Cherry Dr. Pepper Glazed City Ham

Introduce

Chef :

Lance Wilson

Cherry Dr. Pepper Glazed City Ham

I've done hams before in the traditional honey/brown sugar/pineapple syrup sweet glaze, a cherry-portglaze, and a "city" ham with mustard and gingersnap crust. I wanted to take what I liked from each recipe.

Ingredient

Cooking time :

8 hours

smoked, non-spiral cut city ham

1/4 cup

whole grain mustard

1/2 cup

cherry preserves

1/2 cup

dry red wine

1 cup

Dr. Pepper

1 Tsp

ground black pepper

1/2 cup

brown sugar

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Begin several hours in advance, by putting the ham (still shrink wrapped) in a bucket and covered with hot water and let sit for an hour or so. Replace the hot water when warm, and let sit for another few hours. This is to raise the internal temp of the ham and reduce cooking time later without drying the ham out. If you have soux vide set up, heat the water to 115°F and skip to step 5.

* Step 2

Turn your oven (or smoker) to 250°F

* Step 3

When the ham is uniformly warm (use your temperature probe: ~ 70F - 80F or so), remove from water and plastic. Rinse ham and discard the pad covering the bone. Make thin cuts on the ham fat in the pattern of a diamond. This helps the ham stay flat while cooking, instead of curling up, and makes for easy removal of the fat later on when it's glazed.

* Step 4

Put the warm ham in an oven bag, and stick your temperature probe into the center of the ham but not touching the bone. Place the hame on a baking tray cut side down. Bake until the internal temperature of the ham is about 115 F. If you want an extra smoky ham "double smoked," do this step in a smoker without the bag.

* Step 5

While the ham is cooking, mix the cherry preserves, merlot, and Dr. Pepper in a blender and blend until the cherries are not chunky. Be carefull as the Dr. Pepper will foam up when blended. Put the mixture in a small sauce pot, add 2 Tbsp brown sugar and black pepper, and stir over medium-low heat until reduced at least by half, or until syrupy.

* Step 6

Take the ham out of the oven (about 1-2 hours later), remove from bag, and place on a baking pan, or roasting pan cut side down. Remove the fat diamonds and excess fat from the ham. Brush or spread the mustard on the ham, and then rub (careful because it's hot) the 1/2 cup brown sugar over the ham and mustard.

* Step 7

Increase the oven (or a grill/smoker) to 300°F

* Step 8

Place the ham in the oven or grill and let the sugars begin to caramelize.

* Step 9

As the sugars caramelize, baste with the glaze and further caramelize the sugars until the internal temperature reaches 120-130°F near the bone. Remember, hams are already cooked, so you're just reheating it, fancy-like.