I have some bone-in smoked hams that I have not yet baked, Waiting for the holidays.
Question: I want to minimize the smoked flavor and maximize the honey and whole cloves flavor. Should I place the ham in a brine to lessen the smoky flavor ? Some other method ?
To reduce the smoked flavor, especially if it is a smokehouse ham, you will need to boil it to remove the excess salt, and some of the smokey flavor. The honey and cloves can be brushed onto the ham before baking.
If you have a wet-cured ham, again, a little boiling will remove some of the salt and smoky flavor. Make a broth of honey, water, and cloves. Inject this all through the ham before baking. Use the honey broth as a glaze to baste the ham skin for extra flavor on the skin.
If you have a spiral-sliced ham, try this. Combine honey and a coarse mustard. Brush all over and between slices. Bake or cook on the grill between a divided bed of charcoal. I have a daughter that didn't like ham. I made that spiral ham and she changed her mind.
Another way of diluting the smoke flavor is to cook the ham with a fruity coating, or injecting juice into the ham. Good flavors for this are apple, pineapple, and cherry. They all work wonderfully with the ham flavor.
There once was a young girl who asked her mom why she cut the end off of the ham before baking it. Her mother said she did it because her mother always did it. The youngster went to her grandmother and asked the same question. She got the same answer from her grandmother, that that was how great grandma did it. The child asked great grandma, "Why do you cut the ends off of the ham before"baking it"? The great grandmother answered; "Because that'ts the only way I could get it to fit in the pan."
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North