How to Cook Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder; The Best Ham You Will Ever Eat

Are you ready to elevate your dinner game? If you’re looking for a delicious and impressive dish that’s surprisingly easy to make, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll dive into how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder, often referred to as picnic ham.

This flavorful cut of meat is a great main dish for gatherings, family dinners, or just a cozy night in. Whether you’re a seasoned chef or a kitchen newbie, you’ll find that learning how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder is not only fun but also yields the best ham you will ever eat.

By mastering how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder, you’ll impress your guests and create lasting memories around the dinner table. Let’s get started!

The Best Ham You’ll Ever Eat

Growing up, this is the ham that my Polish Grandmother made every holiday. I assumed everyone had a picnic ham and that all hams tasted this delicious.

Boy was I wrong!

Little did I realize that most of the US population was NOT eating the same ham as my family. Most (and probably you) were eating a ham that sliced pretty, or if you were lucky, it came spiral cut.

The hams most families are familiar with are simply heat and eat. Maybe you’d add a glaze, but that was about the extent of the cooking process.

While I can honestly attest that every single person who’d made a picnic shoulder ham AND used my grandmother’s old-fashioned recipe agrees that this is the very best ham they have ever eaten.

It’s become quite the viral sensation in our friend group and amongst my family.

This recipe has jumped ship from my grandmother, mom, and myself to now including my husband’s family as well.

One of my proudest moments was when our niece, Caitlyn, started making this same ham for holidays and get-togethers as well.

It’s very emotional to have my grandmother’s recipes shared and feel like they will truly live beyond my time on this earth, since we don’t have children of our own to pass traditional recipes on to.

Referred to as “THE HAM,” it’s also become the preferred way for our friends to make their hams too!

Once you get this tender, juicy, and flavorful ham on your table, there is no turning back.

By mastering how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder, you’ll impress your guests and create lasting memories around the dinner table.

Ultimately, how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder is about creating memorable moments during meals. This dish can bring family and friends together in an unforgettable way.

One word of caution: this is NOT a pretty ham.

This is not a ham that slices into picture-perfect slices, if you didn’t notice from the photos already.

As you read on, you’ll understand that a picnic ham comes from a different part of the pig than a traditional ham, which is what makes it so much more flavorful but also breaks the meat into parts that don’t slice so well.

But trust me, no one will give a hoot once they taste it!

What is a Picnic Ham?

When choosing your meat, remember that knowing how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder well is as important as selecting the right cut.

Choosing to prepare how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder allows for creativity in flavors and seasonings.

A Picnic Smoked Pork Shoulder, aka a “Picnic Ham,” is not actually a ham because it is from the shoulder of the animal instead of from the hind leg.

A picnic ham may be sold as a fresh pork roast or one that is cured and smoked.

A picnic shoulder will usually cost less than ham and is not as popular because it has more bone and is less tender when not cooked properly.

How to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder can also be adjusted based on your tastes. Feel free to experiment with different glazes or side dishes.

For perfect results, always remember how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder involves patience and time.

For this recipe and the Ham flavor, you need Smoked Pork Shoulder that is also CURED. That magical combination of curing and smoking is what gives pork the ham flavor.

When serving, knowing how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder gives you a chance to show off your culinary prowess.

Generally a Picnic Ham is classified as a “city ham” since it is wet brined, cured and smoked, compared to a “country ham” that is dry brined and smoked.

Compared to a traditional ham, which comes from the butt of the pig the picnic ham comes from the upper part of the front shoulder of the pig. This is why there is a different muscle pattern, with connective tissues, bone-in and it’s more difficult to slice into pretty, neat slices.

Technically this is a pork shoulder recipe only, again it’s cured and smoked. When it comes to cuts of pork, nothing is interchangeable in this recipe; not a pork butt or a Boston butt. It’s not a roast pork recipe.

Why You Should Choose Picnic Shoulder

A picnic shoulder is more versatile than ham as it can be cooked in various ways, such as roasted, smoked, or braised, providing a range of flavors and textures.

