Honey Cured Hickory Smoked Shoulder Ham Recipes

Steps:

• Make the brine: In a large pot, place 2 1/2 quarts water, the salt, honey, brown sugar and Prague powder. Bring to a boil over high, stirring until the salt, honey and sugar are dissolved.
• Make the spice bundle: Tie the cloves, allspice berries, bay leaves, lemon zest and peppercorns in a piece of cheesecloth.
• Stir the spice bundle and another 2 1/2 quarts ice water into the brine, remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
• While the brine cools, prepare the ham: Using paper towels, blot the pork shoulder dry on all sides. Using a sharp knife, score the ham in a crosshatch pattern, cutting through the skin but not through the meat and spacing the cuts 1 1/2 inches apart. (This is optional, as you'll remove the skin, but it facilitates injecting and gives the ham a striking appearance.)
• Measure out 2 cups brine and place in a deep measuring cup. Place the ham in a roasting pan. Draw the brine into a marinade injector and inject it deep into the ham all over, inserting the needle at 1 1/2-inch intervals and drawing it out slowly as you depress the plunger, until the brine starts to squirt out of the surface of the ham.
• Place the ham in a large pot or food-safe bucket with a lid, or 3-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the brine and flavorings (plus any brine in the roasting pan). If using a plastic bag, tightly seal, squeezing out any air, and place the bag in the roasting pan to corral any leaks. Brine the ham in the refrigerator for 3 days, turning the ham twice a day so it cures evenly.
• Pour the brine into a large pot and set aside. Remove the ham from its pot or bag and transfer it to a roasting pan. Using the marinade injector, re-inject the ham with brine (using 2 cups again, or more, if you can get more in), inserting the needle at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Return the ham and all the brine to the bag. (You can use a fresh bag, if you wish.) Continue brining the ham in the refrigerator for another 3 days, turning twice a day so it brines evenly. When ready for smoking, the meat will take on a pinkish hue.
• Drain the ham in a large colander, discarding the brine. Rinse the ham well with cold water, drain again and blot dry with paper towels. Place it on a wire rack over a roasting pan and let it dry for 2 to 3 hours in the refrigerator.
• If using a charcoal grill, set it up for indirect grilling and heat it to 250 degrees. If using wood chips, soak them in water to cover for 30 minutes, then drain. If using wood chunks, there is no need to soak them. (With a kettle grill, use less charcoal than normal to obtain this low temperature.) If using a smoker, heat it to 250 degrees following the manufacturer's instructions.
• Place the ham on the grate, fat-side up, using indirect heat, and add 1 1/2 cups wood chips or 2 wood chunks to the coals. Smoke the ham until handsomely browned and cooked through. (The internal temperature will be about 160 degrees.) This typically takes about 7 hours, but you may need more or less time, depending on your ham, smoker and the weather. Add wood chips (about 1 1/2 cups) or chunks (1 large or 2 medium) per hour to the embers to maintain a constant flow of smoke. Rotate your ham a few times during cooking so that it browns evenly, and drape it loosely with foil if it seems to be darkening too much.
• Transfer the ham to a cutting board and let it cool for 20 minutes. Pull off the skin. (If you're feeling ambitious, you can fry the skin in 350-degree oil to make smoke-flavored cracklings.)
• Thinly slice the ham across the grain and serve. You can serve the ham hot, at room temperature, or chilled. Refrigerated, it will keep for at least a week.

Steps:

• Prepare the watermelon: Using a sharp knife, cut the top and bottom off the watermelon, removing enough rind just to expose the red flesh. Stand the watermelon upright on one flat end and pare off the rind, cutting using long strokes of the knife from top to bottom. (The strips you remove will look like barrel staves.) Place the watermelon in large stockpot or bucket.
• Prepare the brine: Add 2 quarts of water to a large pot along with the wood ash, salt, oregano, peppercorns, juniper berries, cloves and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in another 4 quarts of water and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, stir in the tamari. Pour the brine over the watermelon, placing a saucepan or other weight on top to keep the watermelon submerged. Transfer to the refrigerator and brine the watermelon for 4 days.
• Transfer the brined watermelon to a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Let it rest in the refrigerator until the surface feels tacky, 4 hours.
• Set up your smoker following the manufacturer's directions and heat to 250 degrees. Alternatively, set up your charcoal grill for indirect grilling and heat to 250 degrees, using half the normal amount of charcoal (you need less charcoal to keep the heat low).
• Spread 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sturdy foil pan large enough to hold the watermelon. Add the watermelon and arrange the garlic and rosemary alongside it in the pan.
• If using a charcoal grill, add the wood chunks or chips to the coals. Place the watermelon in its pan in the smoker or on the grill grate. Smoke the watermelon for 2 hours, basting with the pan juices, replenishing the wood as needed.
• Remove the watermelon and score the surface in a 1-inch diamond crosshatch pattern, just as you would a ham, cutting no more than 1/4 inch deep.
• Continue smoking the watermelon in the smoker or on the grill until the outside is firm and bronzed with smoke, 2 hours more, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Remove the pan from the smoker or grill.
• Finally, you'll want to finish cooking at a high temperature to add color to the watermelon. If working on a grill, add more charcoal and heat it to high (400 degrees). If you have a smoker, increase the heat to 400 degrees, if your smoker will go that high. Alternately, you can finish the watermelon ham in an oven heated to 400 degrees.
• Grill, smoke or roast the watermelon until darkly browned on the outside, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes, about 45 minutes. Allow the watermelon ham to cool slightly, about 15 minutes, before slicing. To serve, cut the ham crosswise into 1-inch slices. Spoon the pan juices over the watermelon and serve warm or cold.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees F. Remove ham from package. Place Spiral Sliced Ham face down in roasting pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil; bake ham 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare sugar rub. Combine brown sugar with dry mustard, lime rind, ginger, allspice, cloves and finely chopped pecans in bowl. Mix thouroughly with fork. Stir in lime juice to moisten sugar mixture evenly. Set rub aside.
• Remove ham from oven and uncover pan. Pat and rub sugar mixture over warm ham, covering top end first, then smearing mixture down the sides as evenly as possible.
• Return ham to oven. Bake uncovered 30 to 45 minutes, basting meat with pan juices every 15 minutes. Ham is done when center reaches 150 degrees F. On meat thermometer.
• Remove ham from roasting pan; place on wire rack and let rest 10-15 minutes.
• Carve ham off bone and serve.