Wood smoke and fire flavors make up an ever-expanding range of creative and traditional flavors that are designed to satisfy consumers' passionate desire for great-tasting food and beverages as well as stimulate their taste buds. Applying such flavors can be used from start to finish, in the preparation of meats as well as to complement a beverage. For cooks utilizing these techniques, Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves are an excellent choice, as they’re ideal for jobs where a tight-fitting, durable glove with great touch sensitivity is needed. Their elegant black color compliments any BBQ / Bar & Grill setting where freshly smoked meats are offered and usually cut in front of customers to their specification.

Considering the season, we’ll focus on a simple recipe that will be traditional yet innovative due to using smoked flavors. A perfect recipe to get you familiar with smoking processes. For this holiday season, we’re preparing a smoked ham along with a smoked beverage. For each step, we will show how and when Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves can be used to their best advantage.

Double Smoked Spiral Ham

During Meat Prep: A 10-LB. spiral-cut once-cooked ham, and a sanitary environment is what you will need to prepare the meat initially. First, wash your hands with soap and lukewarm water and dry. Put on a pair of Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves. At this stage, we’re not going to be using any fancy brines, sauces, or seasonings. We’re simply going to reheat the ham over smoke and bring it to temperature. First, simply place the ham onto a medium/shallow baking tray, with or without the use of an Ovenable Pan Liner. Black Nitrile Gloves are good to be used around moderate heat, so now that it’s time to set up the smoker, using them is ideal hand protection.

Smoker Setup: Generally speaking, you want to use hardwood for smoking various types of meat, poultry, and fish. You should use hardwood from tree species that bear fruit or nuts. Fruit woods will tend to offer a lighter smoke flavor whereas nut woods offer a stronger smoke flavor. The best-smoked flavors for ham could be apple, pecan, cherry, maple, peach, and oak. For this recipe, we suggest using cherry wood considering it pairs nicely with pork and has a delicate, sweet flavor that enhances the whole dish.

Next, heat your smoker to 275°F. Due to the ham being pre-cooked we are going to simply double smoke the ham to give it more flavor. Place the ham inside in a shallow pan, perhaps inside of a pan liner for an easier cleanup afterward, and make sure to smoke the ham for at least two hours and/or until the internal temperature is approaching 140°F with a meat probe.

Glaze Setup: Here, with your Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves still donned for added protection, take these steps to prepare the glaze. First, you will need apple jelly and raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce. In a saucepan over medium heat, add a cup of the apple jelly. Next, make sure the jelly liquefies, which takes about 3-5 minutes. Next, add a cup of the raspberry chipotle BBQ sauce and mix both together while raising the heat to simmer and mix for about 3 minutes.

Once the ham is ready (around 140°F) and donning a new pair of Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves and a handy kitchen towel, open the smoker and pull out the ham completely. Using a basting brush, apply the glaze to the ham. Then place the ham back in the smoker for another 30 minutes to immerse the glazing flavors.

Serving: If carving in a customer-facing operation, make sure to don the Black Disposable Nitrile Disposable Gloves for a great customer impression and as the black color of the gloves helps to protect hands while hiding grease and stains to help maintain a professional appearance. After cooking for 30 minutes with the glazing, remove the ham from the smoker carefully and let it rest for at least 10 minutes longer.

While the ham is resting you can begin to make a smoked cocktail or beverage! Learning to smoke cocktails takes some special equipment but very little time. You will need to use a cocktail smoker to assist you with the following process. Heads up, you will need a Cocktail Smoker Set.

Smoked Dark Beer

Beginning with clean hands and wearing Black Nitrile Disposable Gloves to prevent distributing oils to wood chips and beverages. Start by placing the wooden top smoker, which is a wooden lid with a stainless-steel net in the middle of the wooden cover on top of a glass filled with your favorite beverage. In this case, use any type of dark beer of your interest. Most establishments recommend choosing a stout or porter beer style. Inside the net of the top smoker, place some wood chips of your choice. We recommend using quick-smoke wine oak wood chips. Then, torch the fuel and watch the deep, rich-flavored smoke billow into your glass. Cover the smoker with the mesh screen filter to lock in those flavors. Allow to sit for as much smoke flavor as you want in your beverage, the longer the lid is left closed, the smokier the drink. Remove the top smoker and sip and enjoy the unique, exquisite smoky flavor of both your drinks and delicious, innovative smoke-flavored ham.

Content courtesy of Handgards Inc.