Bourbon Peach Glazed Smoked Ham
On March 29, 2022 (Updated May 16, 2022)
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This smoked ham makes for the ultimate special occasion ham. It brings all the classic flavors of a cooked ham with the added goodness of smoke and a punchy bourbon peach glaze.
Smoked Ham
I’ve gotta tell you friends, there isn’t much I love more than a crispy, sugary crust on a smoked ham. It reminds me of family holiday gatherings and my mom’s leftover bean and ham hock soup.
Smoked ham is the perfect answer to feeding a crowd, and it is incredibly simple to prepare. In true Hey Grill Hey style this ham adds a little low and slow wood smoke love to a simple spiral ham to keep it tender and moist while adding great flavor.
Glaze for Smoked Ham
The little cherry on top of all smoked hams is a candy sweet glaze, am I right? The glaze on this ham may be the favorite of any I’ve ever made. It’s sweet from brown sugar, spiked with bourbon and peach juice, and seasoned with warm spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Here’s what you need to make this glaze.
- Brown sugar
- Peach preserves
- Bourbon
- Smoked paprika
- Ground cinnamon
- Salt
- Onion powder
- Ground ginger
- Ground nutmeg
- Groung cloves
- Smoked ham drippings
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly, then remove from the heat to cool.
How to Smoke a Ham
Since all hams are already cured and smoked, putting it back in the smoker essentially creates a double smoked ham. YUM! To smoke a ham, plan on about 20 minutes per pound at 250 degrees F to bring it up to proper serving temperature as well as infuse the meat with another layer of smoky flavor.
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F using a mild wood. I like apple, peach, or alder for smoked ham. Remember, it has already been smoked once, we don’t want too heavy of a smoke to overwhelm the flavor of the meat.
- Smoke. Place the ham on a roasting rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet on the smoker. Close the lid and smoke for around 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F.
- Mop. Spritz or mop the ham with mop sauce (ingredients in the recipe card below) every 30 minutes while the ham is in the smoke.
- Glaze. Coat the ham in the glaze and allow it to caramelize. There are several ways to do this; you can increase the heat on your grill (above 400 degrees F), you can broil in your oven for a couple of minutes, or you can blast the outside with direct heat from a blow torch. Take care not to burn the sugar.
- Enjoy. Serve the ham immediately with extra glaze on the side as desired.
How Long to Smoke a Ham
It will take around 2 hours to smoke a ham. A good rule of thumb is to plan on 20 minutes per pound.
My biggest suggestion here is to cook to temperature instead of looking at the clock. Since cured hams are pre-cooked, our only job here is to add smoke and flavor without drying things out. Shooting for an internal temperature of 140 degrees F will give you a juicy and flavorful ham. Use an internal meat thermometer to gauge the temperature of the ham as it cooks.
Tips for Smoking a Ham
Here are some tips for making a delicious smoked ham for your friends and family.
- Keep the meat moist. To combat drying out the meat while it smokes, place the ham on an elevated rack on top of a baking sheet and baste with a mixture of peach juice and bourbon throughout the smoking process. Any drippings will be caught by the baking sheet and help keep the ham moist by steaming it from underneath.
- Get crazy with flavors. I used peach jam, but you can swap that out for any jam you’d like. Raspberry, apricot, and cherry would all be awesome alternatives.
- Save the pan drippings. All of that ham liquid and stock results in a super savory broth that is awesome for dipping and drizzling after your ham is cooked. It’s even better the next day as a type of jus you can dip your leftover ham and cheese sandwiches in. Almost like a French dip with ham instead of roast beef.
More Smoked Ham Recipes
Ready to make a delicious ham for the holidays? Hey Grill Hey has a nice collection of smoked ham recipes for any occasion.
- Jalapeno Pomegranate Glazed Ham
- Twice Smoked Ham with Brown Sugar Honey Glaze
- Smoked Spiral Ham with a Maple Bourbon Glaze
Smoked Ham Recipe
Follow the recipe below and let’s make something delicious! I’m all about helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a BBQ hero. If you want to see more of my recipes, tips, and behind-the-scenes action, follow along on my social channels. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube!
Bourbon Peach Glazed Double Smoked Ham
Ingredients
- 1 8-pound spiral cut ham
Mop Sauce
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup peach juice
Bourbon Peach Glaze
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup peach preserves
- 2 Tablespoons bourbon
- 2 Tablespoons drippings from the smoked ham
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F using a mild wood.
- Smoke. Place the ham cut side down on an elevated roasting rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet. Close the lid, and smoke the ham for 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature of your ham reaches 135 degrees F.
- Spritz. In a small bowl or food safe spray bottle, combine the bourbon and peach juice for the mop sauce. Spritz or mop the ham every 30 minutes during the smoking period.
- Make the glaze. When your ham is near the correct internal temperature, prepare your glaze. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
- Glaze. Coat the ham on all sides with the glaze. At this point, you have three options for caramelizing the glaze on the outside of the ham. You can increase the heat on your grill to 400 degrees and roast the glazed ham for 8-10 minutes or until the glaze starts to bubble. For another option, you can turn your oven on to broil and place the ham in the oven for 3-4 minutes to caramelize the glaze. Finally, you can brush on the glaze and caramelize the crust by using a high output blow torch. For all of these options, be careful not to burn the sugar on the outside of the ham and reapply the glaze as needed to form a nice crust.
- Serve. Once your ham is nice and caramelized, remove it to a large platter and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Trying this with a 9 lbs ham (partially sliced, bone-in) at 250 degrees. It’s be 2:15 and I’m only at 90 degrees (outside temp is 57). Is 2 hours, or even 3 way optimistic?
That seems to be going a little slow. If you’re worried, up your temp to 275-300 to speed things along. It’ll still be great!
Do you have a good recipe if you are starting with a fresh raw ham?
I use jams or preserves instead of juice. Coffee jelly is a nice touch.
I have seen in a similar recipe for a double smoked cherry bourbon ham and in it they coated the with with some mustard and bbq rub before cooking. It gave it a really good crust and different level of flavor would you recommend trying it with this recipe
I cant find a small enough bourbon bottle, do you think whisky would work the same for this recipe?
It’ll work, but will taste different.
My oh my! I made this today for Easter dinner and everyone loved it. I had to improvise and use my oven since my smoker wouldn’t cooperate today.
Can’t wait to make this again when my smoker is working! Thanks for providing such a great recipe.
I’m planning on this for Easter but I’m not familiar with what an elevated rack is. Would the thing you use to cool cookies work?
That’s exactly what I use!
This is the only way we make ham anymore. I had my husband make it for a work holiday party at Thanksgiving and people are still raving about it a month later!
He has started mixing the mop sauce in a spray bottle and spraying it during smoking instead of mopping. Works great!!
Thanks so much for your comment!!! I’m so happy you have mastered this recipe!
Will this recipe work as well NOT using a spiral cut ham? I’m thinking of injecting apple cidar too. Im scared of having it dry out. What do you think?
I say go for it, it will probably turn out delicious.
This Recipe is amazing, Did it for thanksgiving and doing it for tomorrow!