Hats off to Bearcarver and his excellent post regarding Double Smoking a ham. So what we are talking about here is buying a store-smoked, fully cooked ham -- and smoking it again! Having been inspired by Bearcarver I set out to get supplies. Went to Costco. Only hams I could get in the 9-10 lbs. range were all spiral cut and pretty well trimmed of fat.
Well, I figured what the heck. Since it was pre-cut and trimmed well I was afraid it would dry out. But a learning experience, eh?
Also I figured why not make this as easy as possible. So I got a disposable aluminum pan. Placed it in large side down and let it go at that (no further trimming).
I have an original 30" MES. Like Bearcarver, I placed it in the third rack with position 1 & 2 open.
Put my AMZNPS full of hickory on the bottom drip tray. I foiled the smoker, but cooking it in the pan really
prevented any drips. In fact, one of the beauty's of my "lazy" way of double smoking (avoiding
placement of basting fat on the top rack, or even Bearcarver's procedure #2 with the
perforated tray on the top rack)
When the ham went in it had an IT of about 55^. Smoked this ham for four hours at ^180. (Ok, I'll admit about hour #3 I started basting the ham with a turkey baster) Didn't mess with the temperature. When I pulled it at the end of four hours I had an internal temp of about 120^ (remember this ham was pre-cooked before I even started).
Near the end of the smoke I went in the house and heated our regular oven to 425^. Pulled the ham and brought it into the kitchen. Prepared the "glaze packet" that came with the ham. BTW, the glaze is mostly sugar. Do not walk away from this mixture it will boil up in a rush and is a little hot. Back at the pan, turned the ham on it's side. And brushed on the glaze. Put the ham in the oven to finish it off in 10 minutes. So how did it come out?
The ham went into the oven looking fairly unchanged, but the 425^ trip crisped it up
a bit. Some of the crispyer parts came out a lot like very smoky bacon. But most of
the ham REMAINED MOIST despite it being spiral cut. And brother it was SMOKY!
(No more of this whimpy smoked flavor for me!) Bottom line: this "lazy" double smoke
took a minimum of effort, mess and attention and came out pretty good!
Smokin! --> Phil
Well, I figured what the heck. Since it was pre-cut and trimmed well I was afraid it would dry out. But a learning experience, eh?
Also I figured why not make this as easy as possible. So I got a disposable aluminum pan. Placed it in large side down and let it go at that (no further trimming).
I have an original 30" MES. Like Bearcarver, I placed it in the third rack with position 1 & 2 open.
Put my AMZNPS full of hickory on the bottom drip tray. I foiled the smoker, but cooking it in the pan really
prevented any drips. In fact, one of the beauty's of my "lazy" way of double smoking (avoiding
placement of basting fat on the top rack, or even Bearcarver's procedure #2 with the
perforated tray on the top rack)
When the ham went in it had an IT of about 55^. Smoked this ham for four hours at ^180. (Ok, I'll admit about hour #3 I started basting the ham with a turkey baster) Didn't mess with the temperature. When I pulled it at the end of four hours I had an internal temp of about 120^ (remember this ham was pre-cooked before I even started).
Near the end of the smoke I went in the house and heated our regular oven to 425^. Pulled the ham and brought it into the kitchen. Prepared the "glaze packet" that came with the ham. BTW, the glaze is mostly sugar. Do not walk away from this mixture it will boil up in a rush and is a little hot. Back at the pan, turned the ham on it's side. And brushed on the glaze. Put the ham in the oven to finish it off in 10 minutes. So how did it come out?
The ham went into the oven looking fairly unchanged, but the 425^ trip crisped it up
a bit. Some of the crispyer parts came out a lot like very smoky bacon. But most of
the ham REMAINED MOIST despite it being spiral cut. And brother it was SMOKY!
(No more of this whimpy smoked flavor for me!) Bottom line: this "lazy" double smoke
took a minimum of effort, mess and attention and came out pretty good!
Smokin! --> Phil
