Smoked Pulled Ham

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Smoked pulled ham gets incredible depth of flavor by using maple syrup as a sticky, sweet binder for Jeff's original rub.

Slow-smoking the ham on a smoker infuses it with rich, smoky goodness while keeping it tender and juicy. Shredded and served warm, it delivers the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and smoky in every single bite.

What exactly is smoked pulled ham?

My family loves smoked ham, and I do one or more on almost all holidays, but typically it's just smoked until sliceable, warm, and smoky. Making it pullable requires cooking it to at least 200°F (93°C) or a little higher until it is completely falling apart.

Ham, like fresh pork shoulder, can be cooked until it falls apart and it doesn't dry out but gets more and more tender the longer you cook it. Doing this process to ham is beyond amazing, and your family and other guests will love it!

How to Make Smoked Pulled Ham in the Smoker

Step 1: Prep the Ham for the Long Cook

Remove the ham from its packaging and place it down in a foil pan.

Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the ham on all sides to form a diagonal pattern. This process is to increase the surface area so more smoke, maple syrup and seasoning can access the meat.

Make the score marks about ½ inch deep.

Pour maple syrup all over the top of the ham letting it run down onto the sides of the ham.

Use a basting brush to coat the entire ham so it's really sticky. This will help the seasoning to stick.

Apply Jeff's original rub generously all over the ham. Don't worry if some of it falls off into the pan as this will later be mixed in with the pulled ham and maple syrup. It won't be wasted.

Can you apply the maple syrup and Jeff's original rub the night before?

Yes, absolutely. In fact, I recommend this if you have the time. This will give the flavors plenty of time to get acquainted and makes for a much better end product.

Step 2: Get the Smoker Ready

Now that the ham is ready, leave it sitting while you go get the smoker ready. I used a stick burner for this smoked pulled ham, but you can use whatever smoker you have, whether it's a pellet smoker, electric smoker, gas smoker, etc.

Set your smoker for cooking at about 225°F (107°C) to 250°F (121°C). If you have a pellet smoker, I recommend shooting for the lower end of that as it will produce more smoke. In an electric, gas, charcoal, or wood smoker, around 250°F (121°C) is optimum as that will get it done a little faster while still giving it plenty of time in the smoke.

Once the heat is maintaining and smoke is flowing, it's time to get that smoked pulled ham on the grates.

Leave it in the pan for best results. The smoke will get down in the pan just fine and any juices that come out of the ham will mix with the maple syrup.

That mixture will pick up a lot of smoky flavor and when you mix that in with the pulled ham later, it will really ramp up the flavor.

Here's my Lone Star Grillz charcoal/wood smoker purring along at about 200°F (116°C)– almost ready to go!

By the way, it's a great idea to spoon juices from the pan up onto the ham about every 30 minutes to keep the ham moist and help the smoke to adhere to the meat.

Step 3: Smoke Cook Until 160°F (71°C)

After about 4-6 hours the ham will finally reach 160°F (71°C) in the center and it's time to wrap that puppy up.

You will notice the diagonal scoring pattern we made opening up and that's letting a lot of smoke and juices get to the meat.

Step 4: Wrap and Continue Cooking

Use heavy duty foil to cover the ham and seal up the top of the pan. There should be enough ham juices and maple syrup already to create a lot of steam and help this process but if you want to add a little more, knock yourself out. It won't hurt a thing!

You are probably thinking, that doesn't look anything like the smoker grate and you would be correct. That is my home oven grate.

At this point, heat is heat and if you want to save yourself some trouble and finish it in the kitchen, no problem at all.

Step 5: The Rest

Leave the ham covered and in the heat until it reaches about 205°F (96°C). Then remove it from the heat or simply turn the oven/smoker off and leave it sitting there for another hour or two to rest and continue tenderizing.

Longer is better if you have the time, and as long as it stays above 140°F (60°C) in the center.

During the rest, the meat continues to tenderize, the juices are redistributed throughout the entire ham, and the smokiness intensifies.

Step 6: Pull/Shred the Meat

Remove the foil after the rest and just spend a few minutes staring at your masterpiece. It's a beautiful thing!

Using two forks, your gloved, insulated hands or whatever you want to use and shred that meat apart.

The bone will simply pull out like butter. Be sure to save it for the next pot of beans or a stew.

Step 7: Serve it Up

When it's shredded and pulled to your liking, add more maple syrup to the top and more of the Jeff's original rub all over.

It's ready to serve!

I like to serve it on slider buns but you can also just serve it alongside turkey at Thanksgiving dinner if you prefer.

Enjoy!

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