Double Smoked Ham With Pineapple Bourbon Glaze

Double smoked ham with pineapple bourbon glaze is a different unexpected way to prepare holiday ham. This ham is a beautiful work of art that’s easy enough to do on a regular charcoal grill or any smoker you may have.

We took an average store-bought spiral-cut ham and double smoked it with a kiss of sweet cherry wood. The ham is warmed with indirect heat and basted with a pineapple bourbon glaze. The glaze gets sweetness from brown sugar, pineapple juice, and a savory tang and spice from stone-ground mustard and vinegar. Barrel-aged bourbon rounds out the flavor with a little optional heat from hot sauce.

This ham has a smoky, sweet-salty combination of flavors that is tender and juicy all the way through, right down to the bone. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, everyone at your holiday table will appreciate this double smoked ham, and you will enjoy seeing their smacking lips and smiling faces. 

It’s finger-licking good!

Smoked Ham

A ham is made by curing raw pork with salt (dry curing) or brine (wet curing) and additional spices, then hung in a smokehouse to absorb from smoldering fires that give the meat added flavor and color. This process was developed during the Stone Age as a method of preservation.

What is Double Smoked Ham?

As the name suggests, a double smoked ham, also known as “twice-smoked ham,” means that the ham is smoked twice to “double the smoke.” Smoking the ham twice adds more flavor and texture to ordinary spiral-cut ham.

This is such an easy way to prepare ham! The ham is fully cooked, so all the hard work is done before you get the meat home. All you have to do is warm it while adding a kiss of smoke, flavor, and texture.

The 4 Components of Double Smoked Ham

1. Spiral Cut Ham:  Hams can weigh between 10 and 18 pounds. Look for labels on spiral-cut hams that say “Smoked,” “Fully Cooked,” “Ready to Serve,” or “Ready to Eat.”
2. Pork Rub: Use a modest amount when coating the ham. Don’t get carried away with the rub; it could overpower the ham. For this ham, we used our commonly used pork rub recipe. You can follow our recipe or use your favorite pork rub.  
3. Smoke: Fruitwood such as cherry, apple, or even maple works best because they are mild. Don’t want to overpower the ham with strong smoke with wood like hickory or mesquite. We used cherry wood chunks.
4. Pineapple Bourbon Glaze: The ham may come with a pouch with who knows what inside. Throw it away! Make our pineapple bourbon glaze from the recipe in the recipe card below, or use your favorite homemade glaze mixture.

How Long Does It Take To Ham?

It’s important to remember that you are not actually cooking the ham because it is already cooked. The ultimate goal of double smoking ham is to warm it internally while kissing it with fresh smoke and glazing it for even more flavor, color, and texture. 

The temperature is not as critical as it would be if the ham were raw, but you want to monitor it. You don’t want to over-smoke the ham. It already smoked once. All you want to do is to give it a kiss of smoke. 

Grill & Smoker Temperature:

Many variables influence how long it will take to smoke the ham. Knowing the temp in your grill is crucial. Honestly, you cannot trust the built-in temperature on your grill or smoker because they read the temperature only in one location, usually away from where the meat actually sits on the grate. 

We recommend purchasing a digital BBQ thermometer such as Smoke™ from Thermoworks, especially for year-round grilling and smoking. With a probe thermometer, you won’t have to worry if it’s cold outside. Monitor the temperature from indoors and stay warm inside until the grill or smoker needs attention or the ham needs a slathering of glaze.

Read about it more in the post about David’s List of BBQ Grill & Smoker Accessories.

Free Up Your Oven During the Holidays!

Time and space in the oven are something that everyone needs during the holidays. A benefit of double smoked ham outside on your grill or smoker is that it saves time and space in your kitchen oven. 

$$ Save Money!  $$

Don’t waste your money on prepared store-bought honey ham! This ham is easy enough to do on your charcoal grill at a fraction of the cost. Not to mention it tastes so much better!
This time of year, hams are plentiful and on sale. In fact, with our grocery store points, we got this huge 11-pound ham for FREE! If you can’t find a deal before the holiday, I bet you can find one on clearance a day or two after. This means you can celebrate the holiday even longer!

How To Make Double Smoked Ham with Pineapple Bourbon Glaze

Fire Up The Grill or Smoker

Preheat the grill or smoker to 300 to 325 degrees F.

David uses his Weber Performer kettle-style grill, lighting only about 10 to 16 pieces of charcoal set up for an indirect Three-Zone Split-Fire. To do this, separate the coals into two equal piles on opposite sides of the grill grate. 

Prepare the ham for smoke while the grill or smoker is warming up.

Prepare the Ham for Smoking

Remove the ham from the package. Rinse it under cool running water. Pat it dry, and place it on a rack inside a sheet pan rind side up.

Season the outside of the ham with a modest amount of pork rub. (You may not need all of the pork rub. Reserve any remaining rub for another time.)

Smoke the Ham

Throw a chunk or two of cherry wood into both piles of coals on each side. Put on the lid and bring the temperature back up to 300 to 325 degrees, using the vents to regulate the temperature. 

Smoke the ham until the ham has a nice rich color and the internal temp reaches about 125 F, about 1 to 2 hours. Add charcoal and wood to maintain temperature and smoke as needed.

Glaze the Ham

Meanwhile, combine all glaze ingredients and mix well. 

At 125 degrees F, the ham is double smoked. Stop adding wood to the coal bed. Now it’s time to add more flavor, color, and texture! Transfer the ham to a foil pan. Return it to the grill or smoker. Baste the ham every 30 minutes for the rest of the cook while maintaining a consistent “pit” temperature.

The Ultimate Goal of Double Smoked Ham

The goal temperature is an internal temperature of between 140-155 degrees F. Let the overall visual appearance of the ham determine how long you baste and warm it through. There should be a nice mahogany bark with the ham glaze tacked up on the outside. The spiral slices of the ham will start to separate and draw away from the bone. 

We felt our 11-pound ham was big enough to handle the warmer internal temperature and deserved to be glazed for as long as possible.

Remove from the grill or smoker and rest for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Carving and Slicing:

Using a sharp knife, locate the bone, and cut the meat from around the bone. Then cut the slices from the bottom portion first because they are the easiest. Then cut the larger chunks from the top of the ham into smaller pieces with that nice bark smoky glazed bark intact. Some of the meat next to the bone may be tender enough to shred up.

Serving:

Add some foil to the bottom of the pan from the smoker to give it a clean bottom, and serve directly from the pan. But, for a real show-stopping presentation, run the slices, chunks, and shreds through the juices at the bottom of the pan and serve them on a platter. Then pour the remaining juices from the ham and any remaining glaze directly over the double smoked ham. It’s delicious liquid gold!

Tips For Double Smoking Ham

• If you use wood chips instead of chunks, consider soaking a few handfuls in water for about 30 minutes before placing them on top of the coals. This will keep them from burning up too fast and will provide more smoke.
• Charcoal baskets are great for holding clusters of charcoal together. The baskets also help them burn longer. 
• In the video, you will notice that David uses a mason jar to shake the mixture together to combine. However, he found this difficult to use when basting and recommends combining the glaze mixture ingredients in a bowl in a bowl with a whisk.
• Don’t forget to save the ham bone to make broth or soups!

Recipe FAQs

We hope this ham recipe makes an appearance on your holiday table. If it does, please don’t forget to rate this recipe and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Seasons Greetings!