How to Make Shredded Ham: It’s All About Temperature
There is only so much you can do with a ham. You can get it pre-sliced and warm it up (maybe by double-smoking it?). You can get it pre-sliced and serve it cold. You can get it un-sliced and serve it warm or cold, then slice it. Well, we’re here to tell you about another way—perhaps our new favorite way: shredding it. You like pulled pork, right? No? Is it not flavorful enough for you? What if you were to, say, cure and season the whole cut before you made pulled pork out of it? I think you see where we’re going with this. Let’s get some thermometers out and get cooking!
The (thermal) logic behind a shredded ham
Our initial reaction when we heard of this method was “No.” We’ve eaten so much dried-out ham that was tough as shoe leather that the idea of “overcooking” a whole ham seemed ridiculous. But then we remembered two things: 1) Undercooked brisket seems awfully dry and gross, but fully cooked brisket doesn’t. 2) Brisket-style tri-tip. Then we got thinking about it more thermally. After all, is a ham not just the rear haunch of a pig? Do we not roast/BBQ “picnic roasts” into shreddy, tender submission? Indeed it is, and indeed we do. What we have here is a question of collagen.
Ham is chock-full of collagen, among other connective tissues, and that collagen can be broken down by exposure to heat over time. In fact, if we slowly bring a large cut of meat like this up to, say, 200°F (93°C), most of that collagen will be rendered into gelatin, freeing intramuscular fats and other juices. The result should be equivalent to pulled pork. But where most pulled pork is chronically underseasoned (unless you inject it), this is well salted throughout—it is, after all, ham.
So, why don’t we shred every ham we cook?
The only drawback that we could think of when it comes to this method is time. Yes, the old man with the scythe is ruining our fun here, as in so many aspects of life, because this takes a while. As we mentioned above, almost all hams that you’re going to get at the grocery store are already fully cooked and could be served out of the fridge. This takes 6–8 hours to cook. But we think it’s actually worth it! It takes a little more planning, but once you try this method, we think you’ll shun spiral-sliced versions in favor of shreddy, juicy, messy goodness.
Temperatures for shredded ham: the pit and the pull
As collagen breakdown is a function of both temperature and time, we want to bring the temp up slowly. Jacking the temp up high and racing for the pull temp will overcook the outer bits of the ham and leave the center still tough and un-rendered.
Instead, we’ll run our pit at 250°F (121°C). This should come as no surprise; it’s a standard BBQ temperature, and we’re standard-BBQing this ham. Use the included air probe with your RFX GATEWAY to monitor the pit temp throughout the cook. If your fuel runs low or your fire flares up, you’ll be alerted on your phone via the free ThermoWorks App.
To deepen the ham’s smoke flavor, we’ll start by smoking it uncovered in an aluminum pan. Set your high-temp alarm on your RFX MEAT wireless probe to 160°F (71°C), so that once the ham reaches a temperature in the neighborhood of the stall, you can then wrap it for the remainder of the cook. Cover the ham with foil and re-insert RFX MEAT through the foil such that the antenna portion of it sticks up out of the foil. Reset the high-temp alarm for 200°F (93°C) and keep cooking. When that alarm sounds, break out your trusty Thermapen ONE and probe it to verify that that is indeed the lowest temp in the ham, and also to check it for tenderness. If you don’t find a lower temperature and/or the ham feels mega-tender, take it off the smoker and shred it up! It will have taken a long time, but you should end up with something that is juicy, tender, so shreddy, and delicious.
Conclusion, with suggestions for shredded-ham sandwiches
You can take a tong-ful of this delicious ham and pile it high on your plate, then fork it down and be completely happy—after all, that’s what we do with sliced ham, right? But this version of ham just begs to be dressed with some Swiss cheese, a nice pickle, a little brown mustard, and stuffed into a nice bun. Do it while the ham is hot for maximum cheese-melt and you’re looking at some stellar ham sandwiches.
But no matter how you eat them, if you use your RFX system and Thermapen ONE, you’ll have some of the best ham—no matter the occasion— you’ve had in a long time. Give it a shot and stun your family with something that is different and delightful. Happy cooking!
Shredded Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 5-6 lb Bone-in ham (this must be a whole-muscle ham. Cooked, reshaped hams will not work)
- 2 Tbsp Yellow mustard
- 2–4 Tbsp BBQ rub of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat your BBQ smoker to 250°F (121°C). Use RFX GATEWAY's air probe to monitor the pit temp as you cook.
- Score your ham all over to create more surface area for seasoning to adhere and smoke to enter. Rub the ham with the yellow mustard to create a thin coat.
- Season the ham all over with BBQ rub, including on the flat, meaty side.
- Insert RFX MEAT at least to its minimum immersion line and set the high-temp alarm in your app to 160°F (71°C). Place the ham in the smoker, flat side down, and cook until the alarm sounds.
- When the alarm sounds, place the ham in a foil pan and wrap it in foil to crutch it through the stall, then re-insert your RFX MEAT probe through the foil, back into the meat, but with the antenna portion exposed. Reset your high-temp alarm to 200°F (93°C) and continue to cook.
- When the alarm sounds, verify temp and tenderness with Thermapen ONE, then remove the ham from the smoker.
- Shred the ham and get to feasting!
Is it necessary to remove and reinsert the RFX probe through the foil (Step 5) or can the probe be simply left in place while the foil is wrapped over the meat and the probe? I doesn’t seem like the foil would interfere with the signal nor should the environment exceed the probe’s capabilities.
Because of the weird conductive properties of foil, it actually does make a difference! This RF signal can travel through faaaaar more cast iron than it can aluminum foil, which is counterintuitive, but nonetheless true.
Good to know!
Can you please elaborate on the ham used? Is it a cured but uncooked ham? Trying to determine what I need and where I can find it. Thank you.
It’s a whole, bone-in, cured ham. It’s the same ham most people would buy for Christmas or Easter dinner. JusThis isn’t a picnic ham or a fresh ham. It will probably be sold with a packet of glaze attached to it.
Does this recipe use a fully cooked ham? It looks delicious. Want to buy the right kind of ham.
Thank you!
Yes, a fully cooked, whole bone-in ham.
So, I am trying to figure out if this ham needs to be a fresh uncooked uncurled ham.
Or a store bought ham that is a ready to eat ham that just needs to be a heat & eat ham for this recipe because the way I am reading your recipe it states!!! Cooked, reshaped hams will not work that is why I am questioning the type of ham to use.
This is not a fresh ham, this is a pre-cured ham. When I say “cooked reshaped won’t do”, I meant anything that looks like a loaf, not like it is/was an actual muscle off an actual pig. You’re looking for what would be sold as a spiral-sliced ham, but not spiral sliced.
I followed this recipe with a 10 lb ham for Easter and it was awesome! I used both of my RFX probes just because I could, and I used the lowest reading of the two. The bones came out like I was pulling them out of warm butter. The meat was tender and juicy and shredded easily. The taste was incredible. Everyone was impressed! I love it when a recipe works like it should – and using my RFX system made it so easy.