Double Smoked Ham and Injection


 

Jim Minion

TVWBB Emerald Member
Here is a recipe from a friend that is very good. I have used it on fresh hams and it still works very well. I know he would be happy if you were to try it.

Jim

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Dr. Chicken's Double Smoked Ham

Ham should be a fully cooked or partially cooked 1/2 shank variety or can be shoulder variety (water added can be used, as long as the water added does not exceed 23% water added product.) If it is pre-smoked with hickory, that seems to work out best. Patti/Jean or Cooks among the best, but other varieties can be used!

Dr. Chicken's Sweet Kiss of Death Injectable Marinade

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Good clean water (if your city or well water has an offensive taste, please use bottled water)
1 Cup of light Karo syrup (make sure it is light Karo brand syrup)
1/8 Cup of Amaretto liqueur (use the real stuff it makes a difference)
2 TBS of Watkins brand Butter Pecan extract (this is the only Butter-Pecan extract I could find)
1 TBS of Rum extract (again, I used Watkins because of the better taste than store bought)
1 tsp of Orange extract (this compliments the orange juice concentrate used in the glaze or basting sauce)
1 to 2 TBS 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 ozs. per pound of meat in a grid pattern throughout 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 use your favorite wood for smoke flavoring.

Do not cook the ham beyond 145*F internal to prevent over cooking and drying out the ham.

Glazing Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup (use dark grade B real maple syrup if available, which has more flavor than grade A)
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 to 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp instant coffee granules (use a good brand because it makes a difference)
1 Tbsp dry ground mustard
2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate (a good brand provides better flavor)

Blend all ingredients in a sauce pan with a wire whip and heat slightly until everything combines into a viscous or thick looking sauce.

Cooking instructions:

Score outer skin of ham to a depth of 1/2" 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. If pineapple and cherries are desired on the outside, add them when you start the glazing process. Cook in oven at 275-300*F with a loose tent of aluminum foil over the top for 25 to 30 minutes per lb. Baste with glazing sauce the last hour of cooking time and continue to cook until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140*F. Remove from oven and allow to sit covered for 20 to 30 minutes before carving!

Cooking instructions for outdoor cooking:

This can be done on a grill over indirect heat or in a water smoker or other type of cooker, again over indirect heat or "low & slow" type cooking. Do not tent over ham if done on grill, water smoker or other cooker; this would prevent smoke from penetrating the ham.

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. (The first cook cycle is the cycle the processor uses.) If even more smoke flavor is desired, place ham in freezer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours prior to cooking to allow outer edges of ham to start to freeze. Go easy on this procedure; you don't want the ham frozen hard!

Maintain temperature of cooker/grill at 225-275*F during cook cycle.

If using a water smoker, fill water pan 3/4 full with hot water and add 2 cups of orange, pineapple, or orange/pineapple mix, sweetened grapefruit or apple juice to the water. (All of them act as tenderizer as the steam penetrates the meat.) (I use a 3/4 full drip pan when cooking on the Eggs, filled with a 50:50 mix of water and orange juice.)

Again, cook for 25 to 30 minutes per lb. until internal temp on the ham shows 140*F. A couple of books suggest 145*F and 160*F respectively. Shirley O. Corriher in her book "CookWise" suggests 140*F. We found this to be exactly right. After removing from the Egg, it will climb up to 145*F internally. 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*F.

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! (see my pun there?) The glazing sauce will give the ham a fantastic taste, smell and color!

Dr. Chicken (aka: Dave Spence)
 
I tried this recipe out this past weekend and I must say, it turned out very tasty...I was quite pleased. The ham was a 10lb Smithfield shank. Pecan wood for smoke. Minion method for charcoal. I pulled it at 140, as stated in the recipe, after about 4-1/2 hours and let it rest for about 30 min. 140 seemed to be the perfect temp as the ham was quite moist and tender.

Howeverrrrr....I was forced to do a couple of modifciations to the recipe.

