Cooking and glazing a cured ham? It’s in the bag
Glazed spiral-sliced ham
Heating and glazing a cured ham seems effortless, but many recipes yield leathery meat in an overly sweet glaze. We wanted to guarantee moist holiday meat in a nuanced glaze.
Bone-in hams, labeled “with natural juices,” have the best flavor, and spiralsliced ones make carving a cinch. But too much time in the oven can ruin even the best ham on the market, so we focused on reducing the cooking time. Soaking the ham in hot water shaved off a full hour, and using an oven bag further reduced the cooking time while also containing the ham’s moisture.
We heated a mixture of sweet and savory pantry staples for two tempting glaze options.
You may bypass the 11⁄2-hour soaking time, but the ham will be less juicy and the heating time must increase to 18 to 20 minutes per pound. We prefer a tapered shank ham, but a rounded sirloin ham will work here.
If there is a tear or hole in the ham’s inner covering, wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap before the hot-water soak. If you do not want to use an oven bag, place the ham cut side down in the roasting pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil, adding 3 to 4 minutes per pound to the heating time. For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit www.americastest kitchen.com. Servings: 12-14 Start to finish: (7-to-10-pound) spiral-sliced bone-in half ham
large plastic oven bag recipe glaze (recipes follow)
until center registers 100 degrees, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours (about 10 minutes per pound). Maple-Orange Glaze: Makes 1 cup cup maple syrup cup orange marmalade tablespoons unsalted butter tablespoon Dijon mustard teaspoon pepper teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine ingredients in small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes; set aside.
Cherry-Port Glaze: Makes 1 cup cup ruby port cup cherry preserves cup packed dark brown sugar teaspoon pepper Simmer port in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes; set aside.
Nutrition information per serving with orange glaze: 390 calories; 157 calories from fat; 17 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 145 mg cholesterol; 1914 mg sodium; 7 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 52 g protein.
Nutrition information per serving with port glaze: 463 calories; 151 calories from fat; 17 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 143 mg cholesterol; 1908 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 23 g sugar; 52 g protein.