GrillinFools
We take a spiral-sliced ham, smoke it for about two hours before slathering it with a glaze comprised of fresh ginger and garlic, brown sugar, rum, cracked black pepper and Molasses. THEN the blow torch is used to char the outside of the ham and caramelize the sugars of what we are calling Smoked Ham with Rum Sauce. This dish is super simple, super hard to mess up and would be ideal for Thanksgiving Dinner, a Christmas Feast and Easter Supper.
Full disclosure: I partnered with Grandma’s® Molasses on this post. I LOVE that sweet, smoky flavor of Grandma’s and was giddy when they approached me last year to do four recipes with their molasses:
- Sweet Smoky Party Ribs
- Molasses Sweet Pork Skewers
- Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp Skewers on Pineapple Boats
- Sweet Grilled Chicken Lollipops
And this is the other ham I did this year for them:
Keep in mind, I only partner with companies I absolutely believe in, and I always have a jar or two of molasses in the pantry. It’s too versatile and amazing not to keep some on hand. So when they came to me this year, I was over the moon. I really do love their molasses.
Back to the recipe at hand…
Smoked Ham with Rum Sauce Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of fresh minced ginger
- 2 cloves of fresh minced garlic
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of rum (light or dark, your choice)
- 4 ounces of Grandma’s® Molasses
- Fresh cracked black pepper
Other equipment needed
- 2 disposable aluminum pans
- A small, oven-safe sauce pot
- Basting brush
- Large basting spoon
- Turkey baster
- Blowtorch (a creme brulee torch will work just as well as a plumber’s torch)
How to Grill a Smoked Ham with Rum Glaze
Remove ham from the packaging and pat down with paper towels, being sure to remove the plastic disk on the flat side (what is that disk for?). Place the ham flat side down in a double layer of disposable aluminum pans and place in a 250F smoker with a couple chunks of a light fruit wood (here’s a list of smoke woods and what they pair well with). While the ham smokes, sweat the ginger and garlic in olive oil in the saucepan. Once the garlic begins to brown slightly, add the brown sugar, rum and the Grandma’s® Molasses. Cook down 1/3 to 1/2 on a low simmer.
Spoon some glaze over the top of the ham and brush it all around. Close the lid to let it smoke for 10 minutes to thicken the glaze. Repeat every 10 minutes until the glaze is gone. Then, baste the glaze from the pan back over the ham with a turkey baster. Finally, lightly char the outside of the ham with the blow torch to get some nice browning and caramelize the glaze. After 2-2.5 hours, remove from the heat, slice the ham and plate, drizzling the glaze over the top of the platter.
Smoked Spiral Ham Prep Instructions
Remove the netting and foil from the ham as well as that plastic casing inside, making sure to get rid of that plastic disk from the flat side of the ham.
Pat dry with paper towels and place the ham, flat side down in a double layer of disposable aluminum pans. The pans are vital. They make it easier to move the ham to the grill and back out, but most importantly, they capture all the juices and the glaze making for easy basting. Clean up is also a breeze.
Set the pan of ham in a 250F smoker with some light fruit wood:
For this cookout, I used my kamado grill, but this will work on just about any charcoal grill using the indirect or two-zone grilling method.
It will work on a gas grill, too. Feel free to shoot me a message if you need some advice on how to make that happen. My email is at the bottom, above the recipe card.
I have the coals and the smoke wood on the right side, and no coals on the left, where the ham goes. This will allow me to use the side with the coals as a burner to warm up my saucepan without burning the ham.
Close the lid and let the heat and smoke work their magic.
Next, prepare the glaze.
Every spiral-sliced ham comes with a packet of powder to make a glaze. The proper way to make the glaze is to throw that powder right in the trash and do this stuff below 👇👇
Rum Sauce Prep
Add the olive oil to a small saucepan over medium heat. While the oil warms up, get the ginger ready:
Skin the light brown skin away from a chunk of the ginger root and mince the yellow, lemony woody flesh underneath:
And finally, mince the ginger:
While you are at it, mince a couple cloves of garlic:
Then add the fresh ginger and garlic to the hot oil in the pan and enjoy that sizzle (and smell)
Once the garlic starts to brown just a tiny bit, add the brown sugar and the rum:
Finally, add the molasses:
I almost forgot the black pepper. I like mine with a little zip, so I added quite a lot. A couple turns is enough for most. I went a lot higher than that. Use your discretion here.
