Glaze for Baked Ham

[orangeblossom]

Just wanted to tap on the fantastic wealth of ideas from fellow eGulleteers. I'm planning to serve an oven baked ham for a post-x'mas get-together with some friends. Apart from the usual honey glaze / marmalade glaze, what other glazes have you used? WOuld be great if you can share some of your recipes. Thanks.

[jackal10]

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=466554

Strip the skin but not the fat from the cooked ham, if the ham has any.

Score the fat into rectangles

Rub with demerara sugar or paint with honey (easier to do this before you put in the cloves)

Stick with cloves, either in the centre of each diamond on on the intersections

Put in a baking tray. Pour cider or apple juice over

Bake in a hot oven for half an hour, basting every 10 minutes

[Luckylies]

melt butter and brown sugar together, add bourbon. glazer ham every 10 mins or so for last half hour of cooking. tried and true.

[jsolomon]

I made one a while back from rhubarb sauce, dry mustard, and ground pepper. It was quite different, but very enjoyable.

[k43]

If you're anywhere near NYC, go to Kurowycky Meat Products, 124 First Ave. between 7th St. and St. Marks Pl., 212-477-0344, http://www.kurowycky.com, where they make the best ham anywhere. The hams are lightly glazed, and they're too good to put anything else on.

If you can't get to Kurowycky, here's my favorite. It works even with the cheapest ham and gets devoured to the last morsel.

Roast Supermarket Ham in Maple Sauce

12–15 lb. absolute cheapest loss-leader bone-in ham, whole or butt end

1 quart maple syrup, preferably grade B

2 tablespoons dry mustard (Colemans)

whole cloves

1. Trim any skin off the ham, but leave some (< ¼"). Score the fat down to the meat in a diamond or tic-tac-toe pattern your choice.

2. Stab the ham all over with an ice pick.

3. Massage the dry mustard into the ham and stick it with whole cloves.

4. Put the ham in a deep roasting pan, dutch oven or deep baking dish just big enough for the ham to fit into with enough room to turn it over. Pour in the maple syrup until it comes up at least halfway up on the ham.

5. Put the pan in a cold oven, turn the temp control to 300 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.

6. Turn the ham over, reduce heat to 250 and cook for 3 hours for a 12 pound ham, adding 30 minutes for each additional 2 pounds

7. Drain the ham on a rack for 20 minutes before slicing.

Cool the cooking liquid, strain through a coffee filter and freeze. It can be used 2 more times before it loses flavor and gets too salty.

Here's a good bourbon glaze:

3/8 cup bourbon whiskey

1 cup packed light brown sugar

scant 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon dijon mustard

1-1/2 teaspoons orange marmalade

Simmer the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it thickens slightly; about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sauce cool for 5–10 minutes. Brush on the ham, before roasting, keeping it off the bottom of the roasting pan, where it will burn on and be hell to get off.

The cook should sample the bourbon before, during and after each step, to make sure it hasnt' spoiled.

[orangeblossom]

Yummm.... everything sounds really good thanks! Am undecided between the maple and the bourbon glaze suggestions. I've got a bit of time so maybe i'll do some experimenting....

[bigbear]

Recently, I saw an Alton Brown show where he coated a ham with mustard (looked like Gulden's), brown sugar, bourbon whiskey (I'll bet it was Maker's Mark) and crushed ginger snaps. I haven't tried it yet, but it sure sounded good to me.

Click here for the recipe.

[haresfur]

Well, the weather finally warmed up and it's starting to feel like Christmas Just ordered a Christmas ham - something I've never cooked before. It's a half a boneless, rolled, nitrite free, free-range, hunk-o-meat (there are only two of us and that was the smallest thing I could order). Are there any new thoughts on how to prepare, glaze, or otherwise cook it? Thanks.

[ChrisTaylor]

Sorry to let you down but in Australia we tend to just slice it and serve it as is.

[Plantes Vertes]

haresfur, what else will you be serving?

