FREE Double Smoked Ham (Big Spiral Surprise)

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Bearcarver

Gone but not forgotten RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Group Lead
Sep 12, 2009
45,279
18,182
Macungie, PA
FREE Double Smoked Ham (Big Spiral Surprise)


By “Big Spiral Surprise”, I meant I never thought a Spiral Sliced Ham could be this good!!

This was the First Spiral Ham I’ve ever Smoked, but it won’t be my last !

I’ve had Spiral Sliced Ham at Family Christmas parties, and at a Wedding Reception, and they were all so bad, I swore I’d never do one myself.

You may have even noticed me talking Spiral Sliced Hams down in the past, because of all my past experiences with them.
They have all been Dry & Tough, and not very good tasting. I figured it was always due to the lack of Fat on them.

So during Easter week, in walks Mrs Bear with a 9.2 pound Spiral Sliced Ham she got for FREE from “Giant”, with her accumulated points from purchases.
I figured she got that 9 pound Turkey Breast for FREE, the same way, and that was Awesome, after I Smoked it, so I’ll give it a try.
It came in a fancy Red wrapper & a Net bag, so I had no idea what it looked like until a couple months later after I thawed it out & was ready to prep it.
Once I opened it up & took a look, my suspicions were right, they really are quite lean, but like I said, “It was FREE”.

So since it was so lean, it didn’t have any fat to trim off for my “Holey Pan Fat Drip Basting Trick”, so I told Mrs Bear to pick up about a Pound of FatBack.
I told her it would probably be about 8” X 8”, and all Pork Fat. So she phoned me from the store & said for about the same price “$2.99”, they had a pound of short Bacon cut-offs. I said, “That’s Great—Even Better--Get that instead!!”

Prepping:
So I took an 8” X 8” foil pan, and punched a bunch of holes in the bottom, and stacked about 3/4 of a pound of Bacon in it. Then I put another pan under it, covered it with saran wrap, and put it in the fridge for the next day’s Smoke.
Then since all but the top of the Ham was already sliced, I only made my criss-cross cuts in the top portion for the drippings to enter the Ham.
Then I covered the Ham & into the Fridge it went.

I also made the following Glaze, to pour over the Bacon, so it can drip on the Ham near the end of the Smoke.

Glaze:
Brown Sugar————1/2 Cup
Maple Syrup———— 1/2 Cup
Ground Mustard———1/2 tsp
Ground Cinnamon——1/4 tsp
Ground Ginger————1/8 tsp
Ground Cloves————1/8 tsp
Ground Nutmeg————1/8 tsp
Heat in Microwave, and stir well just before applying.

Smoking (Day #2):
9:00 AM——-Preheat MES to 220°, and Fill 2+ Rows of AMNPS with Hickory Pellets, and light one end.
10:00 AM——Put Pan with Ham on Rack #4, and AMNPS on right end of bottom rack, and pull Dumper out 3” & rotate 180°.
10:15 AM——Light Smoke. Smoker Temp cycling between 212° and 228°.
11:00 AM——Put Fat Dripping Basting Pan on Top Rack, with Bacon in it, and sterilize & insert Meat probe in Ham.
11:45 AM——Light Medium Smoke——60° IT
12:30 AM——LMS——73° IT—— Bump Heat up to 230° to be done around 4 PM.
1:00 PM——-Medium Smoke——91° IT
1:30 PM——-MS——102° IT
2:00 PM——-MS——113° IT——Smoker Temp cycling between 224° and 237°.
2:30 PM——-MS——124° IT——Push Dumper in.——Pour Glaze on top of Bacon in Drip Tray.
3:00 PM——-LMS——133° IT
3:30 PM——-LMS——138° IT
3:45 PM——-LMS——142° IT——Kill Smoke (Separate Pellets) only 1” Left unburned.
4:00 PM——-LS———146° IT——Remove Ham to Kitchen.
4:15 PM——Slice just enough for Supper.

Add Sides, and Eat Supper.
After Supper I cut the rest up, put the nicest slices in Vac Packs for freezing, and a pack of nice slices for Bear Jr.
I kept the small pieces from around the bone & from the top that wasn’t Spiral cut for our first couple meals & a couple Sammies & Breakfasts.

NOTE: I couldn’t believe how Great this Ham was. It was just as good as my regular Hams that I have Double Smoked, that weren’t Spiral Sliced. The only thing different was I had to buy a little Cheap Bacon for my Drippings Pan, because it didn’t have it’s own Fat to use.

BTW: My Mobility was finally good enough to take this Smoke on, which is why it took me so long to get around to it.

Enjoy the Pics,

Bear



Fancy Wrapped 9.2 pound FREE Spiral Sliced Ham:
IMG_2445.jpg


No Fat on this Guy:
IMG_2446.jpg


Made some cuts in the top, put on a Wire Rack, in a Foil Pan, cover & put in Fridge:
IMG_2447.jpg


Punch holes in 8" X 8" Foil Pan:
IMG_2448.jpg


Put 3/4 pound of short Bacon slices in Pan with drip holes in bottom, cover & into fridge:
IMG_2449.jpg


Dirty Window from last Smoke:
IMG_2450.jpg


Couple minutes later, nice & clean:
IMG_2451.jpg


Ingredients for my Glaze:
IMG_2453.jpg


Halfway---Note Drip Pan with Bacon on top rack, Ham on #4, and AMNPS on Bottom rack #6:
IMG_2455.jpg


Color getting Nice!!
IMG_2456.jpg


Bacon after Glaze went through to Ham:
IMG_2458.jpg


All done & ready to Finish Slicing:
IMG_2459.jpg


Just sliced enough for Supper---Mostly the small pieces:
IMG_2460.jpg


Bear's Supper---Lots of Ham, some Bacon from Drippings Pan, Roasted Reds, & Mixed Veggies:
IMG_2461.jpg


NEXT MORNING BREAKFAST

Two Eggs, Some Ham, 2 Sausages, and some Bacon from Drippings Pan:
IMG_2463.jpg


All Cut up. The Nice big slices on the right went to Freezer, and a Pack to Bear Jr.
The Raggedy pieces on the Left are for our first couple meals & Sammies:
IMG_2467.jpg


NEXT NIGHT SAMMIES

Left Roll gets Horseradish Sauce. Right Roll gets Yellow Mustard & Kelchner's Horse Radish:
IMG_2468.jpg


A Pile of Ham on Each:
IMG_2469.jpg


Close 'em up & Eat:
IMG_2470.jpg


NEXT MORNING"S BREAKFAST

Two Eggs, Some Ham, 2 Sausages, and leftover Roasted Reds:
IMG_2471.jpg
 
Nice Job, Looks Fantastic I wish I had some right now Love that stuff

I "LIKE" it

Gary
 
I tried a spiral sliced ham in the oven once, so I was in total agreement with you as I was reading what you were saying about never making them again...but,
THAT LOOKS
A W E S O M E !​
I love the bacon fat dripping over the ham! Mmmmm...mmm! Genius! Sammies and breakfasts look hamlicious!
 
Last edited:
Awesome Awesome. Man what a fine looking ham and meals would love that bacon too.

Warren


Thank You Warren!!
Yup, That Bacon was Awesome after Smoking almost 6 hours hours & running Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup, and other Spices through it. Just like Candy!! I still can't believe how Good this Ham turned out to be!!!
And Thanks for the Like.

Bear
 
Great looking ham Bear!!!! I can't believe you have never done one before. They are easy and taste great. I've never thought about the bacon/glaze drip method, that is an interesting idea. Thanks for sharing!!!!
 
Nice job Bear!!
I didn’t think the meals would ever end:D Joking aside hams make for many meals... awesome job on taking advantage of the free ham
 
Very nice! And look who made the carousel! Really great tutorial you’ve got going on!
 
<drooling>

that first breakfast looks like I WANT IT!

I would have that in a heartbeat.
add an order of rye toast and some of those taters from the second breaky, and I would dang near live on that!

ONE BIG LIKE!
 
Glad to hear your mobility is coming back bear. That ham looks wonderful - Can you send me over a plate.

Point for sure.

Chris
 
Another fine post Bear. It all looks good but many those breakfast plates are making me hungry!

I think you need to file for a patent on the "foil basting pan", I think this is the first time I have seen you "apply" the glaze via the basting pan. What a great idea.

I have one question. Why put bacon in basting pan, and in fridge, the night before. Did I miss something else you did to the bacon, seems like extra work having to double pan it and cover it in the fridge instead of assembling the bacon pan the day of the smoke?
 
What a great idea! Looks fantastic...got my mouth watering. Not sure what your mobility comment was about but I hope all is ok.
 
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