Smoked Pulled Ham Recipe
Smoked Pulled Ham will seriously change the way you think about ham! You might never go back to spiral-sliced again! I've tested this on my huge family for years, and it's been a hit with kids and adults alike. Plus, I am sharing my top make-ahead tips plus a crazy good glaze that takes this ham over the top!
Servings: 14 -16 people
Calories: 450kcal
Equipment
- smoker Plus apple or cherry for smoking.
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound shank ham see note below
Rub
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- stone ground or dijon mustard for coating the ham
Glaze
- ½ cup apple juice
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup spiced rum
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons stone ground mustard or dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch teaspoon cloves
Instructions
- This recipe isn’t hard, but it does have a few steps. To make sure your time is well spent, read through the entire recipe card before you start, including the notes below. A quick read-through will make the whole process go smoothly!
- Start by rinsing the ham under cold water, then pat dry with paper towels. Place it on a large cutting board and use a sharp knife to score the fat cap, cutting about ½ inch deep in diagonal lines about a 1-1 ½ inches apart.
- Set the smoker to 225º with apple or cherry wood. If you want a more intense smoke flavor, toss in a little bit of hickory. If too much is used it will overpower the glaze.
- In a small bowl, combine all the dry rub ingredients and mix well.
- Rub the ham with a very thin layer of mustard. Then liberally sprinkle the rub on the ham, starting with the sides and pressing it into the mustard so that it sticks. Whatever falls off onto the cutting board is what I use to rub on the face of the ham. This is a little messy, so use a large cutting board.
- Smoke Ham (Round 1): Place ham on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place in smoker for 3-4 hours or until the ham reaches 165℉.
- While the meat is smoking, make the glaze and reserve 3 tablespoons in a separate medium bowl. Once the ham reaches 165℉, use a silicone brush to cover the ham evenly in the glaze. You should use all of it. Then baste with juices every 30-45 minutes until ham reaches 205℉ degrees, which took about 5-6 hours for our 11 lb ham. You want it to easily shred. When you stick the thermometer in, it should be very easy, like a hot knife in butter.
- Once the ham is done smoking, pour off any juices into the bowl with the reserved glaze. Allow the ham to rest lightly covered with foil for 1 hour.
- After resting, use your hands to shred the ham, discarding the outer blackened fat cap, any large pieces of fat, or connective tissue. Place the shredded meat in a 9x13 baking dish. Once fully shredded, pour over some of the glaze/juice mixture and mix together well. Serve warm.
Notes
Tips & Tricks
- After smoking it will look burned. That’s normal- it is just the fat cap, and you won’t be keeping that part anyways.
- The ham needs to be both 205º and falling apart easily. Look for both of those and this ham will be perfectly tender.
- Choose a shank ham for this recipe. If you are not sure, see the post for clarification.
Nutrition
Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 191mg | Sodium: 3259mg | Potassium: 763mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 113IU | Vitamin C: 61mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg
