Raising kids, crops
and a little Cain
deep in the heart
of the Texas Subtropics

Ending the Week with a Ham

(Food • Video)

It’s the end of a tough (for me) but enjoyable experiment in producing daily web video amidst the chaos of daily life here at what we wryly refer to as the One-Acre Ranch.



And after a hard week of work, it’s always good to eat. Thus, this video is all about smoking a ham.



The particulars: We used a 7-pound, bone-in partially cooked ham – the kind you sometimes find on sale at the grocery, then come home and realize the reason it was so cheap is that it’s not fully cooked yet. Instead of heating it in the oven, why not fire up some pecan wood and put it in the smoker?



Before cooking, the ham should sit out of the refridgerator for about an hour. Score the flat face of the ham in both directions with a knife – about 1/4-inch deep. Rub it all over with cracked pepper and cracked mustard seed or dry mustard.



To reach the proper internal temperature of 140 degrees (F), I smoked the ham for about 3 hours. During the last 20 minutes I applied a tasty marinade of:



1/2 cup Jim Beam (or other fine) whiskey

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pancake syrup
1/4 cup dijon mustard



Whip the ingredients together in a small bowl and refridgerate while the ham is smoking.



The marinade seeps into the meat and creates a glaze on the outside.



The results are delicious.

→ B.Dunn, Apr 03, 2005, 08 26 am