From the festive season to Easter Sunday, there will always be an occasion that requires you to know how to cook a ham. You may have gotten away with it thus far, but the time has come for you to put your culinary skills to the test. Cooking a ham can seem like a daunting task. It's a hefty chunk of meat that requires a lot more care then casually shoving it in the oven and hoping for the best. However, you need not fear. We have all the tips and tricks you need to cook a perfectly-glazed, succulent ham to impress your guests.
What Are the Types of Ham?
Hams are often cut into two pieces: the shank and the butt. The shank is the bottom half and is leaner and more flavourful; the butt is the top half and is fattier and richer. In addition to choosing which cut, you’ll also want to choose between the following preparations. There is also gammon, which you may have already heard of. Gammon is the hind leg of pork after it has been cured by dry-salting or brining. However, unlike other dry-cured hams, gammon requires cooking before being eaten.
City Ham
This is the most widely available type of ham sold. It’s brined, fully cooked and can come smoked or unsmoked. This type of ham is classically used to make glazed ham. City hams are also sometimes sold sliced, which will be labelled as spiral cut.
Country Ham
Country ham is harder to find than city ham, and are cured with a dry rub, can be smoked and are sold raw. They have an intense hammy flavour, a bit like prosciutto.
Fresh Ham
This specialty cut from your local butcher is sold uncured and uncooked, typically with the skin on. When you cook it, the resulting flavour often ends up tasting like juicy, tender pork roast with crispy skin.
Boneless Ham
Exactly what it sounds like, boneless ham is ham with it’s bone removed that’s pressed into a compact oval for easy carving. The texture is a little more like that of deli ham than the varieties listed above. Keep in mind that just like in cooking any other type of meat, cooking a bone-in ham affords juicier, more flavourful results. Moreover, if you opt for bone-in, that leftover ham bone makes for a wonderful soup base in the future!
Tips for Cooking Ham
Score the Skin
Using a sharp knife, cut through the fat and skin layer of the ham in a diamond pattern primarily to allow your delicious glaze to permeate the meat. The pattern also creates a "wow factor" on the centrepiece of your dinner table.
How to Glaze a Ham
No matter which cut you choose, at the end of the day, you'll want to glaze your ham- plus, you can really get creative with the glaze you choose! With a myriad of recipes at the ready, pick the sugar and spice combination that suits your fancy and combine the ingredients during the first few hours the ham’s cooking. In the last hour of cooking, it's time to glaze your ham. Brush it with the glaze and then keep the glaze near the oven. For gorgeous, burnished results, glaze the ham every 15 minutes or so.
Cover the Ham While It Cooks
No one, and we mean no one, likes a dry ham. Unfortunately, the downfall of having a salted, cured piece of meat is a drier end result. Combat this by always keeping your ham covered with tinfoil while in the oven. After every application of glaze, be sure to cover it back up!
Let the Ham Rest
Once the ham is out of the oven, dripping with sugary goodness, allow it to rest covered for at least 15 minutes before carving, ensuring all the juices redistribute back through the meat.
Air Frying Your Ham
Of course, festive dinners are stressful enough as is, with vegetables, roasties and turkey to add to the mix- it makes sense to want to save as much oven-space as possible. Enter: the air fryer. To air fry your ham, follow this simple recipe that will result in a juicy, cooked ham in less than two hours.
How to Bake a Ham
Baked, glazed ham is the most traditional way of cooking a ham— and for good reason. You’ll typically start with fully cooked city ham, which offers an easy solution for the cook who’s looking to impress.
- Let the ham come to room temperature. Pull the ham from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking it to let it come to room temperature.
- Score the skin. Score the outside of the ham through the skin and fat with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern.
- Add the ham to the pan. Put the ham, flat-side down, on a rack in a roasting pan. Add a cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan, which will steam as the ham cooks, keeping it moist. Cover the pan with foil.
- Roast the ham. Roast in a 180 degrees C oven until the thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the ham registers 50 degrees C. Increase the oven temperature during the last 45 minutes of cook time to 190 degrees and glaze several times. The ham is done when it’s cooked to 60 degrees C.
- Rest the ham. Rest the ham before serving.
Pineapple Honey-Glazed Ham
Pineapple-glazed ham dressed in pineapple rings and maraschino cherries is a holiday classic, burnished with a glossy glaze made with pineapple juice, honey and brown sugar. If you like sweet and salty, you'll love this show-stopping centerpiece!
How to Cook a Spiral Ham
Spiral ham is prepared and cooked the same way as baked glazed ham, only it cooks for less time because of the spiral cuts. One might opt to cook a spiralized ham because the cuts afford maximum real estate for the glaze to permeate the whole ham and they also aid in easy slicing.
Herby Sticky Spiral Glazed Ham
Ingredients:
- One 10 pound spiral-cut ham
- 250g brown sugar
- 85ml honey
- 85ml orange juice
- 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, plus rosemary sprigs, for garnish
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- Orange slices, for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
- Place the ham on a rack and bake for 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze by adding the brown sugar, honey, orange juice, mustard and herbs to a saucepan, then bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook until the glaze is thick, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.
- After the 2 hours, baste the ham with the glaze every 10 minutes for 30 minutes, making sure to get into the cracks. Rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve on a platter.
- Garnish with orange slices and rosemary sprigs.
How to Cook Fresh Ham
If you bought a fresh ham from your butcher, you’ll want to give it a brine overnight, much like you would a whole turkey, and then continue on to cook it much like you would a traditional ham.
How Long to Cook a Ham
How long to cook a ham depends on which variety you chose — whether it’s pre-cooked like city ham or raw like country ham. To determine how long to cook the ham and ensure perfect results, use an instant read thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the ham, stopping short of the bone (if it’s bone-in). Remove your ham from the oven when it reads 60 degrees C in its centre.
How to Carve Ham
If you’re carving a boneless ham, simply carve away with a sharp knife. If you’re carving a bone-in ham, make thin slices of ham that are perpendicular to the bone (much like you’d slice a T-bone steak), then cut parallel to the bone to release the slices.
