Pit Boss Smoked Ham with a Cherry Fig Glaze is the ultimate holiday meal!
It is a double smoked ham with a homemade cherry and fig exterior. If you're looking for one of the easiest main dishes for your holiday celebration, this ham is it!
Ham is one of the most popular main dishes at holiday gatherings because when you buy a smoked ham, you're basically just heating it up in an oven.
We wanted to add extra smoke flavor with our Pit Boss pellet grill, making this a twice smoked ham.
We glazed it with a homemade cherry sauce that adds so much flavor and makes this ham a truly special focal point of a holiday dinner.
To make it even easier, we chose a spiral sliced ham so that part of the ham is already sliced.
Not only does this save time carving the ham, it also allows for the addition of seasoning and glaze between the slices of ham for maximum flavor.
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Prepare and Season the Ham
We purchased a bone-in spiral sliced half ham, weighing 9.7 pounds. The rule of thumb for bone-in hams is to plan on ½ pound per person.
This means our almost 10 pound ham would feed nearly 20 people!
We use a wire rack set over an aluminum foil lined baking sheet to make this ham to minimize clean up.
Open the package and remove the glaze packet. We wanted to use a homemade cherry glaze, so we discarded the provided packet.
If your ham is packed in juices, pat it dry with paper towels.
Coat the ham in a cooking oil of your choice. We used olive oil.
Since we are cooking at a lower temperature, we do not need to worry about the smoke point of the oil.
Season it with your desired seasoning. We used Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry Rub.
Sprinkle the rub on the entire exterior of the ham and in between the slices.
Video
Rather WATCH than read? Check out our video for Double Smoked Ham on our YouTube Channel:
Best Wood Pellets and Wood for Ham
For this double smoked ham that will be glazed with a cherry sauce, we like using cherry wood. You can use cherry wood pellets in the hopper.
Make sure you store your pellets in a good airtight bucket like this one.
We like adding extra smoke flavor to our pellet grill recipes by adding a pellet tube smoker or a firebox with charcoal and real wood chunks.
For this ham, we added the firebox with cherry wood chunks. We find that this gives the best wood smoke flavor to our food!
Start the Pit Boss and Seyt the Temperature
Start the Pit Boss and allow it to run through the start up cycle.
Then, set the temperature to 250°F.
Sugar starts to burn above 300°F. We chose 250°F to allow for maximum smoke and to avoid burning the sugar on the ham.
Double Smoke the Ham
Since we purchased a smoked ham, smoking the ham on the Pit Boss is technically smoking it twice.
We think this gives some good smoke flavor that you don't get from a ham out of the package baked in an oven.
Place the wire rack and baking sheet with the seasoned ham directly on the Pit Boss grates.
If using a pellet tube smoker or firebox, position this toward the back and not touching the ham.
You do not want the heat emanating from the tube or box to cook your ham or interfere with the temperature gauge on the smoker.
The baking sheet will catch a lot of the fat drippings and the excess glaze later which will drastically reduce clean up!
Rotate the tray throughout the cook to ensure the ham is cooking evenly.
After about 2 hours, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the ham. Avoid placing the thermometer touching the bone that runs down the ham.
We have a ThermoPro leave in thermometer that we like, but it has a wire coming out of the probe that needs to run outside the grill to the thermometer base.
To avoid wires completely, we now like using the MEATER thermometer.
The MEATER is a single probe that simultaneously measures the internal temperature of the meat and the ambient temperature of the smoker to give an estimated finish time.
It connects to a free app on your smart phone to give you all of this information up to 165 feet away.
Once the ham reaches 100-110°F, it's time to add the glaze.
We spot check with an instant read thermometer in different places on the ham to make sure it is really up to temperature in all spots.
Prepare and Add the Glaze
Whisk together the following ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat on an oven range:
- Cherry Preserves (Bonne Maman brand recommended)
- Fig Marmalade (Fischer and Wieser brand recommended)
- Red Wine Vinegar (do not substitute)
- Honey
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Salt
The sauce is ready when the preserves have melted and the sauce is well combined. If you are using a leave in thermometer, remove it while you are adding the glaze.
Use a large spoon to carefully drizzle some of the sauce over the top of the ham, allowing the sauce to run down the sides.
Then, use a silicone basting brush to brush the sauce over the exterior of the ham and in between the ham slices.
Wearing food safe vinyl gloves with cloth liners underneath for heat protection, lift the slices to get the glaze in between them.
