Cooking space issue

[Jerry N.]

Hoping for some ideas. I have a spiral ham to cook for Christmas Eve but I also want to cook Keri's baked beans. The problem is trying to get two things that need to go in the oven at different temps done at the same time. The ham is to go in the oven for 2.5 hours at 275°. The beans are supposed to cook for 1 hour at 350°.

Couple options:

Just cook the ham for the last hour at the higher temp and shorten up the over all time (worried about drying out the ham).

Do the beans on the stove. The recipe says simmer for 30 min. This seems the best thing, but I've never done them that way and the stove will be crowded too.

Use the slow cooker. The ham doesn't really fit in the slow cooker and I can't find any information on doing the beans in the crock pot other than to remove the lid toward the end to "tighten up the beans". This is what I'd like to do but I'd like a better idea of how to do that. The crock pot only has high or low heat settings.

Use the grill (gas) like an oven for the beans. Only worry here is that the bottom of the beans will burn if I'm not careful. There's a lot going on so being careful is not a great strategy.

Use the grill for the ham. I think I could get the temp low enough with one burner on and keep the ham over the unlit burners to be safe.

Bottom line is that I just don't want to screw this up. Everyone does their thing but mine are the ham and the beans and ruining either of them, especially the ham, would be very disappointing to me and a bit embarrassing.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

I'm assuming you don't have a WSM or kettle. If not, I think I'd do the ham in the oven and let the beans cruise on your Genesis.

 

[Len Dennis]

You can correct me if I'm wrong but: isn't the spiral already cooked? Just requires a re-heat. Do them at the required temp but shorten the time by the amount the beans need at the higher temp.

Pull the ham, wrap in foil and put it in a "pre-heated" cooler.

Cooler---> dump 2-3 kettles of boiling water in there 20 min before the ham comes out of the oven. Dump the water and put the foiled ham in there in a freezer bag (thicker) and wrap in a sheet/blanket--all in the cooler. Lid on.

Put the beans in your oven at 350o as required. When the beans are done, lower the temp and put the ham back in at the 275 for the rest of the time or even less as I believe the ham is already 90% ready.

edit--I've found that even if you use the low setting on a crock pot, it boils. I absolutely hate "newer" c.p. because even though it's supposedly a lower temp, it still has to come up to a pre-determined temp in a pre-determined time.

 

[Clint]

What kind of cooking vessel are you planning to cook the beans in? The recipe looks fairly forgiving to me since it calls for browning the veggies, then using canned beans, & then the apple pie filling (!) (sounds good)

Do you have a dutch oven to do them in? I think that's what I'd prefer, and I'm wondering if there's enough room for the ham & dutch oven to sit side-by-side on one rack in your oven......... If you do (I have a lodge enameled DO that I'd probably use.....brown the veggies etc like in the beginning of her recipe, get the beans to simmer, cover them, & then throw it in along side the ham to finish up & meld the flavors - stir it after 30 minutes, stir after the next 20-30 minutes, and see how it looks - if too runny, take the lid off to evaporate some. Reading her recipe it's hard to tell if she likes it covered. Many people here, I've read, like to cook it uncovered under a pork butt to catch the drippings, so maybe only cover it for the first 30 minutes & see how it looks.

I think it'd be hard to mess up the recipe since it calls for canned beans, other than drying it out too much I don't think you have to worry. The simmer could be increased quite a bit at a lower temp, or even shortened a little.

Keri pops in every now & then, maybe check her profile for her email or ask Chris, or post in her thread.


Good Luck!

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?21966-Keri-s-Hog-Apple-Baked-Beans

 

[Jerry N.]

I like the encouragement - "I think it'd be hard to mess up". I don't have a dutch oven, but I have a nice pot to put them in. Yes, they would fit well side by side in the oven. I was thinking of a crock pot, but I like your idea. Put the bens in covered with the ham and let them get hot. Like a crock pot, shouldn't hurt them to cook on low for a while anyway. Then, kind of what Len was saying, pull the ham and pull the top off the beans and let them firm up for 30 hour at a higher temp.

The spiral ham has a glaze and it says to turn up the heat to 425 after applying the glaze for 8-10 min. So if the ham cools off a little, that should give it enough warmth to be good to go. I'll give that some thought. Thanks.

 

[Phil Perrin]

Jerry, I always cook the Christmas ham on my gasser. I use a couple fire bricks to raise the bottom of the roasting pan off the grate, so it's more of a roasting effect and less like a grill or stove top.

 

[Jerry N.]

Jerry, I always cook the Christmas ham on my gasser. I use a couple fire bricks to raise the bottom of the roasting pan off the grate, so it's more of a roasting effect and less like a grill or stove top.

I was thinking if I went that way, I would use my pizza stone to get it off the grate. The only concern I have with using the gasser is getting the temp that low.

 

[JayHeyl]

My suggestion -- do the ham according to instructions but pull it before applying the glaze, wrap in heavy duty foil and stick in a cooler to hold. (Pre-heating the cooler is a good idea though I think I'd go with just hot tap water, not boiling water like Len suggested. My cooler is plastic and I don't want it getting warped.) Then do the beans at their required temp. When they're done, crank it to 475F, put the glaze on the ham and stick it back in the oven. Should work out fine. If you're concerned about the ham getting too cold, stick and heating pad in the cooler with it. Just be aware modern heating pads automatically turn off after a while so you'll probably have to keep turning it back on. I don't think it should be necessary, but it's a way to keep adding gentle heat.

 

[Jerry N.]

This is my plan. Blending a few of the ideas here, I'm going to start the ham, prepare the beans and then put the beans in with the ham at 275°. When the ham is warm, I'm going to pull it and wrap it tight and put a towel over it to keep it warm. Then, I'm going to take the lid off the beans and let them cook at 350° for about 30 minutes. After about 20 minutes, I'll start glazing the ham. Then I'll remove the beans and crank the oven to 425° for the glaze. Glaze the ham, let ham rest, serve.

My focus is the ham. I think the worst thing that can happen to the beans is that they'll be a little runny. I think that's a minor thing.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Have a Merry Christmas and if you're like most families I know, enjoy the Christmas Eve festivities tonight. - Jerry

 

[Len Dennis]

That'll work Jerry

 

[Jerry N.]

Of course in the end, the best laid plans mean pretty much nothing. I put the ham and beans in at the same time but the snow storm took over and guests who came early wanted to go home asap so we got everyone else to the house as soon as they could get there and did a hurry up on the food. The ham and beans both got two hours in the oven but then it was time to put the food out. I squeaked a few minutes with the lid off of the beans while we got everything else ready.

The good news is that everything came out good. The ham didn't get glazed or turn out as well as I had hoped, but everyone ate and enjoyed the meal and family time. Best news is that everyone got home okay after a couple of them had a long slow drive (but a safe one). At this point in my life, I'll call that a success!

Hope all goes well (went well) for everyone else. Merry Christmas!

 

[Clint]

what about the beans - will you be doing them again?

 

[Jerry N.]

what about the beans - will you be doing them again?

Oh, for sure. I've done them many times before. They're always a hit. They're more like bean and pork stew. Get the right balance of heat and sweet and you've got a winner. I don't put in as much cayenne as the recipe calls for but enough to feel some heat. People love them.