This Holiday Ham Recipe Will Steal The Show

Prepping the Ham

Meat cooks better when it’s not still cold from the fridge, so make sure your ham is thawed and let it rest on the counter for half an hour before it goes into the oven. If you want a picture-perfect holiday ham complete with that appetizing diamond pattern across its skin, all you’ll need for that mouth-watering effect is a good, sharp knife. Scoring the fat and skin of the ham in a lattice pattern will provide extra surfaces for the glaze to permeate and impart its flavor. The glaze (or rub) can be fashioned out of any sweets and spices you prefer, whether you like to work with BBQ flavors, spicy cayenne and paprika, or even the brown sugar and cola method.

Into the Oven

Preheat the oven to 350 F as you prep the ham and optional glaze. Once the ham has come up to room temperature, lay it flat-side down in a large roasting pan. You don’t want the ham to dry out in the oven, so to keep it moist, pour a cup of water into the pan, then cover the meat with foil. Slide the ham into the oven without the glaze, then apply it for the last hour of cooking time (adding it from the beginning could burn the sugars). You’ll need to cook your ham until the deepest internal temperature reads 140 F.

Down Time

Just as you would rest a steak when it comes off the grill, you need to let your ham sit still for a few minutes before cutting into it. No matter what kind of ham you choose to cook, it will need to rest once it’s out of the oven so that all the juices inside can settle. This step allows those juices to distribute more evenly throughout the ham, and that process should take about 15 minutes. It’s a true test of patience, but if you can resist digging in right away, the results will be well worth the wait.

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