Smoked Christmas Ham with Orange and Jalapeño Glaze
CUSTOMS DECLARATION. Goods: one ham. Purpose of visit: personal. Stamped by Colin, who then carried it to his own car for further inspection.
C.
Crew of 12+ · Prep 20 min · Cook about 4 hours · Sting: medium to hot
Fresh off the fire.
Jump to the recipe · All Christmas BBQ recipes
Give this a go. Trust the thermometer, not the clock.
The Cargo (ingredients)
- 4 kg cooked half-leg ham, bone in. Get a big one. It's the only thing in December that improves after Christmas Day.
- Whole cloves (optional, fiddly, and worth it for the photo)
The Glaze. 200 g orange marmalade · 60 ml orange juice · 2 tbsp Dijon mustard · 2 tbsp Four Saucemen Jalapeno & Sweet Orange Rub
The Run (method)
- Remove the rind, leaving the fat. Score it in a diamond pattern. Stud with cloves if you like an audience.
- Set the smoker to 140°C with cherry, apple or another fruit wood.
- Sit the ham in a deep tray with a little water and start it straight from the fridge. Start checking the temperature at 2 hours. Allow about 1 hour per kilo all up. A ham arrives already cooked. All you're doing is teaching it some manners.
- Warm the glaze ingredients until loose.
- Once it reaches about 60°C, brush the ham every 15 minutes until it reaches 75°C, about 45–60 minutes. The glaze holds sugar, so move it off any direct heat.
- Pull at 75°C in the thickest part, away from the bone.
- Rest 20 minutes, then carve. Take the first slice yourself. Call it quality control.
Cook It With
Four Saucemen Jalapeno & Sweet Orange RubMade in New Zealand. Sweet orange up front, proper jalapeño kick after.
Four Saucemen Hawkes Bay Lime & Ancho ChilliHawke's Bay lime first, slow smoky ancho after.
The Aftermath. It was a very good ham.
Where It Goes Wrong
- Black glaze. You brushed it on too early. Sugar has no patience and neither does my crew.
- Reading looks too high. Your probe's touching the bone. Move it.
- Nothing left for Boxing Day. You invited too many people. Next year, lie about the start time. Works for me, in the opposite direction.
Darryl's Secret
Save a few spoons of glaze before the brush touches the ham. Warm it and pour it over the sliced meat at the table.
No smoker? Hooded barbecue or oven at 160°C, same glaze, same temperature target. Nobody needs to know.
Store it: Refrigerate promptly. Make a Boxing Day toastie. Check the label: always check the physical label on rub, marmalade and mustard for allergens.
How It Reached the Book
Every December a crate leaves the Smoke Runner addressed to a Mr C. Stoms. This glaze went out taped to the lid one year with a note saying it was evidence. The next crate came back with the card returned and one word on it, in official ink: More. The Minister for Mild, I'm told, served his ham cold that year with nothing on it and called it restraint.
In the Margin
There's a third note on this page, down the bottom, in a hand I can't place. It says: "Your father did this glaze better."
I've read that line more than I'd admit. Anyway. Ham.
The Rub Smuggler. Back before you noticed.
