Ham

[Tim in PA]

I cooked my first ham over charcoal. This was a practice run for Easter weekend. It was a 5# bone in ham. I started it in a bath of pineapple juice. I used a 3-zone fire using full chimney of KB. Halfway through I brushed on a mixture of cherry juice and soy sauce. Then I added the garnish of pineapple. I added a couple chunks of hickey. At that time I added another 10 lit KB because it wasn't running as hot as I had hoped. It was already dropping below 300 degrees and the vents were fully open by the point. Should I have started with more lit? Or should I have put the lit on a bed of unlit? My kryptonite is keeping the fire hot. Help me out there!

On another grill I had a 2-zone fire going. I grilled some roadside chicken for the SIL (she doesn't like Pork, seriously?). I also grilled some carrots over direct high heat. That recipe was from a Weber cookbook. They turned out pretty good. I should have pre-cooked them a bit more though.

The ham turned out really good. It had some great smoke flavor and a nice pineapple undertone. I think I'll try to make a better glaze for Easter as the cherry juice was runnier than I thought it was going to be so it didn't really stick to the ham. Either way, everyone enjoyed it. My FIL who is a huge smoke fan was ranting and raving saying it was the best ham he ever had. Hopefully he wasn't just blowing smoke. It is funny that he says he wouldn't change a thing but there are several things I'd try differently. Now to the pictures:

[Tim in PA]

Just looking at the second picture closer. It is amazing how much of the pineapple juice evaporated. I wonder if that really does anything different than using just water alone.

[MaxBobcat]

Looks good Tim.  I'll have to put that on the list of things to try.   

[AnakiMana]

Thanks for sharing, Tim. I'm pretty new to charcoal cooking and haven't attempted anything big yet. How long did it take to cook?

Sent via smoke signals from my Weber kettle

[Tim in PA]

Thanks for sharing, Tim. I'm pretty new to charcoal cooking and haven't attempted anything big yet. How long did it take to cook?

Sent via smoke signals from my Weber kettle

Total cook time was a little over 2 hours. Most hams are pre-cooked so your just basically waiting till it gets to about 135 degrees.

[Craig]

Looks great! Ham is a huge hit in our house.


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[wyd]

Very nice looking ham.  I only done a ham like that one time but my wife and her family love ham so it turned out great and they loved it.  Ouch not liking pork as that is one of my favorite things to cook.

[5280Jeff]

That's a great looking cook!

[Chasing_smoke]

Looks great Tim! I think the pineapple will help tenderize the ham some. The acid in the juice will help make it nice and tender. My wife actually cooks ham with a can of coke in the bottom to do the same thing. 

Also the old corn starch and water trick will make anything thicken up. I take about a tablespoon of corn starch to a 1/4ish cup if water and mix it up. Bring the gravy/whatever your trying to thicken up to a boil (has to be a boil to work) add a bit of the corn starch mix to the gravy then bring back to a boil. It will thicken right up.  If it is still thin add more of the corn starch mix (also called a slurry in the culinary world)

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