Ive never cooked a ham before but Kroger has hams for 70 cents a pound so i got an 8 lb one and i want to make it. The instructions say 10-15 minutes per pound at 325, but i dont know what else i need to do.
Do i need to cook it in a bowl, or can i just set it on aluminum foil (i dont have any cooking bowls, or whatever they’re called)
Do i need to baste it
Would cloves make a difference in regards to taste? what about something like honey sauce?
This would probably do better in Cafe Society, as there are as many ways to cook a ham as there are people to do the cooking. I like to score the top with a crosshatch pattern and stick cloves at the intersections. I put pineapple rings over the top and pour a small amount of pineapple juice over the whole thing, then bake, loosely covered with foil, with the temps and times as you’ve indicated. I’ll uncover it for the last 15 minutes, and pour some more juice over it. That’s it.
Speaking as another ham-cooking virgin, what’s the purpose of the crosshatching? Like breadmaking, where you encourage it to split along designated lines, or just traditional decorative patterning?
okey dokey, maybe a mod will move it. I thought IMHO was the best place for it but then i figured its a factual question so i put it here.
Also, i assume you thaw it before you cook it right? How ‘thaw’ must it be, must it be raw meat thaw or just flexible yet still frozen thaw?
It’s just for purposes of presentation. I like my food to look good AND taste good.
It should be fairly thoroughly thawed, so that the center can get hot enough to kill any dormant bacteria hagning out in there. If you have a meat thermometer, you can monitor the temperature in the center. When it gets to over ~140 degrees, you can consider it done.
do you cook it with the flat face down, or do you cook it on its side, or what?
Most hams ive seen have a half circle shape, i dont know if it matter what position i put it in when i cook it but i figured its better to ask. Do i put the flat side facing down, or do i lay it on its side with the flat side facing parallel to the floor?
In my other thread about refrigeration racer72 mentioned that thawing chicken in the microwave was one of the worst places to do so as it left the center frozen and open to bacterial growth. Does the same rule apply to ham since ham requires almost 2 hours to cook and chicken barely takes 20 minutes? then again, ham is very thick.
It doesn’t really matter. The conventional method is to place the ham flat-side-down, but if you want to be different, go right ahead. One last bit of advice. Since ovens usually have an uneven temperature distribution, turning it a half turn about halfway through cooking will help ensure more even cooking.
Yes. Thaw the frozen ham in the refrigerator, just the same as chicken and any other meat.
Here’s a good recipe.
Note the advice about making extra glaze. You’ll have extra jelly, so go right ahead.
You do need a pan. You can buy aluminum single-use roasting pans at the grocery store. Short-term, this is your cheapest option (next to borrowing one, even better) but long-term a good roasting pan is something to keep your eyes open for. You will have less risk of leaks or spills and can make better use of drippings for gravy with a good pan.
Allow time for it to thaw, maybe more than 1 day in the fridge. And you will probably want to freeze some of the end result if it’s just you eating the ham. I think it was Sartre who said “Eternity is 2 people and a ham.” Or maybe it was Julia Child, but who ever it was if it’s just you 8 pounds is 32 1/4 pound servings.
The leftover bone will make great stock or flavor rice or beans really well, too.
My copy of Joy of Cooking sez to bake the ham for 10-12 minutes per pound at 325F if you’ve bought a fully-cooked ham (you’re basically just reheating the thing), or 15-20 minutes per pound if it’s a partially-cooked ham. The label will tell you if it’s fully-cooked. If you have a fresh ham or a “country” ham, it’s another thing entirely, but I doubt you’ll need to worry about that in this case.
It should be fully thawed before you cook it. You should thaw meats in the fridge, even though it takes a loooong time. (That’s the “official” answer. In reality, remember that ham is designed to resist spoilage, so you might just want to leave it out on the kitchen counter to thaw. I personally wouldn’t thaw it in the microwave, because I’d be afraid it’d start cooking unevenly.)
The flat face should be perpendicular to the floor (so if it’s a bone-in ham, the bone is roughly parallel to the floor).
The skin tends to shrink when you bake the ham, and the crosshatches will make it split along the lines. Plus, it looks nice. (Of course, this is assuming there’s a skin on the ham.)
You want to set the ham in a roasting pan, since it’ll ooze some juice.
Cloves and/or a glaze are optional–since this is your first time, you may just want to skip 'em. You can always have a jar of coarse mustard on the dinner table for those who want it.
Being an uber-cheapass could i use a cookie sheet as that is all i have? They are about 1" deep, i dont know if thats enough to catch all the drippings.
I think Kroger sells pans for $1.50 but im too lazy to go buy one. Maybe i can just use the cookie sheet.
If you want to go the glaze route, a mixture of half ginger ale and half cranberry sauce is great. You’ll get a nice spicy note from the ginger, and tartness from the cranberries. Baste every half hour. Take off the foil the last half hour so the glaze can firm up and look nice when you present it at table.
If you go the glazed route, a crosshatch pattern will allow the glaze to penetrate the ham a bit deeper.
While quiltguy154’s glaze sounds yummy, the standard mix (which comes in a packet with some hams) is just brown sugar, butter, powdered cloves, maybe a little pepper, and enough water to make it runny.
I’ve cooked hams in aluminum sheetcake pans, cover with Al foil, with great success, but for the juiciest meat, you can’t beat a small, covered roaster pan, like that used for chicken or turkey.
It should work fine, but you might want to check it once or twice just to be safe. And be careful when you lift the cookie sheet with the ham on it, since it could be awkward.
Check the label on your ham to see if it says “fully cooked.” If it does, the 18-20 minutes per pound is a guidline for heating it rather than for cooking it (it’s already cooked). If it’s fully cooked you don’t even need to bake the whole thing at once. Just hack off a portion and heat it up in the microwave if you want, then cut up the rest of it into meal-sized chunks and freeze those for later. That’s what I do.
Mix honey, a little dry mustard, and a little ground clove and spread on top before baking.
Strange but true but Coca Cola makes an excellent glaze for ham. A friend of mine always cooks it this way (it’s Nigella Lawson recipe) and it’s divine.
Take some pineapple rings and pin them to the ham with toothpicks. Then take some brown sugar and pack it all over the ham; a little will fall off, but that’s okay. Bake according to the directions on the label, and pretty soon you have a moist, tender ham with a yummy glaze. Be warned; everyone is going to want all the pineapple rings for themselves!