GrillinFools
We smoke an already cured, spiral-sliced ham and then top it with a sultry glaze of fresh shallots and garlic, crushed pineapple, white wine, and molasses. The ham is basted repeatedly with the molasses and pineapple ham glaze while being smoked in between basting sessions to make sure that glaze is thick and smoky. To finish it off, we caramelize and char that glaze just a bit with a blow torch. Because what’s Easter supper without a blowtorch? And I realize that I spelled ‘blowtorch’ two different ways in the last sentence. For SEO purposes, I’ll be be going back and forth.
One of the most inexpensive and easiest way to feed a crowd whether for Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas feast or even Easter supper is a spiral sliced ham. There are a million different ways to glaze it and it’s next to impossible to screw up. And it being already sliced, makes plating and serving a breeze too. I do one every Thanksgiving and every Easter. I don’t host Christmas, so I leave that holiday meal prep to others.
Here are some of my other ham recipe options. I’m sure you can find one you will love too:
- Smoked Ham with Rum Sauce
- Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham on a Rotisserie
- And our very first foray into the spiral ham game.
Truth be told, I partnered with Grandma’s® Molasses on this recipe and the first one in the list above. I will not partner with a product I can’t stand behind. My reputation is worth more than a check. I am a firm believer in the sweet, smoky flavor of Grandma’s and always keep a couple jars in my pantry.
Molasses and Pineapple Ham Glaze Ingredients
- 1 Spiral sliced ham
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh shallots, minced
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced (sub 2 healthy teaspoons of jarred garlic)
- 8 ounces of crushed pineapple and juice
- 8 ounces of white wine
- 4 ounces Grandma’s® Molasses
Gear that makes this cook easier:
- 2 disposable aluminum pans
- Small saucepan
- Basting spoon
- Basting brush
- Turkey baster
- Blow torch (anything from a creme brulé torch to a plumbers torch will work)
How to Prepare the Smoked Ham
This is simple. Remove the packaging from the ham, patting the ham dry with a paper towel.
Toss the packet of glaze powder in the trash along with the little plastic dish on the flat side of the ham.
Then, set the ham in a double layer of aluminum pans and get that into a 250F grill with some light fruit wood:
In this case, I am using the indirect method (also called the two zone method) of grilling with coals and smoke wood on one side and the meat on the other:
For the wood, I used pear wood. Any light fruit wood will do. If you don’t have access to pear wood, check this list of smoke woods to see what you have access to and what meats it pairs well with.
Close the lid and let that smoke and heat bring the temp up on that ham while imbuing it with some extra flavor.
Start by finely chopping or mincing the shallots:
Repeat with a couple cloves of garlic.
How to make the Pineapple Ham Glaze
Place a small sauce pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil comes up to temp, add the shallots and allow them to sauté for a couple minutes before adding the garlic. Once the garlic has the slightest hint of brown, drop in the pineapple and the white wine. Finally, add the molasses and let that slowly simmer until the glaze loses 1/3 to 1/2 of its volume. Once the pineapple ham glaze has thickened, spoon it over the ham.
Sauté the shallots first for a couple minutes and then drop in the garlic.
When the garlic just starts to brown like in this pic below👇👇:
Next, add the pineapple:
Wine Time
Time for a splash of wine. Or, 8 ounces of splashes:
And finally, let’s thicken things up with some of that sweet, thick Grandma’s Molasses:
Let that thicken, but not on too high of a heat setting. If this stuff boils over, it will be a really sticky mess:
Our ham has been on the 250F charcoal grill for a little over an hour and it is browning up nicely and we have some fat collecting in the bottom of the aluminum pans:
My grill needs a little more fuel and smoke wood. So I set the sauce pan right on the grill to stay warm while I reload the grill:
Spoon some of that pineapple ham glaze over the top of the spiral ham:
Close the lid and let that glaze thicken and take on some of that wonderful smoke. Then baste that beast again:
After 4 or 5 basting sessions followed by 10 minutes of heat and smoke the ham is looking scrumptious:
Blowtorch Time
But we aren’t quite done. Time to bust out that torch:
The goal here is to just tickle the edge of the outside of the ham. Get the tip of that flame just to the edge of the meat and sway the nozzle back and forth:
We are looking for just a little bit of char along with thickening up that glaze:
Feel free to baste again:
After 2.5-3 hours on the grill with lots basting sessions in between periods of heat and smoke, pull it from the grill and serve:
Molasses and Pineapple Ham Glaze Recap
This is such a foolproof recipe. The biggest hiccup is if you let that pot boil over. As long as that doesn’t happen, this recipe is gold every time. And it truly could grace any of the big holiday tables from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Easter. Not to mention, this is one of the most inexpensive proteins you can go with on one of those special days. Save some cash without sacrificing flavor. And the leftover ham sandos are heaven!
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Recipe Card:
Molasses and Pineapple Ham Glaze
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Basting spoon
- Basting brush
- turkey baster
- Blowtorch Anything from a creme brulé torch to a plumber's torch will work
Ingredients
- 1 Spiral sliced ham
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 tablespoons Fresh shallots, finely chopped or minced
- 2 cloves Fresh garlic, minced
- 8 ounces Crushed pineapple with juice
- 4 ounces Grandma’s® Molasses
Instructions
- Remove the ham from the packaging, being sure to throw away the plastic disk on the flat side as well as the 'flavor' pouch. Pat the ham dry with paper towels and then place it flat side down in the double stack of aluminum pans. Place the pans and ham inside a 250F smoker and close the lid.
- While the ham smoked, prepare the molasses and pineapple ham glaze. Put the saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the shallots and sauté them for about 2 minutes and then add the garlic. Once the garlic has just a hint of browning, add the pineapple and white wine. Then pour in the molasses and bring to a low boil. Reduce to a simmer and reduce by 1/3-1/2 making sure not to let the glaze boil over.
- When the glaze has reduced, spoon it over the ham with a basting spoon and brush it all around to completely coat the ham. Close the lid for 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Spoon more glaze over the ham and close the lid again. Repeat every 10 minutes until the saucepan is empty.
- For the next round of basting, grab the turkey baster and draw up the glaze from the pan and drizzle over the ham. Now ignite the blow torch and allow just the tip of the fire to hit the ham and wave the flame back and forth over a small area to get it to brown the meat and caramelize the sugars. Repeat the blowtorch method until the ham is browned to your liking.
- After the ham has been in the smoker for about 2.5 hours, remove from the grill and carve. Drizzle the glaze back over the sliced ham or spoon it into small ramekins to serve to guests.
Video
A few more pics of the process:
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