Smoked Easter Ham With a Honey Apple Glaze

Sharing is caring!

Easter is coming up and you are in charge of the holiday meal. What should you serve?

Ham is a traditional Easter meat. But there are so many recipes!

Also, you really want to use your smoker. Can you smoke a ham for Easter?

Keep reading for a smoked Easter ham recipe that you’ll love!

What Is Smoked Easter Ham?

Ham is an Easter tradition dating back years.

Since Easter marked the end of winter, people would eat the last of their cured meats from the previous fall!

Ham is one of the special types of cured meat that became a holiday tradition.

Why You’ll Love This Smoked Easter Ham Recipe

This smoked Easter ham recipe is extremely simple. It also gives you room for creativity.

If you want the smoked ham to shine in and of itself, great. If you want to add seasoning or glaze, you can.

This recipe doesn’t call for brown sugar or brown mustard, but you could add those ingredients.

Maybe you have a recipe for a cherry bourbon glaze or honey barbecue glaze.

You could drizzle that over this ham with a little extra effort. If your looking for a recipe for smoked ham for Christmas I have one here.

What Temperature to Smoke Easter Ham At

Smoke a ham at 225°F. This is a common smoker temperature when cooking ham.

It will slowly warm up a pre-cooked ham without drying it out.

Some people prefer medium heat because the ham will cook more quickly.

While you can eat a smoked ham cold, it tastes better after you heat it.

How Long to Smoke Easter Ham

Smoke a ham for about 15 minutes per pound at 225°F. You may need a bit more time.

You might also notice that the ham cooks a little more quickly than that.

Use a leave-in meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature at all times.

When the ham is about 145°F, it will be ready to eat.

If you check the temperature with a digital thermometer, be sure to do it correctly.

Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat without touching the bone.

This will give you accurate results.

Best Wood for Smoked Easter Ham

Since this smoked ham will take on the flavor of the wood, use your favorite.

Hickory or mesquite wood chips will emit a strong smoke flavor.

More mild woods will have a subtle smoke flavor.

A lot of people opt for cherry wood chips and apple wood chips for their holiday ham recipes.

The smoked flavor of the meat is the star of this recipe so choose your wood chips wisely.

What You’ll Need to Cook Smoked Easter Ham

All you need is a high-quality spiral sliced ham and your favorite wood chips.

Of course, you’ll also need a smoker. You could place the ham directly on the grill grates.

We recommend using a baking pan so that you can catch the juices. This makes for easy cleanup.

It also allows you to save the juices for homemade gravy. Just add some butter and flour!

A leave-in meat thermometer would be excellent. If you only have a plain old digital thermometer, that will work, too.

You could also use a seasoning rub or glaze. These are both optional but may enhance the flavor.

What to Serve With Smoked Easter Ham

Serve your favorite Easter side dishes with this smoked ham.

It goes well with starchy foods, such as sweet potatoes or squash.

Green veggies like asparagus and green beans nicely complement an Easter ham.

You could also serve this ham with sweet foods, like corn or candied carrots.

What You Need for A Smoked Easter Ham

Cured bone-in ham (8-10 pounds)

Brown sugar

Ground gloves

Ground cinnamon

Ground nutmeg

Ground ginger

Onion

Garlic powder

Cracked black peppercorns

Honey – For the glaze

Apple Juice – For the glaze

BBQ Sauce – For the glaze

Steps to Smoke an Easter Ham

Step 1: Prepare the Smoker for Cooking

Preheat the smoker to 225°F using your favorite wood chips.

Step 2: Prepare the Ham

Unpackage a completely thawed ham.

Apply a mustard binder than create a rub and apply it to the ham

Step 3: Smoke the Ham

Cook the ham in the smoker for about 15 minutes per pound.

The ham needs to reach an internal temperature of 140°F.

Step 4: Glaze the Ham

Once the ham is 45 minutes from being finished baste it two to three times. To make the glaze combine BBQ sauce, honey and apple juice in a small bowl. Apply the glaze with a brush and make sure you get it in all the scores marks and all over the ham. If your ham is ready but your guests are ready to eat, here is how to keep your smoked ham warm without ending up with dry meat.

Step 5: Rest, Carve and Serve

Let the ham rest for up to 30 minutes.

Carve off the ham and serve it to your guests.

Smoked Easter Ham Tips

Since the meat is the star of this recipe, be sure to buy quality meat.

The ham should already have an amazing flavor that will simply be enhanced with a smoky flavor.

While you can buy a ham that hasn’t been sliced, we recommend against this.

The spiral-sliced ham has many cracks and crevices.

This means that smoke can permeate the ham and give it extra flavor.

Plan on about 1/3 pound per person.

It’s better to buy too much because you can use the leftovers in other recipes.

Smoke On!

Charlie

Hungry For More?