Greta's Goodies: The Perfectly Smoked Easter Ham

Depending on your family traditions, an Easter ham is probably already part of your holiday plans. Sure, you can buy one pre-cured. You can even get it spiral cut. But for an amazing melt-in-your-mouth experience, nothing beats a raw ham that you cure, drench in glaze, and smoke on low heat for hours. Get your ingredients together and give this perfect Easter ham recipe a try.

Ingredients (curing the raw ham)

Directions

Combine all of your brine ingredients in a food-safe bucket.

Boil 2 quarts of water and pour that into the bucket. Mix until dissolved.

Add your ham to the brine. Then add additional 2 quarts of water to completely cover the ham. To keep your ham from floating, place a bowl on top of the ham and put the lid on the bucket.

Refrigerate the ham in the brine for 1 day for every 2 pounds of pork. Our 7 pound ham was in the fridge for 3.5 days.

Remove the ham from the brine and rinse under cold water for at least 5 minutes. It’s important to get all of the brine and salt off the outside of the ham.

Place your ham on a drying rack on the counter and pat dry with a towel. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes to dry completely. The drier the ham, the better the glaze will stick.

Combine the glaze ingredients.

Pre-heat your favorite smoker to 250º F. While it heats up, apply a healthy dose of glaze to the entire ham.

Cook for 4-5 hours or until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140º F.

Add more glaze and cook another 30 minutes. Repeat the process until the internal temperature reaches 160º F. Remove the ham from the oven/grill and wrap it in tinfoil. The temperature of the ham will continue to rise.

Remove from the foil, slice, and serve.

Coastal tip: Don’t throw out the ham bone, scraps, and gristle. Heat it in a stock pot with beans to make a soup or use in making Bone Broth.

For a pre-smoked/cured ham, glaze and cook in the oven or smoker at 325º F until it reaches an internal temperature of 130º F. Add glaze and cook until it reaches 140º F.

Remove from oven/grill, wrap in tinfoil until you’re ready to serve dinner.

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