The picnic shoulder’s slightly higher fat content compared to ham enhances the juiciness and tenderness of the meat, resulting in a more flavorful dish.

At one point, the picnic shoulder ham was the more economical way to enjoy ham since it was a less desirable cut compared to a ham from the butt of the pig.

Now they are more difficult to find and can be more expensive per pound, depending on where you live.

Where to by a Picnic Ham

Finding a picnic ham may be a little challenging depending on where you live. For my local friends, we have been able to consistently purchase ours a Food Lion in Fairmont, WV, typically under the brand Morty Pride. Smithfield also makes Picnic Shoulder Hams, but I have not found any in our area for years.

If you don’t see one in at your local grocery stores with the other types of ham, ask the butcher or store manager to get one for you.

How to Cook Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder

Cooking a picnic shoulder correctly is very different from a heat-and-eat ham you typically find at the grocery store.

This unique cut requires a few extra steps to ensure the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender and yet, full of delicious flavor.

For any gathering, the key is knowing how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder properly. With the right preparation, your guests will be raving about your cooking skills.

When it comes to holidays, knowing how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder can elevate your feast to new heights.

This ham is not just a meal; it’s an experience.

If you’ve ever wondered how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder, you’re not alone. This dish has become a favorite for those who appreciate rich, flavorful ham. While traditional hams have their place, learning how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder opens up a whole new world of culinary delights.

The 2-step process I’ll be walking you through in this post is hands down the best way to cook a pork picnic roast.

While investing 4-6 hours may seem like a long time, it’s significantly less hours of cook time than you would have if you attempted to use a slow cooker to make pulled pork or a smoked shoulder.

I also do not recommend using an instant pot or pressure cooker.

Trust the process. This recipe is versatile; you can use smaller size half hams or a whole pork shoulder picnics.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder Ham, whole or half
• Water
• Sprite, 7-up or Ginger Ale (not diet)
• Brown Sugar or THIS Keto Friendly Brown Sugar Alternative
• All Purpose Flour or THIS Keto Flour or my All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend
• Dijon Mustard
• Horseradish
• Honey

You’ll notice we aren’t using pineapple slices, yellow mustard, whole cloves, spice rubs or even kosher salt. This is a very limited ingredient recipe and nothing fancy is required.

We can’t forget that how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder is just as important as how to serve it.

Essential Cooking Equipment

• Large stock pot, ham must be fully submerged in water
• Roasting Pan
• Aluminum Foil
• Roast Lifters

Since this recipe includes a very different cooking process than you may typically be used to, there are things you don’t need. You won’t need an internal thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat (or rather internal temperature of the pork) You don’t need to use a smoker to impart a smoky flavor, no spray bottle, no butcher paper or plastic wrap.

Preparing the Picnic Shoulder

There isn’ much preparation needed, just remove the outer wrapper and discard any juices. You’ll notice (see photos below) that the ham looks significantly more “rustic” than most hams. It will have the rind (layer of skin) on it (first photo) which is part of the magic for making it extra juicy and tender. Notice how differently this may look, compared to the spiral cut ham you may have made previously.

How to make the Best Ham you’ll ever eat!

From start to finish, making my grandmother’s picnic shoulder ham recipe will take 5-6 hours for a whole ham and 3-4 hours for a half.

Place your ham in a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer (covered or uncovered, it does not matter) for 3 hours. This helps to extract some of the saltiness and tenderize the meat, since it is cured and smoked the flavor will be extra strong right out of the wrapper the boiling mellows it out just enough!

After you simmer the shoulder ham for 1 hour, carefully remove it from the water and place it in a roasting pan. I use turkey lifters to make it slightly easier, but it’s tricky. Put the fatty rind side up.

You can also choose to keep the water and further reduce it into a delicious ham broth to use for other recipes.

After you wrangle the picnic ham into the roasting pan, fat side up, you want to carefully remove the rind. It will peel off easily. leaving as much fat behind as possible.