1) I couldn't find any butter pecan extract so I used 3 Tbs of "Vanilla Butter Nut" extract from McCormick and eliminated the vanilla extract altogether.

2) The only syrup I had in the house was Aunt Jemima's. That's what I get for not doing an inventory /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

3) The only vinegar I had in the house was white vinegar (instead of the cider vinegar). Again, that's what I get for not doing an inventory. /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif

4)On reflection, I noticed the recipe calls for "instant" coffee granules...I just bought regular coffee granules. Don't know if that would've made a difference. Pay attention stupid. /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

I wrapped the ham in two layers of Saran wrap before injecting and I'm very glad I did. There was marinade coming out all over the place. After I scored the ham I just poured the remaining marinade all over the ham before I put it on. Another thing I did that turned out to be a good thing was only injecting 2oz per lb of meat. I think 3 oz would have been too much.

The ham had a definite vanilla taste to it. Almost too much...right there at the edge IMO. That may be due to the 3 tbs of vanilla butter nut extract. I plan to try this recipe again with the correct ingredients and a better brand of maple syrup.

Thanks Jim!!! (have you ever tried this?)
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Mark WAR EAGLE!!
 
Jim,
Thanks for this recipe. I tried it last weekend, at least as close to it as I could get and it was awesome. May make it an anything butt candidate next year.

Dale
 
Folks,
I've lurked on & off on this forum for a couple of years. Since I didn't have a Weber Smoky Mountain I figured it would be best if I remained quiet.
Recently though Jim minion and I have been "plotting against the world" and doing other things in collusion that might tend to make people believe we might, just might be in cahoots together! Jim is an excellent cook! Bar none, in my opinion. The VWB forum is fortunate to have him as a trusted source of information and advice.
I am delighted and at times shocked that My "Double Smoked Ham" recipe and the "Sweet Kiss of Death" injectable marinade has gone over so well. Not just on this forum but and 3 or 4 other forums that many of you visit.
After doing this recipe exactly like it is 70 or 80 times, I've begun to "tweak" it. Not because it needed "tweaking", but because some of my original ingredients are hard to find. This past summer I took over as Division Mgr. for a company in NW Texas. Now I'm really having problems finding some of my listed ingredients.

With that in mind, here are some hints to some alternative ingredients in the original recipes.

Inregards to "The Sweet Kiss of Death" marinade:

Light Karo syrup......use a good store brand corn syrup. You may have to increase the amount by 1/3 cup or so, but it won't hurt the end results. Just be sure to use the light stuff, not the dark corn syrup.

Watkins brand Butter Pecan extract...... There is no real substitute that I've found. I've replaced it a couple of times with a syrup we can find locally.... That is "Griffin's Butter Pecan syrup"..Use 1/2 cup of this in place of the Watkin's and cut back about 1/4 cup on the Light Karo syrup. It will not be too sweet! Trust me on this one! You'll still have that buttery-pecan flavor, it just won't be as pronounced.

The Vanilla & the Rum extracts.... go ahead and use imitation extracts. Increase the amounts listed slightly to keep the pronounced flavors both of these give the marinade. I don't suggest using Vanilla Nut Bean extract. I've done that and so has my wife. Our results were disappointing to say the least! Too much vanilla flavor in our estimation. Every time we've tried it!

Orange extract..... Here is one single ingredient we found that could ruin all our efforts very quickly. You wouldn't believe my original cooking trial used 2 Tbs of this stuff. WOW! It was bad, believe me!
Instead of Orange extract, use orange juice concentrate. But, go easy on this one too. Too much orange flavoring becomes overpowering. We use 2 tsp of orange juice concentrate when we substitute it for the extract.

You gotta remember to wrap the ham with 2 layers of plastic wrap before you start injecting the marinade. :) Otherwise it becomes a mess and everything around you becomes a sticky mess.

I still like 3 ozs of marinade per pound of meat as a target for injecting, but use your own judgement there.

