Today we’re taking a classic holiday ham and turning it into something downright dangerous — Smoked Pulled Ham that’s tender, sweet, salty and smoky…and easy enough for anybody to crush at home. This ain’t your grandma’s ham (no disrespect, Granny or Mamaw). We’re firing up the smoker, hitting this already smoked ham with Meat Church Hickory seasoning, smoking it low and slow, then braising it until it practically pulls itself. Whether you’re cooking for Christmas or just for a random BBQ…this one is gonna steal the show.
This recipe can be cooked in your smoker or oven. As Matt Pittman always says, "smokers are just smoky ovens."
Ingredients
- 1 8-10lb bone in smoked ham (not spiral cut)Â
- Meat Church Hickory All Purpose Seasoning (sub The Gospel, Honey Hog, Texas Sugar)
- 6oz pineapple nectar
- 3T brown sugarÂ
Tools
- 1/2 size disposable steam pan
- heavy duty aluminum foil
- instant read thermometer
Prepare the smoker
Prepare your smoker to 195 degrees. In this video we used a Traeger Woodridge with Meat Church Pellets which are a blend of oak and hickory at 195 with "super smoke enabled." Hickory, pecan, maple, alder or a fruit wood would also be good choices for ham.Â
Prepare the ham
Take the ham out of the package and do not pat it dry. The liquid from the package will help your seasoning adhere leading to a great bark. The ham is already salty from the cure, so we will be using a sweet seasoning for a balanced end result.Â
Season all over with Meat Church Hickory.
Allow the season to adhere for at least 15 minutes.Â
Smoke the Ham
Cooking this ham is a two step process. In step one you will smoke the ham to 165 internal temperature. You can either smoke the ham at 250 to get it done in 4 or so hours or you can lower the temperature to elongate the cook which is what we did at 195 overnight in this video. The elongated cook will help you develop even better bark and more smoke flavor.
In step two you will wrap it to braise until the ham exceeds 200 internal temperature and the ham becomes tender.Â
Step 1. Place the ham directly on the grill grate in the smoker at 195.Â
Step 2. Once the ham reaches 165 internal temperature, or has developed the desired level of bark, remove it from the smoker.Â
Place the ham in a 1/2 sized disposable steam pan. Alternatively you can use 2 sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. Pour the pineapple nectar in the bottom of the pan to act as a sweet braising liquid.
Sprinkle the brown sugar on the ham & cover the ham tightly with foil.Â
Return to the smoker and increase the temperature of the smoker to 300 degrees.
Continue cooking the ham until it becomes tender which will occur over 203 degrees internal temperature.Â
Finish the Ham
Remove the ham from the smoker. Remove the foil. Remove the ham from the pan preserving the liquids from the cook.Â
Using insulated gloves, pull and shred the ham.Â
Pour the liquid over the shredded ham and mix it in. Taste the ham along the way until you are satisfied with the final result. Â
Optional: If you desire a BBQ flavor profile, you can add BBQ sauce if you like. We love our Holy Cola in pulled ham.
Plate you pulled ham as desired. We enjoy it on sweet rolls.
Serve and enjoy!
