Apple Cider Double Smoked Ham
One of the most common seasonal offerings in any Christmas meal is baked ham. Though this traditional meat has been reinvented time and time again throughout history, it still has never lost its rightful place at the center of the dinner table. Here at The Original Cold Smoked Salt and Pepper Company, our family has fallen in love with this double smoked ham recipe. The extra smoky flavors, along with The Original’s cold smoked seasonings, are beyond compare. We hope our family’s tradition may become the new tradition at your dinner table as you gather together with family this Christmas season or any other time of the year.
The ingredients you will need for this recipe are as follows…
- 5 lb Ham
- 4 Cups of Apple Cider
- 1/2 cup of Honey Bourbon
- 1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Maple Smoked Sea Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Maple Smoked Peppercorn
- Applewood Smoked Espresso Peppercorn
- Hickory Smoked Paprika
The first step is to prep the ham the day before you are planning to smoke it. We use an apple cider and honey bourbon marinade that we inject straight into the ham the night before smoking. This allows the juices to settle into the meat and hold the flavor during the cooking process. Next, you will mix together in a sauce pan 2 cups of apple cider, 1/2 cup of honey bourbon, 1/4 cup dijon mustard, 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of Maple Smoked Sea Salt, 1/2 teaspoon Maple Smoked Peppercorn. Mix together and heat over medium heat. Do not boil or this will start to caramelize the honey and bourbon. Grab a 3 inch deep foil pan in which to place the ham. Cover the ham with foil to protect any juices that may spring a leak during the injecting process. Use a meat injector to throughly inject the ham with the marinade until it is all distributed. Make sure to cover as much surface area as possible over the ham so the marinade is distributed as evenly as possible. Once this is done, cover with foil and place in fridge overnight.
On the day you are ready to smoke the ham, prep the smoker with Hickory wood pellets or with your favorite flavored pellets and set the smoker to 350 degrees. While the smoker is heating up to the desired temperature, remove the ham from the fridge and uncover. Season the outside of the ham with Applewood Smoked Espresso Peppercorn, Maple Smoked Sea Salt, and Hickory Smoked Paprika. Season to taste. Finally, take 1 cup of apple cider and another 1/2 a cup of bourbon and pour into the bottom of the foil pan with the ham. This will help with flavoring during the cooking process and help keep the ham from drying out.
Once the smoker is close to 350 degrees, place the foil tray with the ham in the smoker. Allow one hour of cook time per pound of ham. You will want an internal temperature to be 165 degrees before you pull it off the smoker. One tip to help during the smoking process is to take a spoon to scoop up the juices in the foil pan and drizzle them over the ham from time to time. This will help season the meat and get a nice caramelization on top. After it has reached the desired temp of 165 degrees, remove it from the smoker and cover. Let it set for at least 30 minutes to let the juices settle back into the meat as it cools. Finally, slice the ham to your desired thickness and serve.
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