Rotisserie Ham with Orange and Honey Glaze

What do you have for Easter? Ham or lamb?

I come from a ham family. The kids would search for their Easter baskets, followed by a late breakfast. (Which, as a kid, was 80% peeps, 10% jelly beans and 10% chocolate bunny ears). Then we’d head over to Grandma’s house for another round of Easter baskets.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Rotisserie Ham
• Why cook a ham on the rotisserie?
• Equipment
• Rotisserie Grilling Cookbook
• Rotisserie Ham with Orange and Honey Glaze
• 💬 Comments

Then I married into a ham-crazy family. My in-laws believe in ham for every holiday. Easter, Christmas, New Year's, Arbor Day...name a holiday, and they’re wondering when the ham will be ready.

So, for both sides of my family, here’s a rotisserie ham. Happy Easter, everyone!

Special thanks to Sherman Provision for the fabulous ham. Ohio raised, double smoked in their own smokehouse. It was magnificent.

Ingredients

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

Orange Honey Glaze

• ½ cup honey
• Juice and zest of 1 orange
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme

How to make Rotisserie Ham

Score and spit 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 ¼ inch deep. Skewer the ham on the rotisserie spit, securing it with the spit forks. Let the ham rest at room temperature until it is time to grill.

Make the glaze

Simmer the glaze ingredients over medium heat, stirring often, until the butter melts. Remove the glaze from the heat and set it aside until it is time to glaze the ham. Reheat the glaze right before using.

Set up the grill for indirect medium-low heat (300°F)

Set the grill up for indirect medium-low heat (300°F) with the drip pan in the middle of the grill. For my Weber kettle I light a half-full chimney starter of charcoal, about 50 coals. When the coals are covered with gray ash, I pour the charcoal in two equal piles on the sides of the grill, and put the drip pan in the middle, between the piles.

Rotisserie cook the ham to 135°F

Put the spit on the grill, start the motor spinning, and make sure the drip pan is centered beneath the ham. 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, so check the temperature every hour.) During the last half hour of cooking, brush the ham with the reheated glaze every ten minutes. If you are cooking with charcoal, add 14 fresh coals every hour, splitting them between the two piles of lit charcoal.

Serve

Remove the ham from the rotisserie spit. Be careful - the spit and forks are blazing hot. Let the ham rest for 15 minutes, then carve and serve.

Why cook a ham on the rotisserie?

Because you get a fantastic crust on the outside. If you don't have a rotisserie, or don't want to mess with trying to run a spit through a bone-in ham, you can just grill the ham instead: Grilled Ham with Honey Bourbon Glaze.

Equipment

• Grill with Rotisserie attachment (I use a Weber Summit with an infrared rotisserie burner. Here is the current version of my grill.)
• Aluminum foil drip pan (9“x13”, or whatever fits your grill. I use an enameled steel roasting pan.)
• Butchers twine
• Instant Read Thermometer

Print

Notes

• I always have problems carving a bone-in ham. One side of the ham is easy to remove from the bone - I cut that piece off, then slice it for serving. The other half of the ham, though, usually involves carving around the bone, and it comes off in smaller chunks. If I’m feeding a crowd, I slice those as well, but that half of a ham is usually destined for lunches later in the week.
• Save the ham bone for ham and bean soup! Recipe coming…someday. When I get around to it. I’m still working on the leftover ham. (Ham loaf! Ham salad! Ham and cheese sandwiches!)
• This ham was beautifully smoked. If you get a ham that needs extra smoke, like a grocery store ham (especially a "ham with water added"), put a fist sized chunk of hickory on the coals before you add the ham.

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

Related Posts:

Rotisserie Ham, Barbecue Style
Rotisserie Whole Leg of Lamb with Orange and Fennel Dry Brine
Click here for my other rotisserie recipes.

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