All Fired Up S2BBQ & Grill

Applewood Smoked Ham with Grilled Pineapple Glaze and Grilled Cabbage

Name: Applewood Smoked Ham with Grilled Pineapple Glaze and Grilled Cabbage
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: For the smoked ham; 1 x ham joint (uncooked); 1 can of pineapple slices (in juice); Olive oil, for brushing; 3 tsp cloves; Sea salt; Freshly ground black pepper; For the glaze; 2 tablespoon honey; 1 tablespoon of Brown sugar; The juice from the can of pineapple; 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce; 1 teaspoon Cayenne; ½ teaspoon of cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves; For the grilled cabbage; 1 x sweetheart or King cabbage; 100g unsalted butter; 1 shallot, finely diced; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 red chilli, finely diced; Zest and juice of 1 lime; Olive Oil, for brushing

Nico ReynoldsFrom the series · All Fired Up S2

30 min totalServes 4Easy

Time30 min

Serves4

SkillEasy

ShowAll Fired Up

Method

For the smoked ham: place a large pot - big enough to fit your ham - onto your hob. Fill with water and add your ham then bring to a boil. Remove the ham from the water and throw away the water - this will ensure your ham is not too salty. Clean out the pot, add the ham back in and fill again with water. Bring to the boil once more then turn down to a simmer and cook for 1 and a half hours.

Place the pineapple slices on top of the ham and keep them in place by studding with cloves.

Light your BBQ coals using the snake method - a layer of unlit good quality lumpwood charcoal* around the edge of the bbq, with a layer of lit charcoal on top. This will give you a longer cooking time. *NB other charcoals may release chemicals when they first ignite. Alternatively, if your charcoal starts to go out, light some more in a charcoal starter and carefully add it to the barbecue.

Place some chunks of applewood in the centre of ring.

If cooking on gas, keep the temp at a low 90°-110°

Season the ham before placing it in the centre of the grill, over the smouldering applewood.

Close the lid and cook for 1hr 15 mins while you start on your glaze (below).

After 1hr 15, remove the lid and start to glaze every 15 mins for another hour.

Leave to rest for 20 mins before slicing

For the glaze: add all the ingredients into a pot and gently bring to the boil, stirring with a whisk.

Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, then turn off the heat. As it cools it should have a syrup-like texture.

For the grilled cabbage: cut the cabbage into quarters, keeping the stem intact, then brush the sides with the oil and grill each side over high heat for 4-5 minutes, until charred.

Meanwhile, place a small skillet onto the grill (or a pan on your hob) and add the butter and a drizzle of olive oil. Allow to melt then add the lime zest and juice, chilli, garlic and shallot, season and cook gently for a few minutes to allow the shallot to soften slightly.

Place the grilled cabbage into the pan and coat in the chilli and lime butter.

Cook's notes

That first boil is not optional — tipping away the initial water keeps the finished ham from being punishingly salty, and boiling before grilling is what keeps it moist and succulent.
Set up for the long cook with unlit charcoal underneath and lit charcoal on top — a chain reaction that means you're not topping up and opening the lid. This only works with good quality lumpwood charcoal; briquettes and firelighters have chemicals that need to burn off before food goes anywhere near the grill.
Most of the work on a slow cook is controlling air flow: keep the lid on and the vents just slightly open so the smoke has somewhere to travel, and hold a nice low temperature — 90-110C on gas. You're not cooking the meat here, you're smoking it for flavour, and a grill that's too hot will lose you the juice.
After the first 1 hour 15 minutes, brush with the pineapple glaze every 15 minutes for the final hour, then open the vents at the end to lift the heat and get that caramelisation.
For the cabbage, char it hard — 4-5 minutes a side over high heat — then melt the butter with the shallot, garlic and chilli first, and stir the lime zest and juice in off the heat so it stays bright.

Serve with The grilled cabbage and the charred pea, mint and watercress salad are the sides I make while the ham glazes — together they turn it into a proper slow Sunday spread. A crisp cider echoes the applewood and pineapple perfectly.

Make ahead & storage Cold smoked ham is a gift for the days after — keep it wrapped in the fridge for up to five days for sandwiches and hash. Any leftover glaze keeps in a jar in the fridge for a week and is lovely brushed on chops or sausages.

BBQ & Grill30 Minutes

Recipe by Nico Reynolds · From the series All Fired Up S2 · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 13 July 2026 · Updated 14 July 2026

Nutrition

Per serving · estimated

705kcal

8gprotein

96gcarbs

39gfat

Approximate — calculated from the ingredient list using USDA food data. A guide, not a medical figure.