Hams can be broadly categorized into four broad categories: Fresh hams, dry cured hams, wet-cured hams, and injected hams. Unfortunately, they are labeled with different tags. And, the buying process can get extremely frustrating.
Now, you have to choose the perfect ham, as per your preference. Wet-cured ham is one of the many great options to smoke than just to cook it in the oven. Smoking ham adds gives an extraordinary and unique flavor that will leave you begging for more. You can choose to throw your ham in the oven to cook, but then you are missing on the exquisite and tempting palate. If you are big on hams, I highly suggest you go all in and buy a smoker.
The tricky part with using wet-cured hams is that they are very dry. So, when you cook them, the smoke flavor is barely noticeable. So, we’ll have to cook our ham at a lot lower flame and a slower pace to retain the moisture in.
Smoking Ham to Perfection
KEEP IT FRESH!
Make sure to keep the ham fresh! Place it in the fridge, until you are ready to smoke the ham. Keep a note of the manufacturing date. It is very vital to consume the ham before it expires. You don’t want to land up with an upset your stomach.
PREPPING
There is no prerequisite for prepping the ham, all you have to do is refrigerate it. And, set it outside to start seasoning!
FLAVORS
While cooking ham, people you can add more flavors! This can be done through injection or marination. The most popular method is adding glaze or coating the meat. You can choose to glaze your meat with honey, jellies, jams, sugar, maple syrup or brown sugar. Fruit juices add a tangy flavor to the meat. One can use the most common fruit juices for this purpose are apple juice, cherry juice, orange juice, and pineapple juice, as per preference.
There are a variety of other choices, like slathering the ham with a generous amount of ballpark mustard. Be sure to coat the flat side of the ham.
SMOKING THE HAM
If you are not skilled to handle the grill, go easy on the amount of wood. You don’t want the meat to end up tasting like a lump of charcoal. You want the smoke to boost the pork’s natural flavor, not to conceal it up entirely. It is better to have less smoke than more than enough smoke. Before you give a shot at smoking ham, you might want to have a trial and error with a chicken. That way you finalize the amount of BBQ wood that you’ll need.
Smoking ham requires skills. To have that flawless smoky flavored ham, it is vital to smoke the ham at the correct pace, with an adequate amount of wood, not too less not too much. An excessive amount of wood can result in overcooked ham, and destroy the flavors completely. The process is lengthy and time-consuming, but worth it!
To make a good smoked ham you need to place the ham on the smoker, fill the water pan, and place some BBQ wood on the burner. That’s for a good ham. For a great smoked ham, you’ll need to go through more trouble; you will need a head start. You have to start by soaking the ham overnight, and then add some ham glaze. As you start smoking the ham, it will reach an internal temperature of about 160°F, now it nearly ready to serve. This process took approximately four or five hours, keep opening the smoker to check the water pan and wood. Add more wood and or more liquid, if required. It is more than enough, if you check it once or twice, every hour.
You can use the spare time to prepare an entrée or chug down a margarita. Remember, the point of preparing this delicious meal is to have fun while doing it.
The final step is to; take the ham off the smoker when it reaches 160. Place it on a foil-lined baking pan. Allow the ham to sit at room temperature before slicing it. Your ham is served!
Try and relish the appetizing flavors after hours of hard work!
About the Author
Oliver Walsh
Founder at BestHomeGears.com
Oliver is your next door DIY enthusiast, you can check out his website BestHomeGears.com. He started working on this website with his wife Laurel to bring out their story, adventures, and misadventures to more people out there!