Tired of boring old Christmas ham? It’s usually an underwhelming main dish that gets very little thought. Not this year. This year we are making PULLED HAM!

A tired old dish: The Christmas Ham

I have many memories of holiday dinners over the years. Not all good either. I could never figure out why, for the most important feasts of the year, we have some of the worst foods imaginable. Turkey…..and sliced ham. Thanksgiving and Christmas both often see these two annoying proteins being served. Dry, flavorless turkey….or lukewarm, chewy ham slices.

I remember years where someone would try to “jazz-up” the ham by doing something very fancy to it….like cooking it in Coke or Dr Pepper. LOL It seemed that I always picked the worst slices too. The one with way too much fat. Or the piece with a giant, chewy piece that would completely ruin my appetite. This meat is a menace to society and needs a major overhaul.

But, Tony, it’s impossible to improve this meat! Just accept it and enjoy the holiday.

NO. There IS a way to save your Christmas dinner. It’s called Pulled Ham! That’s right, PULLED HAM! We cook a sorry old store-bought ham until it shreds up like delicious pulled pork barbecue. Mind-blowing, right?! No more annoyingly undercooked slices of ham. No more soda infused, pineapple topped, clove-studded, face-melting boredom for your tastebuds. We will celebrate all future holidays with the enthusiasm that they deserve….and with food worthy of such enthusiasm.

No more soda infused, pineapple topped, clove-studded, face-melting boredom for your tastebuds. We will celebrate all future holidays with the enthusiasm that they deserve….and with food worthy of such enthusiasm.

What Will I Need For Making The Best Christmas Ham?

• A Whole Smoked Ham: This ham needs to be WHOLE. No “spiral sliced”.
• Some Sort of Fruit Preserves: I used Apricot Preserves from Bonne Maman. Click HERE. Whatever you get, try to keep it as clean as possible. Avoid corn syrups and artificial ingredients. Fruit, sugar, pectin….that’s basically all that you should see.
• Maple Syrup: This is the stuff. Maple is KING! Get some HERE. You could also whip up a batch of my Hot Maple Syrup and use that instead for a little extra heat! (I like that idea…maybe next time)
• Stone Ground Mustard: Like THIS
• Smoker of Some Sort: I used a Pitboss Pellet Smoker. Check them out HERE. But, you could also just as well do this in the oven. No problem.
• A Good Instant Read Thermometer: I use the Thermapen from Thermoworks. Grab one HERE

Smoked Pulled Christmas Ham

Tony

Stop disappointing your holiday guests and family with your terrible sliced ham. Instead, try this amazing pulled ham and show them that you really care.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 hours hrs

Resting Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 12 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings 16 Humans

Ingredients

  

• 1 ea Whole, unsliced smoked ham (mine was about 8.5 pounds)
• 1 ea 13oz Jar of apricot or peach preserves, like Bonne Maman
• 1/2 cup Maple syrup
• 2 tbsp Stone ground mustard

Instructions

 

• Preheat smoker or oven to 250 degrees
• Place whole, uncut ham directly on rack of smoker, or in a roasting pan in the oven.
• Cook the ham for several hours, until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.
• When ham is getting close to this temperature, combine the preserves, maple syrup, and stone ground mustard in a sauce pan and place over medium heat on the stovetop. Heat until it begins to gently simmer and then remove from heat. This will combine the flavors, as well as ensuring that your cold glaze ingredients won't slow down the cooking of the ham after applying.
• Once the ham has reached 170 degrees (internal temp), remove from smoker and place in a roasting pan. Pour warm glaze over the entire surface of the ham.
• Now, cover the ham and the pan with a layer of aluminum foil and place back in the smoker/oven. Raise the cooking temperature to 275.
• Continue to cook for a couple more hours, until the internal temperature reaches 190-200 degrees, internal temperature.
• Remove the ham from the smoker/oven and allow to sit, covered, at room temperature for roughly 1-2 hours. Meat should be cool enough to handle without burning your fingers off.
• Once cool, begin shredding the meat and removing any bones and excess remaining fat.
• Keep the remaining juices from the bottom of the pan. If there is excess fat, strain off from the surface of the juice and then add the remaining juice back to the shredded meat.
• Enjoy!