Make your own Smoked Ham, it’s great for Easter!

It’s almost Easter and what goes at the center of the table?  A nice, juicy ham!

My husband and I made the plunge, we purchased our first fresh ham.  In our area, fresh hams are hard to come by which I learned quickly.  I had to call at least 10-15 butcher shops, ham specialty stores, and grocery stores to finally find one.

I should of known my favorite meat store in town would have one.  We buy meat at this shop every month and why were they the last place I called?  I have no idea.

We picked out are ham and then we searched out recipes and how to videos.  My husband is highly proficient in Smoked Ribs, Brisket, and Turkey, but ham was new to us.

My husband defrosted the ham the night before then he coated it with vinegar, honey, and brown sugar.  The vinegar can also be substituted with white wine.  I would prefer the white cooking wine; however, the hubs did not realize that his wife stocks the pantry and we had some!

How do you make a smoked ham?

He wrapped this up in foil and let it sit all night.  Then, he prepared the smoker the following day.  He cooked this on his smoker for 6 hours.  It’s said that it’s 1/2 hour to 1 hour per pound.  We cooked an 8lb ham and found that it was done between 5-6 hours.  The ham should be 160* at the deepest part before considering done.

We had a hard time finding recipes with fresh ham that showed how to smoke the ham.  I am sure there are millions out there, but yet we could not find many at all.

Here are a few of the sites we used for ideas and tips, Southwestern Smoked Ham and Garlic Smoked Fresh Ham.

If you have never had a fresh ham like myself then it will be a different taste for you.  I thought it tasted more like the consistency of turkey; however, it was really good.  We both enjoyed it.  It was nice to try the fresh ham just to taste and see the difference between precooked, cured hams and the cooked, uncured fresh ham.

Not ready to smoke your own fresh ham?

Try a few of these recipes sure to make a tasty dinner:

Fresh Ham Recipe

Tangerine Glazed Easter Ham

Baked Easter Ham

Easter Spiced Honey and Lemon Baked Ham

What’s your favorite way to eat ham?

Stay Tuned for my next Easter post on side dishes.

Need more recipe ideas? Check out the Recipe Index by Mommy Hates Cooking.