On to the "Double Smoked Ham" recipe and the glazing sauce;

The dark grade B maple syrup is almost impossible to find here in the mid-west. Instead, I use grade A dark. It is easy enough to find almost anywhere.

The instant coffee granules really do make a difference. A lot of folks have asked me if it results in a coffee taste? Not that we've ever found! But, we've left it out and have been totally disappointed with our results. My wife is very caffine sensitive. But, she does not have a problem with the instant coffee ingredient in the glazing sauce.
If you are going to change something in the recipe, please don't change the instant coffee crystals until you've tried it at least once with it as printed. You won't be sorry or disappointed that you left it in!

After doing so many hams with both recipes, I've gotten to the point that I pull my hams off the cooker when I reach an internal temperature of 135 degrees. I wrap it in a double layer of foil andlet it sit for at least an hour and then remove it from the foil for about 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. By doing them this way, I assure myself that I've got a moist, tender and flavorful ham.
I've yet to have a single complaint too. That in itself says a lot about the recipe and technique. It works, everytime!!!!!

With these hints in mind, I hope it helps some folks out there.

I apologize for such a long post, but I just felt folks would appreciate some more info concerning both recipes.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I'll get back with you within a day or two.

Cheers,

And Merry Christmas to all of you!

Dave /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
I'm brand new to the forum, and the WSM, and so far I've made two recipes both from this site, the first was the Turkey Breast with Apple Brine, the second was this recipe. I must say this ham was so good that I'm getting requests from family and friends to make more for them.

The only change I made from the original recipe was the Butter Pecan extract, I couldn't find any, so I left it out. Also, I followed Jim's recommendation and only added 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla.

Thanks again for the recipe.

Erik Beltran
 
Erik
I know do will be happy to here you like the recipe. Watkins is a great place to get extracts.
Welcome to TVWB.
Jim
 
This recipe looks good.

What is the general consensus on putting the various juices in the water pan? I haven't had water in my pan for a long time now, since I rely on the Stoker to do it's magic and avoid the water.
 
Originally posted by Ryan Gardner:
What is the general consensus on putting the various juices in the water pan? I haven't had water in my pan for a long time now, since I rely on the Stoker to do it's magic and avoid the water.
Don't bother. IMO, It adds nothing to the finished product. One of these days I'm going to make this recipe. One of these days.
icon_smile.gif
 
I'm doing this in the morning for easter using pre-cooked, smoked half hocks. (two hams on my wsm 22). How would you suggest putting the hams on the grate? Should I put the skin on the grate or the flat face (with all of the inside meat) on the grate? Also, should I rotate (particularly during glazing)?

Thanks in advance for the good feedback.
 
I have made this a couple of times and loved it, so I was thinking on making it for Christmas. I go to get my ingredients only to find my butter pecan extract somehow made it inot a batch of cookies! I checked Watkins online and didn't see it listed anymore.

Anyway, I know it will change the flavor profile, but has anyone used another extract in place of the butter pecan? I was thinking almond because I have that on hand since that is what was supposed to go into the **** cookies!
 
Originally posted by Gerry D.:
I checked Watkins online and didn't see it listed anymore.

I plan on making this for the first time on Christmas. Definitely to late for you but I was able to find Imitation Butter pecan extract on Amazon.com. I surfed the web but was unable to find the real stuff. I figure I'll just add a little extra. I'm so ready to cook this ham! I hope it comes out well.
 
I did this today for thanksgiving. I used a smoked ham, but tasted the ham prior to double cooking it. The injection mix smells great and is messy as it mostly comes back out of the ham after injection, so I wonder just how much stays in......I think very little as the ham is already cooked and doesn't absorb it very well. Anyway, I smoked a fairly small ham of about 3.6 lbs. for several hours using pecan and apple smoke up to 140 degrees. Over the last hour I basted with the glaze. I did not think it taste different than the original smoked ham so I see no sense in doing this again. I have three books of recipes. One, I'm going to try. Two, I tried and won't bother again. and three, will do again and again. This one went into book two.
 

 

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