Ham Burnt Ends

Recipe Note

Recipe FAQ

Do I need to start with a fully cooked ham?

Yes — this recipe is built entirely around fully cooked, pre-smoked ham. The pellet grill cook is adding a second layer of smoke, developing surface texture, and building a glaze — not cooking raw pork to temperature. Using a raw or partially cooked ham would require a completely different time and temperature approach and wouldn't produce the same caramelized result. A bone-in or boneless pre-cooked smoked ham both work; just cube what you need and keep the rest for other uses.

Why use a smoke tube on a pellet grill at 300°F?

At 300°F, a pellet grill produces moderate smoke — enough for flavor but lighter than what you get at low-and-slow temperatures where the combustion is less complete. The A-MAZE-N Tube Smoker runs independently of the grill's fire, smoldering cold-soaked pellets that produce a dense, consistent stream of smoke regardless of the grill's output. Positioned on the main grate below the ham cubes on the second shelf, it adds a concentrated wood aroma that would take several more hours of lower-temp smoking to achieve otherwise.

How much Honey Hog rub should I use, and why go light?

A tablespoon across 2½ lbs of ham is deliberately light — about a third of what you'd use on a similar weight of raw pork. Pre-smoked ham is already significantly salted during curing. Adding a heavy rub application stacks sodium on top of an already-salty protein and can make the finished product uncomfortably salty, especially with the Blues Hog Champions Blend sauce added in the second stage. The Honey Hog's role here is sweetness, color, and a mild savory note — not primary seasoning.

How do I know when the glazed finish is right?

The visual cues are reliable: after adding butter and Blues Hog and returning the pan to the grill, you're looking for the sauce to thicken from a loose liquid to a syrupy consistency that coats and clings to each cube. The edges of the ham pieces should look glossy and slightly tacky, with some caramelization visible on the exposed corners. This typically takes 20–30 minutes at 300°F. If the sauce is still running freely off the ham when you tilt the pan, it needs more time. If the edges are starting to look dry or dark, pull immediately.

Can I cook this Indoors?

We rate this a 2 out of 5 for cooking indoors. Can be done inside, but loses key flavor or texture. A conventional oven at 300°F on a wire rack over a sheet pan can replicate the first phase, and the foil pan glaze phase works identically in the oven. What you lose entirely is the smoke penetration — the A-MAZE-N tube and pellet grill smoke character are what make these taste like BBQ rather than glazed baked ham. Without that smoke layer, the result is good but fundamentally different.

Recipe Highlights & Insights

• The two-stage structure — open smoke first, then covered butter-and-sauce glaze — is borrowed directly from the burnt ends technique used on brisket point and pork belly. The first stage dries the exterior surface slightly, opens the pores, and lets smoke and rub adhere before any moisture-trapping foil or sauce is applied. The second stage softens the ham slightly in the butter and builds the lacquered coating. Combining both stages into one (adding sauce from the start) would produce softer, less-textured results with less defined exterior character.

   

• Ham's pre-existing salt cure is the ingredient calibration factor that separates a well-made version from an oversalted one. Most BBQ rubs are designed for raw, unseasoned protein — applying a standard-volume rub to cured ham produces a noticeably salty finished bite. The Honey Hog at 1 tablespoon is the right call here specifically because its sweetness balances the ham's salt while contributing the mahogany color development during the smoke phase. Blues Hog Champions Blend is also a naturally sweet, balanced sauce that doesn't add significant additional salt.

   

• The FrogMat on the second shelf is a practical detail worth emphasizing. Ham cubes at 300°F render fat quickly, and the second shelf's position above the heat deflector means dripping fat hits hot metal rather than the fire directly. Without the FrogMat, smaller cubes fall through the grates or stick and tear when you try to move them to the foil pan. The mat also makes cleanup fast — the rendered fat and rub residue wipes clean rather than baking onto the grate surface.

   

• At 220 calories per 4 oz serving across 12 servings, this is one of the most calorie-efficient party appetizers on the ATBBQ site — each bite-size piece is under 75 calories individually, which matters when you're serving alongside other holiday dishes. The 90-minute total cook is also shorter than almost any other grill recipe at ATBBQ; the ham is already cooked, so you're only adding smoke and glaze, not cooking from raw. That makes it realistic as a same-day addition to any holiday meal without requiring advance planning.

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