Mother's Inspired Double Smoked Black Ham

Protein:

Origin: North American, American South

Method: Smoker or Oven, Stovetop

Ever since our first trip to Mother's in New Orleans we have been in love with their famous black ham. It has become a tradition to make a Mother's Inspired Black Ham every year since. It began, like most people trying to recreate the Mother's classic taste, with an internet search which pointed us to a recipe posted in The Washington Post. Over the years we have made some minor changes to that recipe, and have found our favorite way to prepare the ham is by smoking it. Our Mother's Double Smoked Black Ham is not a copy cat recipe, but we feel it is a great inspired rendition of their famous dish.

Making the Double Smoked Black Ham

To make our smoked rendition of Mother's Black Ham you will need the following:

• 4-5 pound Boneless Smoked Ham
• 24 Ounces Root Beer
• 2 Tab Jalapeno Jelly
• 1 Tab Hot Sauce
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 10 Whole Cloves
• Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Orange halved
• 1 Lemon halved
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tea Mustard Powder
• ½ tea Cayenne

The original recipe posted called for Pickapeppa hot sauce, but you can use your favorite. We typically use tabasco or will use a habanero hot sauce if we want a little more heat and a bit more sweetness. We find Barq's or IBC root beer works best for the recipe.

Prepare the basting sauce for the Double Smoked Black Ham

To make the basting sauce for the ham combine the root beer, jelly, hot sauce, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick, orange halves, and lemon halves in a sauce pot.

Bring the root beer mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer the root beer sauce for about 30 minutes.

Strain the sauce and return the liquid to the pan. Heat to a gentle boil and reduce the sauce to about ½ cup, stirring occasionally. This may take 30-60 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Prepare the brown sugar mixture

In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper.

If desired, score your ham in a crisscross pattern., then coat the ham with a small amount of the root beer sauce. Finally, coat the ham with the brown sugar mixture.

Smoke the Mother's inpired black ham

Preheat your smoker to 350 degrees. We cooked our Double Smoked Black Ham on our Yoder 1500 pellet smoker, but any smoker can be used, your will just want to be sure to cook over indirect heat.

Place the ham in a pan, on the smoker. Baste with some of the remaining sauce after 30 minutes. Continue to baste every 30 minutes, until the sauce is gone, then continue to baste with the pan drippings.

Cook the ham to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, then remove to a cutting board. On average, cook time will take about 2.5-3 hours depending on the thickness of your ham.

Rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with your favorite sides like Smoked Jalapeno Twice Baked Potatoes, Smoky Hatch Mac and Cheese, or Grilled Apple Cranberry Salad, then wash it down with a Cran-Merry Vodka Martini.

Have leftovers? Use the ham to make a kick ass Grilled Cubano or Uruguay’s Chivito: The Ultimate Steak Sandwich.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. If you tried and enjoyed our recipe please share with others and please leave us a comment and review. We also love to see your pics so don’t forget to tag us @Carne_Diem_Culinary or #CarneDiemBlog. To be notified of future recipes please follow us on Facebook,  Instagram, or Pinterest, or sign up for our e-mail notifications. Until next time, Carne Diem!

📖 Recipe

Mother's Inspired Double Smoked Black Ham

Carne Diem Culinary

Inpired by Mother's in New Orleans, our Double Smoked Black Ham has become a Christmas tradition in our family. This smoked ham gets frequent basting with a sweet root beer sauce.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, American South

Servings 8

Calories 365 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4-5 pound Boneless Smoked Ham
• 24 Ounces Root Beer
• 2 Tab Jalapeno Jelly
• 1 Tab Hot Sauce
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 10 Whole Cloves
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Orange halved
• 1 Lemon halved
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tea Mustard Powder
• ½ tea Cayenne

Instructions

 

• In a sauce pot, combine the root beer, jelly, hot sauce, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick, orange halves, and lemon halves.
• In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper. Set aside
• Bring the root beer mixture to a boil then simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Strain the sauce and return the liquid to the pan. Heat to a gently boil and reduce the sauce to about ½ cup, stirring occasionally. This may take 30-60 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Preheat your smoker to 350 degrees.
• If desired, score your ham in a crisscross pattern.
• Coat with a small amount of the root beer sauce then coat the ham with the brown sugar mixture.
• Place the ham in a pan, on the smoker. Baste with some of the remaining sauce about every 30 minutes until the sauce is gone, then continue to baste with the pan drippings.
• Cook the ham to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, then remove to a cutting board. On average, cook time will take about 2.5-3 hours depending on the thickness of your ham.
• Rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition

Serving: 12OuncesCalories: 365kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 38gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 2816mgPotassium: 696mgFiber: 1gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 131IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 3mg

Keyword Brown Sugar, Glazed, Ham, Mother's, New Orleans, Root Beer, Smoked, Smoked Ham, Yoder Smokers

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