Glazed Ham (3 glazing options)

By dtrumble

It pays to know exactly how to make a glazed ham that's truly worthy of a special occasion. Our recipe for a moist ham with a glaze that complements but doesn’t overwhelm the meat includes avoiding labels that read “ham with water added” and heating the ham to an internal temperature of no higher than 120 degrees. Soaking the ham in warm water before heating it and placing it in an oven bag or wrapping it in aluminum foil are also part of our perfect glazed ham recipe.

Ingredients

• Glaze #1: Maple Orange Glaze:
• Fully cooked spiral sliced ham
• ¾ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup orange marmalade
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Glaze #2: Cherry Port Glaze
• 1/2 cup ruby port
• 1/2 cup cherry preserves
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Glaze #3: Honey Baked Ham
• Unsalted butter
• Honey
• Light brown sugar
• Dijon mustard
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Fresh orange zest (optional)
• And you’ll also need 1 oven bag

Details

Adapted from wtop.com

Preparation

Step 1

Leaving ham’s inner plastic or foil covering intact, place ham in large container and cover with hot water; set aside for 45 minutes. Drain and cover again with hot water; set aside for another 45 minutes.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Unwrap ham; discard plastic disk covering bone. Place ham in oven bag. Gather top of bag tightly so bag fits snugly around ham, tie bag, and trim excess plastic. Set ham cut side down in large roasting pan and cut 4 slits in top of bag with knife.

Bake ham until center registers 100 degrees, 1 to 1½ hours (about 10 minutes per pound).

To make the glaze: Combine ingredients in small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes; set aside.

Remove ham from oven and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees. Cut open oven bag and roll back sides to expose ham. Brush ham with one-third of glaze and return to oven until glaze becomes sticky, about 10 minutes (if glaze is too thick to brush, return to heat to loosen).

Remove ham from oven, transfer to carving board, and brush entire ham with another third of glaze. Tent ham with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes. While ham rests, add 4 to 6 tablespoons of ham juices to remaining one-third of glaze and cook over medium heat until thick but fluid sauce forms. Carve and serve ham, passing sauce separately.

To Make Maple-Orange Glaze:Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick, syrupy, and reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes; set aside.

To Make Cherry-Port Glaze: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, syrupy, and reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes; set aside.

To Make Honey Glaze: Near the end of baking, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add in brown sugar, honey, mustard, pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and cook, whisking constantly, just until sugar dissolves, about 2 - 3 minutes. Stir in orange zest and let cool just until it's about the consistency of honey, about 10 minutes (when ready to glaze ham rewarm glaze as needed if it has thickened too much).