One day last summer I called Jason and asked him to stop at the grocery store to pick up some liquid smoke.
His response, “Ha, ha, ha. What do you really want me to pick up?”
Me, “No, seriously. It’s called liquid smoke and it’s usually somewhere with the condiments.”
Him, “Ya, sure. I’ll call you when I’m leaving.”
He thought I was trying to trick him for some reason and I guess “liquid smoke” does sort of sound like one of those “board stretcher” “left-handed hammer” “plaid paint” things I used to get asked for when I worked as a cashier at a hardware store.
Anyway, he wasn’t going to stop at the store for it, and was telling his co-workers how his evil little wife was trying to embarrass him at the grocery store. Luckily one of the guys on his crew told him he uses liquid smoke all the time, and told him where he could find it at Sobey’s.
That night I made a Virginia ham so delicious it would break your heart and liquid smoke deserved the Oscar for best supporting ingredient.
Smokey glazed ham recipe
Preheat your oven to 275. Use any kind of ham you want for this recipe. If you use a big, bone-in ham you’ll want to start this recipe 8 hours before you plan to eat, or you can cook it overnight if you want. It needs a lot of time to cook at that low temperature. I usually buy toupee hams or those little Virginia hams and they obviously don’t need as much time in the oven, so I only allow for about three hours of cooking time in total.
Place your ham in a cooking vessel that has a tight fitting lid. Add four cups of water or enough to have your ham sitting in about two inches of liquid.
An hour before dinner, take the ham out of the oven and remove it from the oven. Save one cup of the broth the ham was cooking in, discard the rest (would make a yummy soup stock!). If your ham had a bone, take it out. Put the ham back in its roasting pan.
Prepare a simple glaze by mixing the following ingredients together:
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp liquid smoke
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Pour the glaze over your ham and return it to the oven to roast for another 40 minutes or so. Let the ham stand for ten minutes or so before slicing it.
You will never eat ham another way.
You’ll also get a real taste for liquid smoke. I add it to chili and I plan to try it as a marinade the next time I make steak.
I hope you’ll give it a try!
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