Root Beer Glazed, Smoked Ham
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Root Beer Glaze (mop)
- 1 Quart Root Beer, not diet
- 1/2 Cup Butt Kickin' Blacken, Southwest Blend
- 1 Teaspoon Liquid Barbecue Smoke®
- 1 Tablespoon Coarse Kosher Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract, not imitation
- 1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Mustard
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 7 Pound Ham, Preferably Semi-boneless, but Anything Will Do.
- Hickory or Mesquite Wood Chips
2. Place all of the ingredients into a pot, uncovered, preferably Teflon. Bring it to a boil, then lower the temperature to a slow boil and let cook until it's reduced to a syrup. It took about 45 minutes to reduce this amount to a thin syrup. Your time may be different based on the temperature your cooking, and the diameter of your pan. A wider pot will have more surface area, and reduce quicker. I ended up with a little over 1 cup of glaze.
Ron's Note:
I prefer to do this early in the morning, or the day before I'll be cooking with it. It'll allow it to cool off , and insure that the flavors have a full chance to come together.
You could easily turn this sauce into a "Wing Sauce" by adding some Red Wine, or Malt vinegar to the above mixture. And of course, the addition of some butter, or fresh or dried Jalapenos, or Habanero powder would be pretty good also.
The mustard helps the oil blend into the mix, and the oil will give a shiny glaze.
3. Trying to buy a ham the day before New Years Day was not one of the brightest things I've ever done. It's kinda like trying a ham the day before Easter Sunday. I settled for this 7 pound Black Forest Ham, that was more like a "Deli" ham, but was all meat, and super moist and tender.
4. Score the top and sides of the Ham in a 1" diagonal pattern about 1/2" deep. You can see how it's done in my recipe for an Orange Glazed, Baked Ham.
Place the Ham on a rack in a pan. Then wrap up the chips in aluminum foil.
Start the grill, turn it to high, and set the lid down'. Let this heat up for 15 minutes, or so. At that time, the grates should look white, which means that any leftover food has burned off. Scrape it down with a grill brush to clean the grate.
The grill I used has 4 burners, So, I turned off the outer 2 left the one with the chips on high, and turned the other down to medium.
5. A gas grill isn't a smoker, and it has a pretty large vent in the back. I closed this up with aluminum foil, but not air tight.
Setting the grill up this way kept the heat at 300 degrees.
6. I cooked the ham about 2 hours, basting it with the glaze every 15 - 20 minutes.
Since this was a pre-cooked ham, I cooked it to an internal temperature of 110 degrees. At this internal temperature, and the fact that it was cooked at 300 degrees, it came out real moist, with a nice bit of the Smoke flavor, and the added surprise of the glaze.
7. I sliced it about 1/8" thick and put it on a platter. And Yes, that's my Scooby snack sitting on top, I wanted to show everyone that I DO have willpower.