Today I’m cooking a Bone-In Spiral Cut Ham from North Carolina. This is a simple recipe that beginners can use to create a delicious dinner. Simple seasoning, pecan pellets, and a delicious glaze turn up the flavor on this recipe.  Serve this up with some potatoes and green beans at your next family birthday dinner or holiday gathering and you won’t have a single soul leaving the table hungry. 

Double Pecan Smoked Spiral Cut Ham | Heath Riles BBQ

Ham is a versatile dish. Its sweet and savory flavors make it easy to pair with different types of sides. Or, you can slice it up, stack a piece of cheese on it, and devour it on a sandwich. This spiral cut ham recipe, with its seasonings and glaze, is simple and oh so delicious. Let’s get started!

The Ingredients

I didn’t want to drown the ham in spices and dilute its natural delicious flavor. I just wanted to bring out its natural taste of the meat with some good seasoning and a bit of glaze to maximize the sweet, tasty flavor of the meat. 

Bone-In Spiral Cut Ham. I’ve cooked many hams from my friends in North Carolina and they’ve always turned out delicious. 

Olive oil. Savory and moist, olive oil works as a tasty binder for the seasoning I’ll be using.

Heath Riles BBQ Pecan Rub. With its mix of savoriness, sweetness, and nuttiness, this rub is perfect when you want to add sweetness to a dish. 

Smucker’s pineapple topping. Great on ice cream, but I changed it up and used it as part of my ham glaze to add some additional sweetness and a hint of citrus.

Ham glaze mixture. It came with the ham, so I wasn’t going to let it go to waste and miss out on the savory deliciousness it adds to the dish. 

The Equipment Setup

• Traeger grill. I like cooking ham on this grill, as it gives me an even cook and a delicious flavor. 
• Royal Oak Pecan Pellets. The pellets will help accent the Pecan Rub I used on the ham.

The Process for Making Double Pecan Smoked  Spiral Cut Ham

This is a basic run through of how I made this bone-in ham recipe. You can find detailed instructions for preparing this dish in the video and the recipe card at the bottom of this post. 

1. Preheat the grill. I wanted my Traeger grill to be hot when the ham was seasoned and ready, so I cranked it up to 300 degrees F. 
2. Unpack and rack. I took the ham out of the package, wiped it off, and set it on a cooling rack. Using a cooling rack under the ham makes it easier to pull it off the grill, instead of trying to grab a hot ham.
3. Drizzle on the binder. Some people use dijon mustard or other types of oils as binder, and they’re good, but my go-to is olive oil. I drizzled on olive oil and rubbed it all over the ham to help the rub I was planning to add stick on.
4. Shake on the seasoning. I went over the ham, adding a light, even coat of my Pecan Rub, tilting the rack so I could cover the sides good. With its mix of flavors, this will really bring out the ham’s sweetness. I patted in the seasoning to help it stick better while it cooked.
5. Put it on the grill. Now remember, the ham was already fully cooked when it was delivered. I was putting it on the grill to heat it up and get some more of my seasonings smoked into it. I placed the ham (on the cooling rack) directly in the middle of the grill and closed the lid to let it cook.
6. Make the glaze. Taking Smucker’s pineapple topping and the ham glaze that came with the ham, I mixed it in a pot and put it on the stove to melt together.
7. Remove the ham. I left the ham to heat up and soak in the smoky flavor of the seasoning and the Pecan Pellets for about 2 hours. Then I pulled the rack off the grill and set it in a large aluminum pan. At this point the ham was at 130°F internal temp, which was almost where I wanted it to be.
8. Glaze the ham. I poured the heated glaze directly from the pot onto the ham, using my hi-temp silicone brush to spread it out evenly and coat the sides. Since it was sticky, the glaze held to the ham nicely.
9. Back on the grill. The ham needed about 30 more minutes to get to a 140°F internal temperature, so I put it back on the grill. It took about that long for the glaze to thicken and set, too.
10. Remove and enjoy. I took the ham off the grill and let it cool for a few minutes. It had a great color, smelled delicious, and the glaze was perfectly thick and sticky. I knew this ham was going to be a mouthwatering treat.

The Results

I sliced a little bite off to taste and, wow, it was a pure flavor burst in my mouth. The pecan pellets had smoked the flavor into the meat, which was moist and juicy. The seasonings and glaze had mingled together as the ham cooked to create a mouthwatering sweet, savory, nutty flavor profile. This double pecan smoked ham dish will be an incredible crowd pleaser at your next big get together or holiday dinner. Plus, it’s simple to make. You can’t beat that!

Serving Suggestions 

Slice up the ham and serve it with baked beans and slaw or mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole. Most people will eat between 1-3 slices at dinner. 

Storing Double Pecan Smoked Ham

Ham is a convenient leftover and this recipe makes a lot. Simply put your ham in a ziplock bag or toss it in an airtight bowl and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. You heat it up in the oven or microwave, or even eat it cold. There are many ways to use leftover ham, from cubing it up and putting it into your eggs at breakfast to adding it to soup. 

Equipment and Tools

Traeger grill, Royal Oak Pecan Pellets, black nitrile gloves, glass olive oil dispenser, small cooling rack, small pot, aluminum pan, Thermoworks Silicone Tools