The silicone bristles are ideal for getting in between the ham slices.
Brush more glaze on the ham every 10-15 minutes, as desired.
Target Internal Temperature
The target internal temperature for ham is 145°F. This will take about 4 hours total on a Pit Boss at 250°F.
Remove the ham to a cutting board and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.
Carve and Serve the Ham
If you have a spiral sliced ham, about half of your meat will already be sliced part way. Use a good meat slicing knife to finish cutting those slices.
If you need more ham, slice through the unsliced portion of the ham.
Only cut as much as you need. Leaving part of the ham intact will ensure it stays juicy and warm.
If you have leftover glaze, you can serve it, warmed, with the ham.
Ham goes great with classic holiday sides like Smoked Mashed Potatoes, Smoked Macaroni and Cheese, and Smoked Sweet Potatoes.
Add a side of Smoked Cornbread and some Smoked Green Beans and you have a full meal!
Storing and Reheating Leftover Ham
Leftover ham should be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
To reheat the leftover ham, place the slices in a shallow baking dish with a little bit of liquid.
This can be some chicken broth or extra cherry sauce.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and heat in the oven at 300°F until the ham is heated through.
Ideally, you want the ham to reach an internal temperature of 145°F.
📖 Recipe
Pit Boss Smoked Ham with Cherry Fig Glaze
Equipment
- Pit Boss Pellet Grill
- Wire Rack
- Baking Sheet
- Cutting Board
Ingredients
- 1 Bone-in Spiral Sliced Half Ham about 10 lbs
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil or oil of choice
- 3 tablespoon Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry Rub or seasoning of choice
Cherry Glaze:
- 13 ounces Cherry Preserves Bon Maman brand recommended
- 5 ounces Fig Marmalade brand recommended
- ¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar do not substitute
- ¼ Cup Honey
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Prepare and Season the Ham
- Open the package and remove the glaze packet. Discard the packet.1 Bone-in Spiral Sliced Half Ham
- If the ham is packed in juices, pat it dry with paper towels.
- Place the ham on a wire rack set over an aluminum foil lined baking sheet. This will minimize clean up later.
- Coat the ham in cooking oil.2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Season it with your desired seasoning, such as Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry Rub. Sprinkle the rub on the entire exterior of the ham and in between the slices.3 tablespoon Three Little Pigs Touch of Cherry Rub
Start the Pit Boss
- Start the Pit Boss and allow it to run through the start up cycle. Then, set the temperature to 250°F.
- Oil the cooking grates to prevent the ham from sticking.
- If using a pellet tube smoker or a firebox with charcoal and wood, get it started while the grill preheats.
Double Smoke the Ham
- Place the wire rack and baking sheet with the seasoned ham directly on the Pit Boss grates on the cooler side of your grill. This tends to be the right side closer to the exhaust pipe.
- If using a pellet tube smoker or firebox, position this toward the back left, not too close to the ham or to the Pit Boss temperature probe.
- Rotate the tray throughout the cook to ensure the ham is cooking evenly.
- After about 2 hours, insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the ham. Avoid placing the thermometer touching the bone that runs down the ham.
- Once the ham reaches 100-110°F internally, add the glaze.
Prepare and Add the Glaze
- Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the preserves have melted and the sauce is well combined.13 ounces Cherry Preserves, 5 ounces Fig Marmalade, ¼ Cup Red Wine Vinegar, ¼ Cup Honey, ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon Cloves, ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon Salt
- If you are using a leave in thermometer, remove it while you are adding the glaze.
- Use a large spoon to carefully drizzle some of the sauce over the top of the ham, allowing the sauce to run down the sides.
- Use a silicone basting brush to apply the sauce over the exterior of the ham and in between the ham slices.
- Wearing food safe vinyl gloves with cloth liners underneath for heat protection, lift the slices to get the glaze in between them.
- Replace the probe thermometer to continue monitoring the internal temperature of the ham.
- Brush more glaze on the ham every 10-15 minutes, as desired.
- When the ham reaches a target internal temperature of 145°F, remove it to a cutting board and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.
Carve and Serve the Ham
- If you have a spiral sliced ham, about half of your meat will already be sliced part way. Use a good meat slicing knife to finish cutting those slices. If you need more ham, slice through the unsliced portion of the ham.
- Only cut as much as you need. Leaving part of the ham intact will ensure it stays juicy and warm.
- If you have leftover glaze, you can serve it, warmed, with the ham.
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