This recipe for baked ham is very simple, without punctuation or clove studdling. This recipe uses a moist heat cooking method during the first half, and the ham is finished with a blast of high heat to caramelize the surface. The result produces juicy, tender and flavorful meat. This baked ham recipe is perfect for entertaining!
Last Christmas, I bought half a boneless ham from Dakin Farm. I put it on, studded it with cloves, and baked it as directed for 10 minutes a pound at 325ºF. For the past 15 minutes, I turned up the heat and brushed it with a simple icing, a mixture of brown sugar, maple syrup, and freshly squeezed orange juice.
In my post-Christmas action report, I wrote: “The ham was spectacular; the outrageously delicious mustard sauce.”
But I still had questions: Was punctuation necessary? Were nails necessary? Was an enamel necessary?
And then I emailed Dakin Farm: To score or not? A man named Eric answered me and said, “My advice to everyone is to add some water to the pan and cover with aluminum foil. This really helps prevent the ham from drying out.”
He also pointed out that it is not necessary to trim with cloves, but it will not dry the ham either. He added that glazing is pleasing for visual purposes.
This all made sense to me, and next time, I followed his advice. I sat my whole ham without punctuation, without cloves (a 13 pounds) for an hour and 45 minutes at 325ºF in a pan with a little water covered in aluminum foil. For the last 30 minutes, I removed the aluminum foil, turned up the heat to 425ºF and generously glazed the ham twice at 15-minute intervals.
The result? A beautifully burnished glazed ham with super moist and tender meat. And not thanks to anything I did: the meat was super tasty.
Let me explain
…
The secret to baking a good ham?
… It lies in the ham. If you buy a good one, you will bake a good one. If you buy a bad one, you won’t. No frosting or scoring or cooking technique will save a bad ham. You’re not marinating or splashing a ham (and how nice!), you’re just warming it up. And the frosting, although delicious, does not penetrate beyond the outer layer.
As you can see, I’m a big fan of Dakin Farm (no affiliation here! just a fan!) For as long as I can remember, my aunt and uncle from Vermont have always had some sort of Dakin Farm ham product on hand when we visit, and it’s always fabulous. I have bought both their whole and medium hams, and they never disappoint. One half ham will feed at least 12 people, making the cost per serving about $4.66.
My mother’s advice regarding ham is never to buy a spiral or frozen ham. One year, I bought just that: a spiral frozen ham (from a well-respected source). It looked beautiful coming out of the oven, and I thought: just this time, I will show it to you! — but in the end, it was dry and tasteless. I should have known.
Friends: If you have any tips for baking ham or favorite ham fountains, please share in the comments
.
Best practices of baked ham
Cook 10 minutes per pound at 325ºF. Cook with the
- oily side facing up in a roasting pan filled with about 1/2 inch of water hermetically covered with aluminum foil for most of the time.
- 425ºF
- , Brush with a simple frosting at least twice.
- Let stand 20 minutes before carving.
For the last 30 minutes, remove the foil, increase the heat to
Ham glaze recipe
with
brown sugar
A ham icing recipe should include something sweet (brown sugar, sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.) that promotes good caramelization in the oven. There is no need to glaze the ham throughout the cooking process: during the last 30 minutes (with the oven at maximum 425ºF) it will be enough and will leave the ham beautifully burnished.
To make this frosting, stir:
1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup
- maple syrup
- 1/4 cup
- freshly squeezed orange juice
Halve the recipe if you’re making half a
ham.
How to roast a whole
ham with bone
Here is the game by game: Place the ham, with the fat side facing up, in a large pan. Add about 2 cups of water or enough water to reach 1/2 inch down the sides of the pan.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil
and transfer to an oven at 325ºF.
Meanwhile, stir the frosting: 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, brown sugar, and maple syrup.
<img src="https://alexandracooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/glazeingredients_alexandraskitchen.jpg" alt="The ingredients to make brown sugar maple glaze for ham." /
Transfer to a small liquid size for easy brushing (if desired):
Thirty minutes before the ham is cooked (see recipe chart for time notes), remove the ham from the oven, remove the aluminum foil and increase the oven temperature to 425ºF.
.” />Brush the ham with the glaze
, and return to the oven for 15 minutes:
Remove the ham and give it another brush with the frosting. Return to the oven for the final 15 minutes.
Take it out of
the oven:
Transfer the ham to a board to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
<img src="https://alexandracooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/letitrestonboard_alexandraskitchen.jpg" alt="A
a dish.” />Remove as
many large lobes of the ham as possible; then cut into slices
:
Transfer to a serving
dish:
Don’t forget the ham sauce! It’s so, so delicious.
src=”https://alexandracooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/mustardsauce2_alexandraskitchen.jpg” alt=”Gramma” />
Take care of the ham bone (and remove as much meat as possible from it) after dinner:
Save the bone for the pea and ham soup. Or freeze for up to 3 months.
