How to Glaze a Ham

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

19 Mar 2008 07:46 AM

Central too many Easter tables this Sunday will be glazed ham. Of course you can always buy a pre-glazed, spiral cut ham. While I tend to think that's easier, creating your own delicious ham glaze, in my humble opinion, often tends a better result.

Trimming the Ham

Believe it or not, the best way to trim a ham is to cook it for a few hours first. Let's face it, fat is yummy and if you leave the fat on, it bastes the ham while it is cooking. Cook it for at least two hours to get the full flavor and benefit of basting the ham.

Cut a slit in the rind and then carefully trim away the fat, leaving about 1/4 inch of the fat on the ham. (Don't cut into the meat while trimming the fat.)

Scoring the Ham

The purpose of scoring the ham is so that when you add the glaze, it meat becomes more flavorful. However, it's important to not score the meat, but rather the 1/4 inch thick fat layer you left.

Make diagonal slits through the fat layer going one way, scoring all the way around the non-cut side of the ham. (Not the meat side.) Then make cuts going the other way. If you want to be fancy, insert cloves into each diamond. It does little to change the flavor, but it makes a nice presentation and it makes the house smell great!

Glazing the Ham

Regardless of what type of ham you use, you should glaze the ham approximately 30 minutes before it's ready to come out of the oven. If you do it much before then, the ham could burn.

Drizzle the glaze over the ham, using a brush to coat thoroughly, and put back into the oven. When it's finished the result will be something you and your guests will want to devour! Look soon for glazes to put onto this delicious ham!

Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.

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Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

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