Grilled Ham with Gochujang Glaze

So, can we have the Gochujang ham yet?

My family is gochujang crazed. I’ve mentioned this before, but gochujang, Korea’s spicy red pepper paste, has taken over as the Asian condiment of choice in our kitchen. 3Move over, Sriracha. There’s a new spicy pepper paste in town.

My wife ran across this recipe from chef Edward Lee in the newspaper a while back. Since then, she asks if we can have Gochujang ham about once a month.

I may be a bit slow, but requests from the wife sink in eventually. This one is for my sweetie – grilled ham with gochujang glaze.

As with turkey, I like to roast ham in my grill. It’s not just because I’m a grilling fanatic. 4OK, not ONLY because I’m a grilling fanatic. A ham – even a half ham like I’m using here – weighs 10 pounds, and takes up most of my oven. Moving the ham to the grill leaves the oven free for side dishes.

Recipe: Grilled Ham with Gochujang Glaze

Inspired by: Holiday Ham with Heat by Alison Ashton and chef Edward Lee

Equipment

• Grill (I love my massive 6 burner Weber Summit grill).
• 9 by 13 aluminum foil pan (or grill-safe enameled steel roasting pan)

Grilled Ham with Gochujang Glaze

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• Author: Mike Vrobel
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
• Yield: 12-16
• Category: Grilling
• Cuisine: Korean

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Description

Grilled Ham with Gochujang Glaze recipe – looking for a ham with a difference? Try this spicy Korean glaze on a grilled ham.

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Ingredients

• Bone in ham, butt half (10 to 12 pounds, smoked “ham” or “ham with natural juices” if at all possible)

Gochujang Glaze

• 1/2 cup gochujang sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

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Instructions

1. Score the ham: One hour before cooking, remove the ham from its wrapper and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the rind of the ham in a 1 inch diamond pattern, cutting about 1/4 inch deep. Set the ham in the aluminum foil pan.
2. Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat (300°F): Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat, 300°F, with the heat on the sides of the grill and no heat in the middle. For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill with all burners on high for 15 minutes, then turn off all but the outside burners (burner #1 and #6), leaving the middle of the grill for indirect roasting.
3. Simmer the glaze: While the grill is heating: Simmer the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the honey melts, about 5 minutes. Set aside for later.
4. Cook the ham: Put the pan with the ham in the center of the grill, so the lit burners are not directly below it. Close the lid and cook the ham until it reaches 135°F in its thickest part, about 3 hours for a 10 pound ham. (It should take about 18 minutes per pound of ham, but thickness matters more than weight. If you have a probe thermometer, now is the time to use it; if you don’t, check the temperature every hour.) During the last half hour of cooking, brush the ham with the reheated glaze every ten minutes.
5. Serve: Carefully lift the pan out of the grill and onto a carving board or cookie sheet, then let the ham rest for 15 minutes. Transfer the ham from the foil pan to the cutting board, carve, and serve, passing any remaining Gochujang glaze at the table.

Scoring the ham

On the grill – lit burners on the sides, ham in the middle

Ready to start glazing

Looking beautiful

Slice and serve

Notes

• This is a BIG ham – it will serve a crowd. Even then, I save the bone for ham and bean soup, and use the leftovers for sandwiches.
• Don’t use a spiral sliced ham with this recipe – the pre-slicing lets all the juices leak out while the ham is heating. Most spiral sliced hams recommend serving straight from the refrigerator for this reason.
• I recommend bone-in ham because I’m a bone-in kind of guy, and I get a less processed ham that way. (From least to most processed: “Ham”, then “ham with natural juices” are the best options; at my local grocery store, “ham with natural juices” is the best I can do. Next down is “ham with water added”, and the worst case scenario is “ham and water product”, which tends to look like a square loaf.) Now, I’m a ham snob – I like my pork minimally processed – but this recipe will work with any ham.
• The downside to bone-in ham is carving around the bone. The bone is usually on one side of the ham, so I carve the other side first to get nice, big slices. Then I cut the rest of the ham away from the bone in largeish chunks, and carve those (or save them for later for ham salad or pea soup.)
• Want to cook the ham on a charcoal grill? See my “Rotisserie Ham with Orange and Honey Glaze” for indirect medium-low setup options; then, instead of using the rotisserie, put the grill grate back on and continue with the “Cook the ham” step.

What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

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