During the holidays there are a lot of great foods you can make, but one of my favorites is smoked ham. Most of the time when you buy a ham at the store it’s already been smoked, which means if you throw it on your Traeger, it’s double smoked! This double smoked ham recipe will make you the hero of your next holiday celebration.
The best part about this double smoked ham recipe? It’s super easy.
Prepping a Smoked Ham
One of the great things about this recipe is that the ham is already cooked – If you buy a bone-in smoked ham all you have to do is heat it up. You can certainly mess this up if you go too far off the grid with your cooking… but this method will do you right.
I’m using a bone-in ham that isn’t spiral cut already, but you could use a spiral cut ham for this recipe too. The ham stays moist because of a tasty rhubarb and onion glaze that adds some incredible flavor.
The first thing you want to do is cross thatch the surface of the ham with some shallow cuts. At the intersect of each cut, place a clove. This can be a little bit tedious, but the flavor really comes through, and it’s totally worth it. Once you’ve placed all the cloves put the ham in a large baking dish and then put it in your refrigerator for 30 minutes. The colder your ham is when you put it in the smoker, the longer it will smoke, and the tastier it will be.
Smoking a Bone-In Ham
Set up your smoker to smoke at 180 degrees, using apple or cherry wood. When your smoker is up to temp place the chilled ham in your smoker. Let it smoke at 180 for 3 hours.
While the ham is smoking you can start prepping the glaze.
Double Smoke Ham Glaze
This glaze adds some incredible flavor to the ham and cuts through the saltiness. You’ll need the following ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 1/2 cups diced fruit – I used rhubarb here, but other good options include cherries, apricots, raspberries, or pineapple.
In a saucepan melt the butter, and then add the onion. Simmer over low heat until the onion is soft. Add the sugar and vinegar and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add in the fruit and simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat.
Looking for other ham recipes? Check out my mini ham recipe.
Glazing the Double Smoked Ham
After smoking the ham for three hours adjust the temperature up to 300 degrees. Glaze the outside of the ham with the fruit glaze.
Our goal at this point is just to get the double smoked ham up to 140 degrees and add some awesome flavor with the fruit glaze. Setup your temperature probe to monitor the internal temperature of the ham, and continue glazing the ham every 45 minutes until the ham is up to temp.
I use a Thermoworks Smoke to monitor temps, and it works like a charm. If you don’t already have a great thermometer you can get a Thermoworks Smoke here.
Finishing the Double Smoked Ham
When the double smoked ham hits an internal temp of 140 degrees add some of the fruit and onion chunks to the top of the ham and apply the glaze one last time. Let the ham cook for another ten minutes, and then remove from the smoker.
Let the ham rest for ten minutes before slicing thin and serving.
Double Smoked Ham
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 lb Bone-In Half Ham Smoked
- Cloves
Rhubarb Glaze
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Use a knife to cross thatch the surface of the ham with shallow cuts.
- Place a clove at the intersect of each cut.
- Chill the ham until ready to smoke.
- Smoke the ham at 180 for 3 hours
- Rhubarb Glaze – sautee onion in the butter until soft
- Rhubarb Glaze – add vinegar and sugar, stir until sugar is dissolved
- Rhubarb Glaze – add rhubarb and simmer for an additional 5 minutes before removing from heat.
- After 3 hours of smoking adjust the temperature of your smoker up to 300 degrees. Glaze the ham. Glaze the ham every 45 minutes.
- When the internal temp of the ham hits 140 spoon some of the rhubarb and onion from the glaze on the top of the ham, and then glaze the ham one last time and let cook for an additional ten minutes.
- Remove from smoker. Slice thin and serve with remaining rhubarb glaze and your favorite sides.
would it be ok to use frozen cherries? fresh are hard to get this time of year
Thanks!
yes