Ham is a crowd-pleaser, delicious, and a great value, so why save it for holidays? I like to bake one for a midweek dinner and use the leftovers for all kinds of dishes to serve throughout the weekend.
Keep your eyes peeled for ham on sale, buy a few, and freeze them—they’ll keep for up to a year. I prefer bone-in hams with a little bit of fat still on them, but this recipe will work with any kind of large, cooked ham.
Ingredients
1 bone-in ham (7–9 pounds), fully cooked
Canola oil
3⁄4 cup honey
3⁄4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon fruit juice, such as apple, cranberry, orange, or pomegranate
10–12 whole cloves
Score and bake the ham. Heat the oven to 325°F. Place the ham on a cutting board fat-side up and make 1⁄4″-deep diagonal cuts in 2″ intervals to create a diamond pattern. Grease a roasting rack with a little oil and place the ham on the rack, fat-side up. Set the rack into a roasting pan and bake until the internal temperature of the ham registers 110°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 to 21⁄2 hours.
Glaze the ham. While the ham is baking, whisk together the honey, brown sugar, mustard, and fruit juice in a small bowl. Remove the ham from the oven and increase the temperature to 425°F. Stud the center of each diamond with a clove. Brush the entire ham with the glaze, pour 3⁄4 cup of water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and place the pan back in the oven until its temperature reaches 125°F, about 15 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the oven, and transfer the ham to a cutting board. Tent the ham with foil and let it rest until its temperature reaches 135°F
to 140°F, 20 to 30 minutes.
D2D
The best time to buy whole, cooked hams is either before or after the holidays—you are virtually guaranteed that they’ll be on sale.
