Dr. Chicken's Classic - enclosed
Dr. Chicken's Double Smoked Ham
Ham should be a fully or partially cooked ½ shank variety or it can be shoulder variety (water added can be used, as long as the water added does not exceed 23% water added product.) Patti/Jean or Cooks among the best! Also use Pecan wood as your smoke source especially if the ham is pre-smoked with hickory. The two flavors compliment each other.
Glazing Sauce:
½ cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Maple Syrup (use dark grade B real maple syrup if available - dark grade B has more flavor than grade A)
¼ cup Honey
2 Tbsp Cider Vinegar
1½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp Instant Coffee granules (use a good brand because it makes a difference)
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
2 Tbsp Orange Concentrate
Blend all ingredients in a sauce pan with a wire whip and heat slightly until everything combines into a viscous looking sauce.
Score outer skin of ham to a depth of ½ inch in a crisscross diamond pattern. This will allow the glazing sauce to penetrate below the skin, into the actual ham. Place ham (un-glazed) into a shallow roasting pan or roasting rack.
Cooking instructions for outdoor cooking:
Place water soaked chunks of mesquite, hickory or pecan (we prefer the smoke of pecan over all the others) on coals 5 minutes before putting ham on cooker. This will allow the ham to obtain maximum smoke flavor during the second cook cycle. Maintain temperature of cooker/grill at 225° to 275° during cook cycle. (I use a ¾ full drip pan when cooking on the Eggs, filled with a 50:50 mix of water and orange juice.) Cook for 25 to 30 minutes per lb. until internal temp on the ham shows 140. Shirley O. Corriher in her book "CookWise" suggests 140°. We found this to be exactly right, every time. The ham will retain it moistness and the flavor will go thru out the ham this way.
Baste ham with glazing sauce every 10 to 15 minutes during the last hour of cooking time. Glazing compound will burn, so do not start glazing the ham until the internal temp of the ham reaches 120°.
NOTE: The secret to this process is plenty of smoke and the real maple syrup and granular coffee crystals in the glazing sauce. Use a cheaper cut of ham like mentioned before, and people will think you bought an expensive ham that you had to "hock" your kids for! Yuk! Yuk! The glazing sauce will give the ham a fantastic smell and color!
Enjoy!!! -- Dr. Chicken
Dr. Chicken’s Sweet Kiss of Death Injectable Marinade
First off, let me give a little background into the idea behind this injectable marinade and the reasoning behind it. In all honesty, even the double smoked ham recipe left something to be desired. Sometimes it left the ham tasting great, but a little too dry. I believe it was Earl or Sprinter or GFW from the BGE user’s forum that suggested I use an injectable marinade in the ham, such as Cajun Injector’s or Tony Chachere’s Honey-Pecan-Praline marinades. Believe me, they both did a great job, but neither of them added the “punch” like I wanted. So, I have kept on trying.
Well folks, I think I have come up with what I wanted. Either recipe is a winner, but using them both on the same ham will result in by far the most fantastic tasting ham you will ever try. Please give both recipes a try! You will love the results! I hope too, it will become a “family tradition” like my Mom’s and my Grandma’s was in our family.
Ingredients:
1 cup Good clean water (if your water has an offensive taste, use bottled water)
1 cup Light Karo syrup (make sure it is light Karo brand syrup)
1/8 cup Amaretto liqueur (use the real stuff it makes a difference)
2 Tbsp Watkins brand Butter Pecan extract
1 Tbsp Rum extract (again, I used Watkins because of the better taste)
1 tsp Orange extract (this compliments the orange juice concern. used in the glaze)
1½ Tbsp Vanilla extract (again, I used Watkins because of taste after the first run)
Directions for blending:
Into a medium size sauce pan add the water, Karo syrup and Amaretto. Stir frequently and heat very slowly to avoid scorching the sugars in the syrup. Then, add all the remaining ingredients and continue to stir and heat slowly. When the mix looks uniform in color and smooth, remove mix from the stove and allow it to cool to almost room temperature.
Directions for use:
Wrap ham in 2 layers of plastic wrap before starting the injection process. Using a marinade hypodermic syringe, inject at least 2 fluid ounces. Per pound of meat in a grid pattern through out the entire ham and don’t be afraid to use up to 3 ounces per pound of meat. Continue to inject the marinade into the ham until the entire amount of marinade is injected evenly into the ham.
Cook the ham as shown in the “Double Smoked Ham” recipe. Be sure to you your favorite wood for smoke flavoring. Do not cook the ham beyond 145° internal to prevent over cooking and drying out the ham.
Cheers,
Dr. Chicken (aka: Dave Spence)