In general terms; if the ham is traditionally salted you will need to soak it (most hams don't require that any more as they aren't cured for long-term storage). The supplier should advise you how long, depending on the amount of salt in the cure. Then cover loosely with foil and roast the ham at 310 for 20mins/lb minus half an hour. Peel off the skin with a knife, leaving the fat, and score the latter in a diamond pattern. Then add the glaze and cook for the final half hour/to internal temp of 140-150. Rest 1/2hr-45mins. You probably want a cup of glaze for an 8lb ham (I guess yours is smaller.), and 1/2 or more should be sugar or equivalent. It should have a jammy consistency.

Most of the glazes include a sour element, a sweet element and a pungent/aromatic element, (sometimes being combined in one ingredient) eg:

The classic sugar or honey and mustard

Pineapple juice-sugar-mustard (+ optional pureed dates)

Fruit preserves (especially cherry, plum, apricot, apple) -vinegar-mustard

Chutney-mustard

Marmalade-rosemary (+optional, yes, mustard)

Orange juice and zest-sugar-mustard

You can also add garlic, soy sauce, bourbon, grand marnier, lemon juice...

[haresfur]

haresfur, what else will you be serving?

In general terms; if the ham is traditionally salted you will need to soak it (most hams don't require that any more as they aren't cured for long-term storage). The supplier should advise you how long, depending on the amount of salt in the cure. Then cover loosely with foil and roast the ham at 310 for 20mins/lb minus half an hour. Peel off the skin with a knife, leaving the fat, and score the latter in a diamond pattern. Then add the glaze and cook for the final half hour/to internal temp of 140-150. Rest 1/2hr-45mins. You probably want a cup of glaze for an 8lb ham (I guess yours is smaller.), and 1/2 or more should be sugar or equivalent. It should have a jammy consistency.

Most of the glazes include a sour element, a sweet element and a pungent/aromatic element, (sometimes being combined in one ingredient) eg:

The classic sugar or honey and mustard

Pineapple juice-sugar-mustard (+ optional pureed dates)

Fruit preserves (especially cherry, plum, apricot, apple) -vinegar-mustard

Chutney-mustard

Marmalade-rosemary (+optional, yes, mustard)

Orange juice and zest-sugar-mustard

You can also add garlic, soy sauce, bourbon, grand marnier, lemon juice...

So it sounds like some mustard is the way to go?-)

I haven't got the menu set but I think I'll start with a prawn salad and have some oven roasted smashed potatoes and maybe a sweet potato if I can fit it all in my tiny oven. Probably figure out a veg or two. If the weather is ok, I'll fire up the barbie and grill some pineapple and peaches. Dessert will be Pavlova, of course.

The ham is ready to eat (they gave me a sample and it was tasty) so I don't think soaking is in order. How do you feel about cloves?

[Plantes Vertes]

You know, I do believe that mustard is preferred

Clove pros: Taste nice; look nice

Clove cons: PITA to pick out of teeth; anaesthetise mouth if chewed

[heidih]

I am not a fan of glazed ham but was catering to the tastes of a majority when I hit on a winner. There was no elaborate planning, it was just "ok gotta do this". As I recall there was a bit of Dijon, and some brown sugar or honey, but the key was the citrus element. I had a ton of kumquats on my tree which have the lovely floral note in the thin skin and quite a tart burst in the juice and flesh. I whizzed it in the food processor and rubbed it into the scored ham. Very well received. I realize kumquats are not a standard item so perhaps a mix of tangerine and lemon juice and zest would mimic. I am also not a fan of cloves poked into ham - it reminds me of those ladies magazine images of hams with a perfect pattern of cloves, canned pineapple rings and maraschino cherries.

[haresfur]

I just found some totally crystalised kumquat marmalade in the back of the fridge, now I know what to do with it. Sounds like seat-of the-pants cooking is in order and that's the way I like to ride.

[Pierogi]

Let me throw in my $0.02 for the mix of mustard and citrus. I use Dijon, orange marmalade, horseradish, brown sugar and orange juice. The recipe says to stud with cloves, but I feel that the clove overpowers everything else, so I don't.

The horseradish is crucial, IMHO. Gives that back hit of a little something to enhance the Dijon. Only glaze I ever use now.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Pierogi (log)

[Mjx]

Tamarind pairs really nicely with ham of almonst any sort, so if you can get your hands on some, definitely consider adding some to your glaze.

[Martin Fisher]

Apricot and ginger is good.