Once the rind is removed (feel free to toss it back into the water that you are simmering into broth, along with garlic, onion, celery, carrot, etc) you will need to cross-hatch the fat using a sharp knife. Avoid cutting too deeply into the meat, focusing on leaving as much of the fat cap as much as possible.

Pour a can of Sprite, 7-Up or Ginger Ale over the ham, saving about 2T to use in the glaze. We want the ham to sit in the soda, so don’t use a roasting rack.

Please be advised, I do NOT recommend using diet or sugar free soda for this recipe. The artificial sweetener taste will be magnified through out the ham and distract from it. If you are on a keto or low carb diet, I understand your hesitation but rest assured when divided amongst the numbers of servings a whole ham provides there is very minimal carbs from the soda in the meat itself.

Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350F oven for 1 hour. Do not BASTE the ham and do not peek. Just set a timer and come back in an hour.

While your ham is baking in the oven for its first hour, make the glaze and set aside. (you’ll have plenty of time, no rush)

Yes, even if you aren’t familiar with horseradish, you still gotta add it.

Trust me. Horseradish is a Polish kitchen staple, and it’s not adding any spice, just a balanced tangy pop that you’ll thank me for later.

Remove the ham from the oven, remove the foil. There will be liquid in the bottom of the roasting pan, that is OK, don’t dump it out.

Spoon or spread the glaze over top of the ham, until well coated.

Place the ham back in the oven (uncovered) at 350F for 30 minutes, then increase the heat to 400F for another 30 minutes.

This last blast of higher heat helps to brown the surface and create the most delicious fatty caramelized glazed shell.

My mouth is watering, just looking at the photos of my grandma’s Picnic Shoulder Ham Recipe, yours too? The ham is so tender, it’s like butter. The 3-step process is what magically transforms an otherwise tough shoulder roast into something that melts in your mouth.

Then on top of that, the glaze is pure perfection. Sweet with a touch of tang from the horseradish, admittedly my favorite part is just picking at the brown bits on top of the ham, right out of the oven.

Serving Suggestions For Easter Dinner

Now that you’ve learned how to make the Best Ham you’ll ever eat, you can immediately put it on your Easter Menu – Is there anything more classic than having Ham on Easter?!? Here’s what we have our menu every year:

• Picnic Shoulder Ham, The Best Ham you’ll ever Eat!
• Wilted Lettuce Salad with Bacon
• Easy Keto Deviled Eggs Recipe and/or Pickled Eggs
• Refrigerator Pickled Beets; Grandma’s Pickled Beets Recipe
• Lacto-Fermented Horseradish Beet Relish
• Buttered Lima Beans or Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Green Onions
• My Secrets to Perfect Mashed Potatoes or The Best Keto Mashed Cauliflower

Leftover Ideas

The only thing that MIGHT be better than enjoying this ham when it’s freshly made, is getting to use it for the most amazing selection of Ham Leftover Meals – if there IS any leftover ham. Because even the next day this ham is super delicious on its own!

• Ham Oyster Noodle Bake Recipe (coming soon)
• Easy Air Fryer Fried Rice Recipe with Ham (coming soon)
• {Pressure Cooker} Lima Bean & Ham Soup
• Ham & Cheddar Scones with Wild Ramps
• The Best Easy Ham Salad Recipe for Sandwiches

Conclusion

This ham is perfect for any occasion, and understanding how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder can help you make it unforgettable.

In conclusion, preparing the Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder according to the 3-step process results in a delectable ham that simply melts in your mouth.

The combination of the transformative cooking method and the delectable glaze, with its perfect balance of sweetness and tanginess from the horseradish, makes this dish a true culinary delight.

For those looking for a showstopper, learning how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder is essential in the kitchen.

Once you master how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder, you’ll be ready to impress at your next gathering.

In summary, how to cook smoked pork picnic shoulder is the answer to unlocking the best ham experience possible.