Recipes & Guides

Smoked Ham Cheat Sheet: Times, Temps and the Glaze Window

Sep 15, 2026

Holiday ham is the most forgiving big cook of the year and the easiest one to talk yourself out of. It's already cooked. You're just adding smoke, adding glaze, and getting it hot without drying it out. Here's every number for that, on one page.

Double Smoked and Glazed Ham Kit with Hot Pepper Bacon squeeze, Brown Sugar Chili Rub, Drunken Pineapple BBQ Sauce, The Pecanerry rub and mop brush

Make this exact ham

The Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit has two rubs, two sauces, a cotton mop brush and recipe cards for two holiday hams. Use code HOLIDAY10 for 10% off.

Order by 11/16 for Thanksgiving. It ships free in the U.S., so it also makes an easy gift for whoever is hosting this year.

Shop the Ham Kit

The whole cheat sheet: buy a fully cooked, bone-in, spiral-cut half ham at about ½ to ¾ lb per person. Cook it in a pan, indirect, at 325F, roughly 10 to 15 minutes per pound. Glaze in three thin coats starting at 125F to 130F internal. Pull at 140F. Rest 10 to 15 minutes. Done.

Everything below is the detail behind those numbers, in chart form, in the order you'll need it. If you want both glazes, both rubs and the mop brush already matched to this method, that's what the Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit was built for.

The One-Screen Version

If you only screenshot one thing, screenshot this.

Step	The number
What to buy	Fully cooked, bone-in, spiral-cut half ham
How much	½ to ¾ lb per person
Thaw (if frozen)	2 to 3 days in the refrigerator
Cooker temperature	325F, indirect, ham in a pan
Cook time	10 to 15 minutes per pound
Start glazing at	125F to 130F internal
Glaze coats	3 thin ones, about 10 minutes apart
Pull at	140F internal
Rest	10 to 15 minutes
Wood	Apple, and one or two chunks is plenty

Read the Label Before You Do Anything

This is the one decision that changes every other number on the page, and it takes five seconds at the store.

If the label says	What it means	Your target temp
Fully cooked, ready to eat (USDA-inspected plant)	Already cooked and already smoked. You're reheating and adding a second layer of smoke.	140F
Fully cooked, from another source	Cooked, but not plant-packaged under USDA inspection	165F
Cook before eating	Not a reheat. This is a different cook entirely.	Follow the package, not this chart
Fresh ham	Raw pork leg. Not cured, not smoked.	Different procedure. Don't use this page.

"Double smoked" just means a ham that was already cooked and smoked at the plant, getting a second pass through your cooker. You aren't curing and smoking a raw ham twice, which is good news, because that would take a week.

How Much Ham to Buy

Guests	Bone-in ham
6 to 8	5 to 6 lbs
8 to 10	6 to 8 lbs
10 to 12	8 to 10 lbs
12 to 16	10 to 12 lbs

Buy bone-in and buy spiral-cut. Spiral-cut gives the glaze dozens of openings to get into. Bone-in gives you flavor, a better-looking centerpiece, and a ham bone you'll be glad to have in January.

Ham Smoking Times by Weight at 325F

Yes, 325F. Higher than you'd smoke a brisket, on purpose. The ham is already cooked, so there's nothing to break down and no reason to park it in a 225F cooker for six hours. All that does is dry out meat that's already been sliced.

Ham weight	Planning window at 325F	Pull at
5 lbs	50 to 75 minutes	140F
6 lbs	60 to 90 minutes	140F
7 lbs	70 to 105 minutes	140F
8 lbs	80 to 120 minutes	140F
9 lbs	90 to 135 minutes	140F
10 lbs	100 to 150 minutes	140F
12 lbs	120 to 180 minutes	140F

Plan with the clock, decide with the thermometer. Cold weather, wind, the shape of the ham and how often you open the lid all move these numbers. Full breakdown lives in how long to smoke a spiral ham.

Every number on one screen. How much to buy, cook times by weight, the glaze window and a holiday timeline, all on one page: the Smoked Ham Cheat Sheet. Keep it open on your phone next to the smoker.

The Glaze Window

This is where good hams go wrong, and it's entirely a timing thing. Glaze is sugar. Sugar needs heat to caramelize, and it does not need much time to burn.

Internal temp	What's happening	What you do
Start to 120F	Smoke going on, ham warming through	Lid closed. Leave it alone.
125F to 130F	The glaze window opens	First thin coat, over the top and gently between some slices. Close the lid.
About 10 minutes later	First coat setting	Second thin coat. Stir a spoonful of pan liquid into the glaze.
About 10 minutes later	Building lacquer	Third thin coat.
140F	Done	Off the cooker. Glossy and sticky, not burnt, not wet.

Three thin coats beat one thick one every time. Each layer concentrates, and by the end the ham should look lacquered rather than painted.

The part you can't improvise.

A glaze has to be built to set in thin coats. Thin it out and it runs off the ham into the pan. Reach for something thick and straight off the shelf and it scorches before the third coat. Both sauces in the Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit are built to set into that finish in exactly three coats: Hot Pepper Bacon for smoky sweet heat, Drunken Pineapple for a fruity, festive finish. The 12 inch mop brush in the kit is there because a pastry brush doesn't reach between the slices.

Watch the Whole Ham Flow

BBQ Friend takes a spiral ham through the Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit from start to finish: bind, rub, smoke, mop, glaze, rest.

