Anyone have any suggestions/ideas?[p]

mad max beyond eggdome · April 2006

Barry Dunn,
here is a link to how i do a turkey ... [p]hopefully someone will post a link to "dr. chickens double smoked ham". ...otherwise, try googling it ...it is a fantastic way to do a ham ...
[ul][li]http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm[/ul]

egret · April 2006

mad max beyond eggdome,
Here is the recipe for the ham :[p]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)[p]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 ½ 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! [p]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. [p]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.

mad max beyond eggdome · April 2006

egret,
dats da one!!. ..takes an average grocery store cooked ham and really turns it into special ...i love the glaze.. .

Unknown · April 2006

mad max beyond eggdome,
Any suggestions on what kind of ham to buy? There seem to be many differing opinions out there.

mad max beyond eggdome · April 2006

Barry Dunn,
you want to buy a pre-cooked/hardwood smoked ham, bone-in ...whole or half depending on how many you are feeding. ..don't know where you live, but if your store sells the smithfields, i really like them. . .whole point of dr. chicken's recipe is that it will take an average ham and make it a great one. ..just remember, you want one that IS pre-cooked/smoked .... and you DON'T want to buy one that is already spiral cut (a spriral cut one will dry out on you if you try to cook it further) .. .

Unknown · April 2006

mad max beyond eggdome,
Thank you. I live in Florida, don't know if they carry those down here, where are you? Thanks for all of your help. Have you done a turkey before? Suggestions for that?

mad max beyond eggdome · April 2006

Barry Dunn,
i live in virginia, the ham capital of the world. ...again, buy any old ham, the recipe is what will make it great ...[p]as for turkey, you must not have read my initial response to your posting. . ..go back and read it, i provided the link to my detailed turkey method for you. ...

Unknown · April 2006

mad max beyond eggdome,
Got it! Thanks again for your help.

HighCotton · April 2006

We want to try this Smithfield Ham cook but the marinade section suggests using a combo of two different recipes? Am I reading this right?

mad max beyond eggdome · April 2006

HIghCotton,
one recipe is for the injection, the other for the glaze. . ..i've done them where i simply smoke the pre-cooked ham and the do the glaze for the last hour with great results .. .but dr. chicken and many others swear by the 'sweet kiss' injection as well. . ..

Unknown · April 2006

Newbie question.....[p]Is there any risk that the smoking method used for the "first cook" (that is, the cooking done by the processor) "conflicts" or even renders useless the smoking done at home in the BGE? I would suppose not, but I'm having trouble getting over the idea of smoking a piece of meat that already calls itself smoked. Thanks so much....

Ham and/or turkey for Easter

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