Smoked Spiral Ham with a Maple Bourbon Glaze
On March 23, 2022 (Updated October 24, 2023)
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It doesn’t get much better than this smoked spiral ham with a maple bourbon glaze. Whether you’re cooking this for a classic Easter dinner, or you just need something delicious for a weekend meal, this ham delivers big time.
Can You Cook a Spiral Ham in a Smoker?
Yes! You can cook spiral ham in a smoker! In fact, the spiral ham you purchase from the grocer is already cooked, so you’re simply looking to add your own sauce or glaze and re-heat the meat.
Cooking the ham in a smoker imparts some great BBQ flavor that you won’t get from your oven or a gas grill. Combine it with a great glaze, and you’ll have a dinner that tastes as good as it looks.
Smoked Spiral Ham
For this spiral ham, we’re adding in as much flavor and moisture as possible to complement the meat and smoke flavors. This ham is braised with chicken stock, bourbon, and maple syrup before being covered in a sticky sweet glaze.
The final result is a meal worthy of any occasion. But make sure to invite the neighbors! An 8-pound ham can easily feed 14-16 people, so plan on a crowd or some tasty leftovers after dinner!
Maple Bourbon Glaze for Smoked Ham
The absolute secret “ingredient” for this ham is the maple bourbon glaze. This glaze is so good, I have a recipe post as well as a bottled version available in the Hey Grill Hey Store. Here’s what’s in this amazing glaze.
- Maple syrup. Skip the fake stuff and go with some all-natural maple syrup. It’ll make all the difference, trust me.
- Bourbon. You don’t need to go extremely fancy with the bourbon you choose for this recipe. Snag your favorite or whatever is on hand and you’ll be good to go.
- Brown sugar. Either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work well. Keep in mind that dark brown sugar has more molasses in it and will result in a richer flavor. I say choose your adventure on this one!
- Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub. Much like this glaze, you can make this amazing rub yourself using my recipe for Best Sweet Rub, or purchase it from the Store.
- Apple cider vinegar. A little ACV rounds out this glaze for a bit of acidity to cut through all that sweetness.
How to Smoke a Spiral Ham
There are a few steps for smoking this spiral ham. Let’s work our way through each one, shall we?
- Smoke. To start, place your ham cut side down on a smoker preheated to 225 degrees F. Close the lid, and smoke the ham for 1 1/2 hours.
- Braise. Remove the ham from the smoker and place it in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Mix the ingredients for the braise (chicken stock, bourbon, and maple syrup), and pour it over the ham. Increase the temp on the smoker to 300 degrees F. Cover the ham and skillet tightly with aluminum foil, place the skillet on the smoker, and continue smoking until the ham reaches 140 degrees F (this should take around 2 hours).
- Glaze. Remove the ham from the smoker and open the foil. Drain any excess liquid and set it aside. Turn the ham on its side and brush liberally with the maple bourbon glaze.
- Set. Set the glaze by placing the ham in your oven on a High broil for 2-3 minutes or until the glaze starts to caramelize.
- Enjoy! Dish up this delicious smoked spiral ham to your friends and family! I can guarantee they’ll absolute devour it!
How Long to Smoke a Spiral Ham
It takes around 3 1/2 hours to smoke a spiral ham. This ham requires a dry smoke followed by a smoke while wrapped in a skillet and times will vary depending on your smoker and the thickness.
Rather than staring at the clock while smoking the ham, invest in a reliable meat thermometer, and gauge the ham’s doneness by temperature instead. This ham is done when it reaches an internal temp of 140 degrees F.
Tips for Smoking a Spiral Ham
Ready to smoke a ham? Here are a few tips to take note of before you dive into the recipe at the bottom of this post.
- Choose your ham. This recipe works with a non-spiral sliced ham as well as a spiral ham. However, non-sliced hams do tend to take a bit longer to cook. Plan an extra 30-60 minutes in the smoker.
- Try out some different glazes! If you’d like to play around with the glaze you add to the ham, try out from my site. I’ve got a brown sugar glaze and a bourbon peach glaze recipe on the site.
- Track your temperatures. Spiral hams are sold pre-cooked, so you don’t want to overcook the meat. Letting the temperature rise too high results in dry, chewy ham.
More Smoked Ham Recipes
Planning on smoking a ham for your next big occasion? Let Hey Grill Hey help you make the best meal of your life! Check out a few of our favorite recipes below.
Smoked Spiral Ham Recipe
Here’s hoping you loved this smoked spiral ham recipe. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below, or check us out on social media @HeyGrillHey. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Smoked Spiral Ham with a Maple Bourbon Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 8-pound spiral sliced ham
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup maple syrup
Homemade Maple Bourbon Glaze
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup bourbon
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub
- 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Smoke. Place the ham, cut side down, directly on the grill grates. Close the lid and smoke the ham for 1.5 hours.
- Add the braise. Remove the ham from the smoker and place it in a large 12-inch cast iron skillet. Mix the chicken stock, bourbon, and maple syrup and pour it over the ham. Cover the ham and the top of the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
- Continue smoking. Increase the temperature on your smoker to 300 degrees F. Place the skillet on the smoker, close the lid, and continue cooking for an additional 2 hours or until the internal temperature reads 140 degrees F.
- Make the glaze. When the ham is almost done cooking, prepare the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine all of the glaze ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently with a whisk, just until the glaze comes to a boil. Remove from the heat immediately.
- Glaze the ham. Remove the ham from the smoker and open up the foil. Drain off any excess cooking liquid and set it aside for serving. Turn the ham over onto its side and brush liberally with the maple bourbon glaze.
- Broil. Place the glazed ham into your oven on High broil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the glaze is bubbling and caramelized.
- Enjoy. Serve immediately with the drippings from the cast iron skillet on the side, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I did everything to the tea as far as the recipe but I added two things honey and pineapple it was the best ham ever did on the smoker
I used this recipe and people who don’t like ham loved it. It cam out amazing!!
I do not like it that the only hams you can find today are spiral cut hams. No matter what you do to it, it is always a bit dry. No matter how hard you look, nothing but spiral.
In southeast Virginia ham comes in just about every variety! Smoking a non spiral ham at this very moment for dinner tonight.
Wonderful depth of flavor that married well with the smoke. The sauce was a bit thin so I had to reduce it and eventually add a little corn starch.
I am going to try this for Easter this year on my Bradley electric smoker using apple wood. Looking foward to it!
I’m going to try this using maple crown royal!
I’m using that for mine instead of mixing bourbon and maple!
As a rookie smoker, I’m still not super confident on wood choices. For this recipe, I was thinking apple wood, but figured I would ask for a recommendation. After smoking our Thanksgiving turkey, my family told me I will be smoking the turkey from now on AND the ham for Christmas. I want to make sure I keep getting it right.
Apple wood will work great here!
Awesome!!! Thanks!!! Love your recipes!!! I have your app and follow on Facebook!!!
Loved this recipe. Ham came out fantastic
Made this for Easter and it was a big hit. The only thing I had to mess with was the glaze. Maybe the pure maple syrup I used was too watery, but I had to reduce the glaze on the stove quite a bit to get it to a consistency where it would adhere to the exterior of the ham.
Fantastic for Easter dinner!