Close the lid to allow the pan of rum sauce to simmer/cook down and the ham to smoke:
Time to Glaze
Once the glaze reduces by 1/3 to 1/2, and the ham has been in the smoker for about two hours, spoon the sauce over the ham:
The glaze goes on really dark at this point, but as the ham sweats and oozes some liquid fat, it will lighten up.
Use a basting brush to completely coat the ham with the rum glaze:
Close the lid for about 10 minutes and let the rum glaze thicken up a bit and re-apply:
The back side of the ham has a pretty large fat cap that made it look much lighter on that side:
Keep basting and smoking every 10 minutes until there is no more glaze in the pan:
Blowtorch that Ham!
Then bust out that blowtorch. The goal is just to let the tip of the fire hit the ham, and to gently wave that flame back and forth over a small area until there’s some char:
Feel free to baste, char, smoke for 10 minutes and then baste, chart and smoke again.
Repeat as often as you like.
She’s ready:
After about three hours in the smoker, remove the aluminum pans with the ham and all that liquid glaze and grab a knife and platter.
For me, I grabbed this pig shaped platter and carved a bunch of that sweet, succulent and savory ham and plate it:
But don’t forget that rum sauce. Grab the turkey baster and drizzle some over the ham:
One last pic:
Pro Tip ~ Grab a bunch of ramekins and fill with some of that glaze, and allow your guests to dunk their ham into them.
Smoked Ham Summary
This smoked ham could be the star of a Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas feast, or Easter supper. And I have to say, it’s oh-so-simple and really hard to mess up. The ham is already cured so it just has to be warmed up, or in this case, warmed up while getting a kiss of smoke. Add on that succulent, slightly salty ham and add all that rum sauce thickened and charred around the outside. That’s a little bit of heaven right there!
If you have any questions or comments about the smoked ham or the rum glaze, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.
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Recipe Card
Smoked Ham with Rum Sauce
Equipment
- Small, oven safe sauce pan
- Basting brush
- Large basting spoon
- turkey baster
- Blow torch
Ingredients
- 1 Spiral sliced ham, glaze powder thrown in the trash
- 1.5 tablespoons Olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Fresh, minced ginger
- 2 cloves Fresh, minced garlic
- 1 cup Brown sugar
- 1 cup Rum Light or dark, your choice
- 4 ounces Grandma’s® Molasses
Instructions
- Remove the ham from the wrapping, being sure to take the little round plastic disk from the flat side. Place the ham flat side down into double layer of disposable aluminum pans and place in a 250F smoker with some light fruit wood. Close the lid and make the rum glaze
- Put the saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Skin the fresh ginger root and mince up a couple tablespoons. Put the ginger in the hot oil to sauté. Mince a couple cloves of garlic and add that to the saucepan. Once the garlic turns slightly brown, add the brown sugar and rum followed by 4 ounces of molasses. Allow to simmer and cook down 1/3 to 1/2.
- Once the rum sauce has thickened, and the ham has been on the grill for about 2 hours, pour a couple basting spoonfuls over the top and brush the glaze around with a basting brush. Close the lid for about 10 minutes and allow the glaze to thicken. Spoon more glaze over and close the lid again. Repeat until the saucepan is empty. Then use the turkey baster to take the rum sauce and extruded fat from the ham and drizzle that over the ham.
- Grab a blow torch and allow just the tip of the flame caress the ham, moving the torch back and forth to gently char and caramelize those sugars. Close the lid for 10 minutes and then repeat the baste, torch and 10 minutes of smoke.
- Once the ham has been on the grill for 3-3.5 hours, remove from the heat, carve and plate. Use the turkey baster to drizzle that rum sauce back over the top.
Video
Bonus Pics!
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