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Tips for cooking a ham 

Are you cooking a ham?  Here are some great tips from COOK'S ILLUSTRATED on keeping that ham tender and moist.

 

  1. Make sure your ham is wrapped securely in a plastic bag.  Place it in a large container and cover it with hot tap water.  After 45 minutes, drain the water, cover it again with hot tap water and set it aside for another 45 minutes.

 

  1. Adjust your oven rack to its lowest position and heat your oven to 250 degrees.  Remove the ham from the plastic bag and place it in an oven bag.  Set the ham; cut-side down in a large roasting pan and cut 4 slits in top of the bag.

 

  1. Bake the ham until the center registers 100 degrees on an instant read thermometer, (about 10 minutes per pound).

 

  1. Remove the ham from the oven and increase the temperature to 350 degrees.  Cut open the oven bag and roll back the sides to expose the ham.  Brush the ham with glaze and return to the oven until the glaze becomes, sticky, (about 10 minutes).  If the glaze is too thick to brush, heat it slightly to loosen it.

 

  1. Remove the ham from the oven, transfer it to a cutting board and brush the entire ham with more of the glaze.  Let the ham; rest, loosely covered with foil for 15 minutes.  While the ham rests, heat the remaining glaze with 4-6 tablespoons of ham juices until it forms thick but fluid sauce. Carve, serve and pass extra sauce at the table. 

    If you decide not to do the 90 minute soak, you will need to increase the heating time to 18-20 minutes per pound for a cold ham.  We will be trying this method for the first time ourselves and would love to hear from any of you on your results with this method.

 

MAPLE-ORANGE GLAZE

 

¾ cups maple syrup

½ cup orange marmalade

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1 cup, 5-0 minutes.

 

CHERRY-PORT GLAZE

½ cup ruby port wine

½ cup cherry preserves

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

 

Simmer port in small saucepan over medium heat, until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is thick, and syrupy, and reduced to 1 cup, 5 -10 minutes.