Maple & Cherry Smoked Orange Glazed Ham

As a child, Christmas would start, for me, with the smell of a smokey glazed ham. As I arrived at my grandparent’s house for the holiday season, being met buy the wonderful aromas of citrus and oak, as my Nan floated around the kitchen, mid-preparation for the holiday feast.

Nobody could glaze a ham like my Nan! But I try…

Lilian my Nan, would usually glaze a huge, whole, bone-in ham for Christmas. Studded with cloves, layered with slices of preserved orange, and coated in the shiniest, sweet & bitter, orange glaze.

Apart from the Christmas day feast, the ham would be eaten in many different ways. Fried for breakfast, topped with an egg, within a spread of cold meats and cheeses with pickles & chutneys, a turkey and ham pie, or a simple sandwich with English mustard.

For this recipe, I’m smoking and glazing a 2.5 Kg mild cure half ham. This will be good served hot as dinner for 8 people, or dinner for 4 with plenty of leftovers for smorgasbords and sandwiches. If you’re cooking a whole ham, double the glaze ingredients, and cook to the temperatures given, not the timings. I would say add a third extra for the times as a guide.

A mild cure ham, as opposed to a traditional cure, has a lot less salt content. Which means it can be cooked straight away. Traditionally, hams were cured with a lot of salt, which acted as a preservative, but some of this salt has to be removed before cooking and eating.

Ask your butcher what cure your ham has.

If you don’t know, there’s a simple way to find out. Simply slice a thin strip of ham from the meaty underside, fry it up, and taste it. If it’s unbearably salty, you have a traditional cured ham, and will need to soak it before smoking.

To remove some of the salt from your ham, submerge it in cold water for between 8 and 24 hours depending on the size and the saltiness of your ham, and how much salt you want to remove. If it’s a very large and salty ham, you may need to change the water a couple of times.

Maple & Cherry Smoked Orange Glazed Ham

4 from 5 votes

Course: MainCuisine: British, AmericanDifficulty: Pitmaster

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Smoke time

3

hours 

Glaze Time

1

hour 

Total time

5

hours 

As a child, Christmas would start, for me, with the smell of a smokey glazed ham. As I arrived at my grandparent’s house for the holiday season, being met buy the wonderful aromas of citrus and oak, as my Nan floated around the kitchen, mid-preparation for the holiday feast.

Nobody could glaze a ham like my Nan! But I try…

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

• 2.5 Kg 2.5 Half Gammon (boned, unsmoked, mild cure)

• 1 Tbsp 1 Whole Cloves

• FOR THE GLAZE:

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 No Peel Orange Marmalade

• 1/2 Cup 1/2 Soft Light Brown Sugar (packed)

• 1/3 Cup 1/3 Maple Syrup

• 1 Tbsp 1 English mustard

• FOR SMOKING:

• 1 1 Maple Wood Chunk

• 1 1 Cherry Wood Chunk

Directions

• Set barbecue to indirect cooking in a range of between 100°C-120°C/210°F-250°F
  Chuck on the Maplewood Chunk and Cherrywood chunk, let them catch, close the dome, and leave until you get a steady, light blue smoke.

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• Place the gammon directly onto the cooking grates and smoke for around three hours, or, when the internal temperature reaches around 60°C/140°F.

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• Place all the glaze ingredients into a small saucepan. Place on the heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Keep stirring until all ingredients have combined, and the glaze has reduced slightly.

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• Remove gammon from the barbecue and carefully slice off the skin.
  

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• Score diamonds into the fat and stud each diamond with a clove.
  Meanwhile, heat the barbecue to around 190°C to 210°C/375°F to 410°F.

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• Line a roasting tin with foil, place the gammon into the roasting tin and return to the barbecue.

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• Pour over the Glaze.
  Baste with the glaze every 10 minutes until the internal temperature reaches about 68°C/155F° around 50 minutes. Check using an instant read thermometer.

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• When removed, rest in the tin and keep basting.
  If you want a thicker glaze, pour the glaze from the tin back into the small saucepan, skim the fat and bring back to a simmer.
  Reduce for about 10 minutes and pore over the ham.

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• Either serve the ham hot with roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Cold with a spread of meats, cheeses, pickles and chutneys. Fried with an egg for breakfast, or in a sandwich with a good helping of English mustard.

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What I Used For This Recipe

• Kamado Joe® Classic III
• INKBIRD Wi-fi IBBQ-4T
• Thermapen® ONE
• Maple Wood Chunks
• Cherry Wood Chunks

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