Double-Smoked Ham with Chris Lilly’s Apricot Glaze

Close-up of a baked ham topped with pineapple slices and cherries, perfect for festive meals.

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This method is Meathead Goldwyn’s “Ultimate Smoked Ham” from AmazingRibs.com, published as the Double Smoked Ham Recipe. It starts with a supermarket ham that is already cooked, adds fresh smoke at low temperature, then finishes with a sticky glaze. The glaze is Chris Lilly’s spiced apricot recipe, which AmazingRibs also publishes on its own page. Quantities below are the publisher’s; the safety numbers come from USDA.

Check the label before you start

This recipe is written for a bone-in, precooked, wet-cured ham, the kind that says “cooked” on the package. USDA’s ham guidance separates two situations:

  • Fully cooked ham needs no further cooking and can be eaten cold. If you reheat one packaged in a USDA-inspected plant, USDA says to heat it to 140°F (60°C). Cooked hams repackaged elsewhere, and leftover cooked ham, should be heated to 165°F (74°C).
  • Cook-before-eating or fresh ham must reach 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest.

If your label says cook before eating, do not use the 140°F finish below; use the 145°F rule instead. (The 140, 145 and 165°F figures are USDA’s; the Celsius conversions are ours.)

Chris Lilly’s spiced apricot glaze

Makes about 1 1/4 cups. Combine everything in a small saucepan and mix well; the page says it keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.

  • 1/2 cup apricot or peach preserves
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon each black pepper, ground chipotle and garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon each cinnamon, rubbed sage and ground cloves

The ham

You need one 8-pound bone-in precooked wet-cured ham and about 1 cup of the glaze; the page says it yields roughly 6 1/2 pounds of meat and serves 12.

  1. Fire up. Set a smoker to 225°F (107°C), or set up a grill for two-zone cooking with the indirect side at about 225°F (107°C).
  2. Trim. Remove the skin if it is still on and trim to a thin layer of fat. Throw away any glaze packet and rinse off glaze already on the ham. If it is spiral-sliced, the page says to let a little water get into the cuts to reduce moisture loss.
  3. Smoke. Put the ham where it gets the most smoke (on a grill, flat side down on the indirect side with a handful or two of wood) and close the lid for about 60 minutes.
  4. Wrap. Pour about 4 tablespoons of glaze onto a large sheet of foil, set the ham flat side down on it, brush half the remaining glaze over the meat, and seal it into a tight foil package. Put it back at about 225°F. If you have a leave-in thermometer, push it through the foil into the fat end, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bone.
  5. Open at 130°F. When the ham reaches about 130°F (54°C), open the foil, brush on more glaze and close the lid.
  6. Sauce. After about 10 minutes, brush again, then pour the pooled liquid from the foil into a saucepan as the basis for a thin sauce. Taste and adjust with more glaze or broth, and keep it warm.
  7. Finish. Move the ham to direct heat, glazed side toward the fire, and roll it as the glaze sizzles, about 3 to 4 minutes, until every side except the flat one has caramelized. Stay with it so the glaze does not blacken.
  8. Serve. Slice inward toward the bone and serve the sauce alongside.

Planning your timing

The recipe card lists 2 hours 30 minutes of cooking, but the instructions warn that reaching 130°F could take 3 to 4 hours, depending on ham thickness and your cooker. Plan for the longer window and go by the thermometer, not the clock. The page also says you cannot trust the built-in lid thermometer on your grill.

Confirm the finish temperature

The page says the ham should have reached a safe 140°F (60°C) by the end of the searing step and tells you to trust that. It costs nothing to check. For a plant-packaged fully cooked ham, 140°F is USDA’s reheating target; for a repackaged or leftover ham it is 165°F.

Spiral-cut hams and leftovers

USDA notes that spiral-cut hams are safe to eat cold and are best served that way, because reheating sliced hams can dry the meat and make the glaze melt and run off. Leftover cooked ham should be heated to 165°F if you reheat it, and USDA’s general advice is to refrigerate leftovers promptly.

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