[MasteringTheFlame]

The majority of the time, I just score the fat and baste with brown sugar and butter or maple syrup. I've also had them glazed with dijon mustard, although I haven't made one myself.

[haresfur]

Scored an invite to Christmas lunch so I cooked ham for Boxing Day.

I used kumquat marmalade, Dijon mustard, bourbon, and a dab of My First Vegemite in the glaze and it turned out well. Perhaps a bit too much citrus but the glaze complemented the ham and didn't detract.

The apricot and ginger sounds good too and I'll keep that in mind.

[FeChef]

I just did spiral ham this Xmas and made a peach & pineapple glaze using a can of goya peach nectar, can of dole pineapple juice, and 1/2 cup white sugar. Cooked down to the consistency of honey. Everyone loved it.

[johnder]

I have been doing the Saveur recipe from way way back which is just equal parts dijon, light brown and orange marmalade. Always a big hit and gives a really nice crunch at the end of cooking.

[nickrey]

I had a slight disaster with a home prepared ham (overcooked sous vide, mushy texture) so had to buy a small mass produced ham.

It had a reasonable texture and level of saltiness but there was no way that it had seen any real smoke. It also had an unusual texture on the outside from the cooking process that I decided to trim that off.

I wound up smoking it for an hour (from cold) with hickory chips in an electric smoker set to 95C.

The glaze that I used was a small amount of apricot jam, french mustard, bit of salt and a bit of sugar. Melted everything in a saucepan and then painted it on the ham with a pastry brush and baked in a hot oven for around 10 minutes. It worked very well and you couldn't really tell that it was store bought at all.

[haresfur]

I had a slight disaster with a home prepared ham (overcooked sous vide, mushy texture) so had to buy a small mass produced ham.

It had a reasonable texture and level of saltiness but there was no way that it had seen any real smoke. It also had an unusual texture on the outside from the cooking process that I decided to trim that off.

I wound up smoking it for an hour (from cold) with hickory chips in an electric smoker set to 95C.

The glaze that I used was a small amount of apricot jam, french mustard, bit of salt and a bit of sugar. Melted everything in a saucepan and then painted it on the ham with a pastry brush and baked in a hot oven for around 10 minutes. It worked very well and you couldn't really tell that it was store bought at all.

Yeah, what's up with the tough 'skin' on the outside of my ham? It's a rolled ham but it's not too pleasant even when sliced reasonably thinly. I suppose the glaze might have penetrated better if I had trimmed the outside off. I had to pierce it with a knife to insert the cloves.

BTW, according to my brother the Ukrainian definition of eternity is 'two people with a ham'.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

For Thanksgiving I made 2 turkeys and a ham--one turkey was traditional and the other was with mole sauce--and I did the ham on the grill. The original recipe called for cutting off the skin and trimming the fat layer to 1/4", but the ham I bought had neither skin nor fat, so I just used the recipe as written. Brown sugar, a pinch of cayenne, black pepper--it was a Cook's Illustrated recipe that I can no longer find. However, the cooking method was ideal--rub the ham with the brown sugar mixture, let it stand at room temperature for 2 hours, fire up the grill (I used gas), put the ham on a v-rack over the cool side, roast until it's 160 or so degrees, move the rack to the hot side for 30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes. To make the rotation easier thread 2 skewers on either side of the bone. Remove the ham and let stand for 15 minutes and carve.

Despite having 2 turkeys and a ton of side dishes, the 40 people at our Thanksgiving devoured the ham down to the bone. I barely had enough left to make bean soup with.

This had 2 advantages--it freed up the oven, which was pretty well taxed with the turkeys and the side dishes, plus it was a spectacular way to cook ham. Don't use a spiral cut ham--apparently it dries out.

This will become my go-to method for ham from now on. It was delicious, easy, and required no clean-up of pan. I think it would be even better over charcoal, but gas is what I have to work with in México. Someday I'll try it with wood chips--we have lots of avocados around here, and they are always trimming the trees.

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

"BTW, according to my brother the Ukrainian definition of eternity is 'two people with a ham'. :biggrin:"

Actually, I think that was Dorothy Parker.

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Edited December 27, 2013 by Nancy in Pátzcuaro (log)