Best Wood for Smoking Ham, by Glaze

Ham is sweet and already smoked. Your job is to add a layer, not to take over.

Glaze	Wood	Why it works
Classic brown sugar	Apple + cherry	Mild fruit smoke under caramelized sugar
Honey mustard	Apple	Keeps the mustard sharpness intact
Maple bourbon	Maple + pecan	Nutty depth matched to the barrel notes
Pineapple	Cherry + pecan	Fruitwood echoes the tropical sweetness
Hot pepper bacon	Hickory + apple	Smokehouse character behind the sweet heat
Cranberry orange	Cherry + apple	Bright fruit on bright fruit
Your first smoked ham	Apple	The hardest combination to get wrong

One or two chunks on a charcoal cooker. A mild pellet or blend on a pellet grill. Be even more conservative on a kamado, because they hold smoke efficiently and a little goes a long way. Skip mesquite: on a glazed ham it takes over the whole cook. The full chart is in best wood for smoking ham.

Five Mistakes That Ruin a Ham

The mistake	What happens	The fix
Buying the wrong ham	A fresh ham and a fully cooked spiral ham are two different cooks	Read the package before you buy, not on the day.
Cooking to the clock	Ham comes off at 155F or 165F, dry as a cracker	Probe it. Pull at 140F. Not 155F "just to be safe."
Glazing too early	Scorched, bitter sugar with a cold center underneath	Wait for 125F to 130F. It's the final 20 to 30 minutes, not the first hour.
Fanning the slices open	Every cut surface loses moisture	Keep the ham closed and cut side down in the pan. More on keeping spiral ham from drying out.
Throwing out the pan juices	You pour the best flavor of the cook down the drain	Spoon it over the slices. Mix a little into each glaze coat.

The Holiday Day Timeline

Here's an 8 pound bone-in spiral ham aimed at a 5:00 PM dinner.

Three days out: frozen ham into the refrigerator to thaw.
The night before: confirm the label says fully cooked. Make sure you have a pan that fits, and a probe.
1:45 PM: ham out of the fridge, into the pan, butter and citrus underneath.
2:15 PM: cooker stabilized at 325F, ham on, probe in, one or two chunks of apple.
3:30 PM: check for 125F to 130F. First glaze coat.
3:40 and 3:50 PM: second and third coats.
4:15 to 4:30 PM: 140F, ham comes off.
4:45 PM: slice, spoon the warm pan glaze over the top, carry it in.

Build in at least 30 minutes of slack. A ham that finishes early is easy to hold. Twelve hungry people waiting on a ham stuck at 112F is a different kind of holiday.

Frequently Asked Questions

What internal temperature should a spiral ham be?

140F for a fully cooked ham from a USDA-inspected plant. 165F for hams from other sources. Every degree past your target is moisture leaving the meat.

How long does it take to smoke a spiral ham?

Roughly 10 to 15 minutes per pound at 325F. About 80 to 120 minutes for an 8 pound ham.

When should you glaze a ham?

At 125F to 130F internal, in three thin coats about 10 minutes apart. Earlier than that and the sugar burns.

Should you cover a ham while it smokes?

Uncovered in a pan for most of the cook. Tent it loosely with foil only if the exterior gets ahead of the center. Foil is a tool you reach for, not a default setting.

Is bone-in or boneless better?

Bone-in. It holds up better, it looks better on the table, and it leaves you a ham bone worth keeping for soup.

Can you smoke a ham the day before?

You can, but it isn't our first choice. Reheating an already twice-heated ham costs you moisture. If you have to, hold it whole and wrapped, then warm it gently and glaze just before serving.

How much ham do you need per person?

About half a pound to three quarters of a pound per person for a bone-in ham. Lean toward the higher end, because the leftovers are half the reason to smoke a ham in the first place.

What is the best wood for smoking ham?

Apple is the best all-purpose choice. It is mild, slightly sweet and nearly impossible to mismatch with a glaze. Cherry adds color, pecan adds nutty depth, hickory pushes it toward classic BBQ and maple is the underrated pick. Skip mesquite.

Why does spiral ham dry out?

Because it is already cooked and already sliced, so it has dozens of cut surfaces losing moisture. Cook it in a pan with liquid underneath, keep the slices closed instead of fanned open, run 325F instead of an all-day low smoke, and pull it at 140F.

Two Hams, One Kit

The Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit pairs two rubs and two sauces into two complete holiday ham recipes, with a 12 inch cotton mop brush and both recipe cards. Hot Pepper Bacon for smoky sweet heat, Drunken Pineapple for a fruity, festive finish. Ships free in the US.

Use code HOLIDAY10 for 10% off. Order by 11/16 for Thanksgiving.

Shop the Ham Kit

And if the best part of the holidays is finding a sauce you'd never have picked up yourself, that's the whole idea behind a Grill Masters Club subscription: 5+ full-size sauces, rubs and tools you typically won't find at the supermarket, with recipes written around that exact box, every couple of months. Discover something new. Refine how you cook it. Master it. Then do it again with a theme you've never tried.

Hosting more than one holiday meal? The Double Smoked & Glazed Ham Kit covers the ham and makes an easy host gift. Order by 11/16 for Thanksgiving and use code HOLIDAY10 for 10% off. Our candied bacon guide covers the appetizer.