Smoking a ham, need help

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blueyze

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2010
2
10
I am new to this forum and smoking and need some help. I want to smoke a ham but I'm confused on how long I need to smoke it and how do I keep it from drying out? It is amost 7 lbs with bone in and it is cured. It doesn't say its cooked but the label says to cook to 148 deg instead of 170. I have a charcol smoker.

I have searched the internet and I'm just more confused. I do not want to have a dry ham. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Welcome to the forums! I've been inactive for quite some time due to occupational requirements, but I'm back!

In my experience and from threads I've read earlier on this very subject, a cured ham is, in fact, already cooked. the only reason you need to heat it is to warm it up for eating.
 
It sounds like you have an already cured ham which would already be cooked and you just need to warm it up. In that case you just need to throw it on your smoker and bring it up to your desired temp so it is warm in the middle. I did one a while back and it turned out great. I covered it with mustard and then put a rub on the outside and smoked it for a few hours to give it a nice smoky flavor. I would smoke it around 225 which will be nice a low and slow and it shouldn't dry out. You could also make some type of glaze to keep basting over it that would be very good as well. Just cook it how you normally would but it is going to taste even better because you will have a kiss of thin blue smoke on there which will make it awesome.
 
I agree that it sounds like it already cooked. So I would do just what Rbranster said and just re-heat it with some good rub applied. I would also take the ham to about 160° or so for an internal temp too. Don't forget the Qview too. Oh yea stop into Roll Call if you would so we can learn alittle more about you and your equipment and all that neat stuff.
 
the last one I did, I glazed with Honey and Rum
smoked over apple wood@ about 225* till it got to about 150*
use a water pan and keep the temp kind of low and you wont dry it out
 
thanks everyone...

It is hard to use rubs or sauces suggested with BBQ or smoking because my husband is allergic to all pepper products. I usually inject it with a honey/butter/brown sugar mix but I wanted something different this time. I was going to try some apple cider vinegar in the water pan to flavor and tenderize it. My major concern is not having it over cooked or dry at dinner time. My smoker shows 3-5 hrs for a cured ham but 2 hrs is alot of time for it to dry out if it's done at 3 hrs. I'm probably over thinking it hehehe. Also my smoker does not have a temperature guage. It just shows warm, ideal or hot.
 
Make it how ever you normally make it and it will taste different just because you are doing it in the smoker. I would keep your smoker on the Ideal or the lower end of ideal and bring it up to 155 or 160. Do you have a temp probe to know when it reaches the correct internal temp? Or do you have to open the grill and insert a analog one? Wireless thermometers aren't to bad these days. You can get a dual one which will monitor the internal temp of your smoker and the internal temp of your meat at the same time for around $50. I would highly suggest investing in one if you don't already have one. Takes out all of the guess work on what your temps are at. And yea I think you are right when you said you may be over thinking it. It will come out great just keep the temps down and it shouldn't dry out. Mine came out nice and juicy.
 
Blue -

There are as many ways to smoke a cured ham as there are people smoking them. Just about anything will work. The main thing is that you are going to add a TON of great smoke flavor to your store bought cured ham.

I do mine with a maple-bourbon rub the night before and then mop with a maple-bourbon-cider mix. You can see it at:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...hlight=bourbon

The reciepe calls for some black pepper in the rub, but you can leave it out, no problem.

I smoke mine anywhere from 4-6 hours over Hickory depending on how much time I have. I have never had one get dry. I leave as much fat on as possible and mop after an hour or so.

Like rbranster said, keep your temps to 200-225 if possible. I don't cook to an internal temperature since the ham is already cured, but mine uusally hit 140-150 or so after 4-6 hours depending on size.

Just jump in and try it. You will be amazed at how much better this tastes than the ones you do in the oven.
 
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