We take a precooked ham from boring to extraordinary. This recipe is as simple as it is delicious which is a huge stress reliever for the holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter). This holiday ham was thrown onto a rotisserie, although it could be cooked in a smoker, conventional grill or even an oven. Then we bring in the game changer – the honey bourbon glaze. We combined whiskey, honey, and stone ground mustard into a glaze (and dipping sauce or drizzle) to take this Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham to be fit for a feast… a holiday feast.

Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham Ingredients

• 1 cured ham (bone in or boneless or even spiral sliced works here)
• 12 ounces honey
• 8 ounces bourbon/whiskey
• 8 ounces stone ground mustard

I told you this was simple.

Now you can use whatever bourbon, whiskey or rye you prefer here. I’m not the biggest flavored whiskey fan, but I’m just gonna say that honey whiskey works really well in this recipe. So much so, I really want to try some cinnamon whiskey next. Or apple whiskey? Or maybe both!?

The bourbon purists are going to pitch a fit here, but when using it in cooking, the flavor difference between whiskey/rye/bourbon in a glaze is going to be negligible. I prefer bourbon myself, when it comes to drinking over ice so I included bourbon on the name, but in the grand scheme of things, these three are interchangeable.

For this ham recipe I used a rotisserie, but with this being a cured ham, we just have to warm it up. Set it in a smoker, or on one side of a charcoal grill with the hot coals on the other side (indirect grilling) or simply put it in the oven.

In a smoker/conventional charcoal grill/oven, set the internal temperature at 300F.

For a rotisserie, the ham goes on the spit and is anchored with the rotisserie spit forks on each end:

Although I used a half ham for this, the recipe is written for a full sized ham.

A word to the wise, do not try this without the spit forks. Eventually the ham will loosen up and the spit and will keep spinning but the ham won’t.

How to Cook Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

Place the cured ham on a spit or in a 300F smoker, charcoal grill (set up for indirect grilling) in a dedicated smoker or even the oven. Place a chunk of smoke wood on the coals under the rotisserie or on the charcoal in the grill. Allow the ham to cook for 60-90 minutes before blending the honey, bourbon/whiskey, and mustard and brush the glaze on the ham. Close the grill, smoker, or oven, and allow the glaze to thicken and tack up. Once it gets tacky (8-10 minutes) re-apply the glaze. Repeat this process as many times as you want. Retain some of the glaze to drizzle over the ham at the feast table.

The spit and ham goes on the cooker, which in this case is this sweet charcoal/rotisserie grill from Everdure called the Hub II:

A chunk of smoke wood goes on the fire, in this case post oak which is outstanding with almost any meat. If you don’t have access to post oak, here is a very extensive list of smoke woods and what they pair with. Something on that list has to be available near you. Find what you have access to and pair well with pork.

Post oak in the coals below our holiday ham:

The post oak, or whatever smoke wood you use, will impart some flavor as we warm up that ham. But don’t start glazing right away. We have a lot of honey on that glaze and don’t want the sugars to blacken too much. So let it warm up for 60-90 minutes. THEN, get that glaze going.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and blend well and brush it over the ham.

Here is the first coat of that bourbon glaze:

Give the honey bourbon glazed ham a few minutes for the glaze to thicken and tack up and then apply the bourbon glaze:

Keep repeating this process of letting the glaze set and get thicker then re-apply.

The Beauty of the Holiday Ham

Whether a Thanksgiving Ham, Christmas Ham or Easter Ham, the beauty of the ham is that it is a delicious blank canvas. What that means is it is delicious on its own. Although we can add flavors on top of that wonderful flavor profile. So whether that’s this honey bourbon glazed ham, or a pineapple rum ham, or grill glazed spiral ham or this beautiful Easter ham. Grab a ham and then just decide the flavor profile to layer on top. Easy peazy, lemon squeazy

This ham got four applications of the honey bourbon glaze:

Indeed, that glaze can be applied many more times and will get better with each application.

Keep in mind that we want to use the remainder of that glaze to drizzle over the holiday ham or use as a dipping sauce.

Finally, slice and serve that honey bourbon glazed ham for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. Thus, reserve the remainder of the glaze to drizzle over the top or simply in a bowl on the side:

Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham Summary

Ham is amazing on its own. We just make it more amazing by layering flavors on top. Additionally, with a cured ham, this doesn’t take long at all. Simply warm it up, slather on the glaze a few times and serve. This could accompany a turkey or stand alone as the centerpiece of a holiday feast.

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Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

A cured ham slow cooked then glazed in whiskey, honey, and mustard to make this honey bourbon glazed ham a magnificent holiday ham for your holiday feast

Course Christmas Dinner, Christmas Supper, Easter Ham, Entree, Holiday Dinner, Holiday Ham, Main Course, Thanksgiving

Cuisine Christmas Dinner, Easter Dinner, Easter Supper, Ham, Holiday Meal, Thanksgiving Dinner

Keyword Apple Whiskey, Bourbon, Bourbon Glaze, Bourbon Glazed Ham, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Ham, Cinnamon Whiskey, Easter Ham, Grilled Ham, Ham, Ham Recipe, Holiday Feast, Holiday Ham, Honey, Honey Bourbon, Honey Bourbon Glaze, Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham, Honey Whiskey, Honey Whiskey Glaze, Mustard, Oven, Stone Ground Mustard, Thanksgiving Ham, Whiskey, Whiskey Glaze

Servings 12 People

Ingredients

• 1 Cured ham
• 12 ounces Honey
• 8 ounces Whiskey/Bourbon/Rye Flavored whiskeys are fantastic in this recipe
• 8 ounces Stone ground mustard

Instructions

• Place the cured ham on a spit or in a 300F smoker, charcoal grill (set up for indirect grilling) in a dedicated smoker or even the oven. Place a chunk of smoke wood on the coals under the rotisserie or on the charcoal in the grill.
• Allow the ham to cook for 60-90 minutes before blending the honey, bourbon/whiskey, and mustard and brush the glaze on the ham. Close the grill, smoker, or oven, and allow the glaze to thicken and tack up.
• Once it gets tacky (8-10 minutes) re-apply the glaze. Repeat this process as many times as you want.
• Retain some of the glaze to drizzle over the ham at the feast table. 

Video

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Author information

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

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