How to Cook a Honey Baked Ham

Hungry for ham? It is winter and a warm baked honey ham is a most excellent way to warm up your family. I use an old-fashioned honey glaze and thought you might enjoy this recipe too. This is a simple recipe anyone can make.

Hungry for ham? It is winter and a warm baked honey ham is a most excellent way to warm up your family. I use an old-fashioned honey glaze and thought you might enjoy this recipe too. This is a simple recipe anyone can make.

Things you’ll need

Smoked Ham, this recipe is for a 6 lb. ham

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup orange juice

Whole cloves, if desired

Step 1

Put your ham in the pan. (I spray my roasting pan first; this makes for easy clean-up). Place fat side up in the pan. Do not add water. You can also put it on a rack in a shallow baking pan, but I don’t because it is just one more thing to wash! As with all my recipes, your preference is best. Alter accordingly. I’ve included other options for glazes below in step 4. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 2 ½ hours, or according to the directions for your size ham. Just remember to remove 30 minute before it is done to glaze, no matter the size or type of ham.

Step 2

Half an hour before ham is done, remove from oven. Score the ham. Be careful because it is very hot! To make it elegant looking, score the meat using a 1 inch cross hatch or crisscross pattern (cut several slits diagonally down your ham and then turn and cut the other way). I poke whole cloves where the “X”s are before I glaze the ham. Gently pour your glaze over your ham, making sure to get it in the scored places so the glaze will penetrate into the ham. Increase your temperature by 50 degrees and return to oven for browning for about 15 minutes.

Step 3

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes, as it will be easier to carve. Set your table and carve your beautiful ham. And there you have it, Baked Honey Ham.

Step 4

Alternate Glazes

Easy Mustard Glaze – ½ cup of brown sugar (packed), 2 tablespoons orange or pineapple juice, ½ teaspoon of dry mustard. Mix and glaze your ham.

Jelly Glaze – use a cup of current jelly or apricot jelly as your glaze.

Fruit Glaze – Whole cloves to press in the score lines. ½ cup of brown sugar (packed), crushed or sliced pineapple, maraschino cherries, and 2 tablespoons of a Coke or Dr. Pepper or pineapple juice as your liquid. I use this glaze often. I use the pineapple slices with a cherry in the middle and arrange my cloves around them. It is very pretty.

Peach Glaze – ¾ cup of brown sugar (packed), 1/3 cup syrup from canned peaches, 3 tablespoons vinegar, ¾ teaspoon cloves and or cinnamon (I like them mixed), and finely chopped peaches, just a few. Mix well, glaze and bake your ham. Use the rest of your peaches as a garnish around your ham.

Tips

Either whole fully cooked or bone-in hams will work, just cook according to the label.

Cube your leftover ham and put into freezer bags to use in chef salads or ham and cheese omelets.

If you use the bone-in ham, use the leftover bone and meat the next day to make beans.

Warnings

Scoring your ham can be very dangerous as it is hot. You can also score your ham before you cook it, but be carefully that it doesn’t dry out. You could cover it with foil if it starts to look dry.

Please be sure to comment on this recipe.  I really want to hear from you and what you think!  Have a great day!