Earl from Joplin wants to inject his ham with a pineapple and brown sugar marinade and wrote us for a recipe. What follows is Chef John Allen’s creation and his recommendations on good techniques. Happy Cooking!

You probably have purchased a marinade injector already. For the rest of us, they are available on Amazon.com. They are priced between eight and forty dollars. There are various kinds - make sure you purchase one which can handle thick syrupy mixtures being pushed through it; also the longer the needle the better depending on your size of ham. The injectors come in plastic and stainless steal. If you plan to use it often, get the stainless steal injector. The plastic ones tend to break soon after use. You can use the injector with any meats pork, chicken, turkey, or beef.

Combine Pineapple Marinade ingredients into deep pot and heat bringing to a boil. Whisk occasionally until all ingredients have combined to make a nice smooth marinade. Let the marinade simmer for about twenty or thirty minutes to let the garlic flavors come out into the sauce. If you do not like garlic do not add to marinade. You can also add some fresh sage if you wish. Make sure you taste the marinade. If you want to add any spices at this time do so. Let marinade cool to room temperature. Remove garlic cloves and run the marinade through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.

Do not buy a pre-cut ham.

First find a large bowl or cooking tray, which the ham will fit into. Then mix the dry rub ingredients together in the large bowl or cooking tray. Then place the ham in same bowl or tray and proceed to rub the dry rub completely all over the ham.

Fill the syringe with the marinade and inject up to 1 ounce of marinade at a time simulating a three-dimensional grid pattern inside the ham. Give one injection about every square inch. Do not inject air into ham or liquid marinade will squirt out. When injecting always point the needle down. If you insert the needle at an angle, the marinade will leak out.

When you are finished wrap the ham with a layer of plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for twenty-four hours. The marinade will distribute evenly as the ham stands in your refrigerator for a day before cooking.

The following day pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.

Remove ham from plastic wrap. Score ham with 1/4 inch deep cuts crisscross around entire ham. Let the ham stand at room temperature for about twenty minutes as you prepare glaze.

In a saute pan combine glaze ingredients and heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until it’s reduced to a syrupy consistency. Taste and adjust according to your preference.

Place the ham on baking tray and bake for one to two hours depending on size of your ham. Visit our Holiday Cooking Guide for more information. During the last 1/4 of your baking time, brush the glaze over the ham and for every 15 minutes or so. If you wish, when the ham is close to 130 degrees internal temperature, you can turn the oven temperature up to 425 degrees to help brown and crisp the ham. But be careful though and watch the ham as to not let it burn. Your ham is ready to be removed from the oven when its internal temperature is 135 degrees for a fully cooked ham, or 155 for a partially/uncooked ham.

Let stand 20 minutes before serving. This ham should be delicious and juicy!

The Pineapple Injection Marinade
2 cups of water (you can substitute any amount of water with white wine, beer, rum, brandy, sprite, cola)
2 cups of Pineapple juice
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of brown sugar
Four full garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

Dry Rub
2 tablespoons of Paprika
1/2 tablespoon Salt
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoons of ground cloves
1 tablespoons of black pepper

The Glaze
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of honey
1/2 cup of Irish Butter
2 cups of Pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper

~ Best of luck and do not hesitate to give us a call. And let us know here how you liked it! Chef John Allen