If you’ve never heard of a smoked pulled ham you’re not alone. Neither had I until I started looking for a new way to prepare a ham. I came across some pellet smoking blogs and found that you can smoke a ham the same way you would a pork butt roast to make pulled pork. Even though the ham is already cooked, you can smoke it so that it will pull apart and shred like pulled pork. The recommended choice is a shank ham or picnic ham. Spiral ham should be avoided if you plan to shred it. I’ve never been one to eat ham very often but I definitely enjoyed this one. These salty tender shredded pieces are unlike any ham I’ve ever tasted. We prepared it a few days before Easter as the total smoke time would take approximately 11 -12 hours. It reheats nicely and tastes just like it was smoked that day. We saved 1 pound out for our meal and vacuumed sealed the rest in 1/2 pound packages to make future meals with. I have visions of making ham salad sandwiches like Joe grew up on or maybe make a fruity glaze or a mustard sauce to go with it. And don’t forget breakfast, can you just imagine pulled ham in your favorite breakfast dish? For Easter I made a pineapple sauce to pour over the pulled ham which was quite delicious. If you have a smoker, you really need to try Smoked Pulled Ham, it’s unlike any ham you’ve ever had before.
There are many smoke rubs on the market that you can use to season your smoked ham. You can find sweet rubs, spicy rubs or basic barbecue rubs. This is my tried and true rub that I’ve been using for years, OK Joe’s BBQ Rub that I make from scratch. It’s packed full of flavors that go with any smoked meat. It consists of granulated sugar, brown sugar, garlic powder, Ancho chile, sweet paprika, salt, onion powder, white pepper and black pepper.
Mix all the sugars and spices together.
Store in a spice jar.
What I learned by reading other blogs is that most chose a whole ham between 8 – 10 pounds. However the only “whole” hams I found were 20 pounds or more so I decided to try a half ham which weighed 9.5 pounds. I got up at 6 am to rinse and pat dry the ham. Next step is to prep it. It’s hard to see in the photo but I scored the ham diagonally across about 1/4 inch deep all around it.
Brush olive oil or grapeseed oil all over the ham.
Sprinkle the rub all over the ham
I highly recommend a meat thermometer probe to track your progress, the first smoke will take anywhere from 6 – 8 hours. This went on the smoker cut side down at 225 degrees a little after 7 am. The target internal temperature is 165 degrees. I found it goes through a stall just like cooking a pork butt. I used apple juice to spritz every hour or 2 throughout the day to help give it that caramelized outer bark.
A couple hours later I gave it a spritz of apple juice.
5 hours in and you can start to see the separation where it was scored diagonally. It’s coming along but still has a ways to go.
At almost 8 hours we finally have the internal temperature of 165 degrees.
Time to wrap it up in aluminum foil with a cup of apple juice and go back on the smoker. Raise the smoker to 250 degrees and continue until it reaches an internal temperature of 205 degrees. This may take 3 – 4 hours.
After another 3.5 hours it finally reaches the targeted internal temp of 205 degrees.
Wrap it back up in the aluminum foil, place in the aluminum pan and place in a styrofoam cooler.
Wrap the towel around it to rest and steam.
Place the lid on the cooler and let it sit for an hour.
I had to smack Joe for trying to pick off a piece before I get my photos!
Trust me it smells awesome!
We stuck a fork in it and it just pulled away from the bone.
We pulled it apart to fill our platter and more. We sealed 8 (half pound) packages for the freezer and saved a pound out to eat so it made about 5 lbs out of this 9.5 lb ham..
Smoked Pulled Ham
Apple Smoker Pellets
8 – 10 pound Shank Ham or Picnic Ham
Olive Oil or Grapeseed Oil to coat ham
Apple Juice to spritz ham
Joe’s Rub (adapted from Midwest Living Magazine)
2 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 tablespoon Packed Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Ancho Chile, coarse ground
1 1/2 teaspoons Paprika
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 teaspoon White Pepper
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
In a small bowl combine all ingredients together and store in a jar with a lid at room temperature.
Day of smoke: Remove the ham from the refrigerator, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Score the outside of the ham by making cuts 1/4 inch deep diagonally across the entire surface. Brush oil over the ham and sprinkle with your spice rub. Allow the ham to sit at room temperature for 1 hour prior to smoking. Prepare your pellet smoker and set the temperature to 225 degrees. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer that comes with your smoker I highly recommend you purchase one to monitor the internal temperature of your meat throughout the smoke process. The one I use is a Therm Pro Thermometer with Dual Probe Model No. TP-08S. Place the food probe into the thickest part of the ham making sure not to make contact with the bone. When the smoker has reached 225 degrees place the ham in the smoker and shut the lid. Every two hours, spritz the pork with apple juice which will help the ham create a “bark” that will seal in the juices leaving the ham tender and easy to pull apart.
The ham will smoke in 2 cycles. The first smoke will take 6 – 8 hours to reach the internal temperature of 165 degrees. You will find at some point the internal temperature will stall and will stay pat for 2 hours or more. You may need to jumpstart your ham if the internal temp won’t start to rise after 2 hours. If this happens raise the smoker temperature to 250 degrees.
Once you’ve achieved the internal temperature of 165 degrees, remove the ham from the smoker and place in a disposable aluminum pan. Pour 1 cup of apple juice in the pan and use aluminum foil to cover the ham in the pan. Increase the smoker temperature to 250 degrees.
Place the ham back in the smoker and continue to smoke while covered until the internal temperature reaches 205 degrees. This usually takes 3 – 4 hours.
Place the covered ham in a styrofoam cooler. Wrap a towel around it. Place the lid on top and allow it to rest 1 hour.
Remove the aluminum pan from the cooler. It will still be too warm to handle without oven mitts. Remove the aluminum foil carefully as the steam will be hot as it escapes when opened. Remove the ham to a platter and pull apart with 2 forks.
Once cooled, you can vacuum seal the pork and freeze. To reheat, thaw the ham, wrap in aluminum foil and turn the oven to bake at 400 degrees. Place in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes. Or you can heat a 3 quart pan of water to a gentle boil. Submerge the vacuum sealed bag for 15 – 20 minutes. Use scissors to open the sealed bag and serve.
Pineapple Sauce
2 tablespoons Butter
3 tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
6 ounces Pineapple Juice
2 tablespoons Pineapple, fresh is best, finely chopped
Heat a small saucepan over medium heat; melt the butter with the brown sugar and cornstarch. Add the pineapple juice and bring to a simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer a few minutes as it thickens and becomes aromatic. Add the finely chopped pineapple and stir well. Serve with Smoked Pulled Ham.
2 thoughts on “Smoked Pulled Ham”
Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen
My son would adore this recipe! I am going to send it to him.
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NativeNM
Happy to share, hope your son enjoys it!
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