Keeping A Ham Warm And Moist

[picksbigwagon]

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Okay, we have decided to get a spiral cut ham for xmas day. The idea is to either bake it first, slice it, and then put it in a croc pot for sandwhiches, or slice it first and then put it in the crock. My question is what kind of liquid should I use? I remember whatching and Alton Brown show once and he used Dr. Pepper and Ginger cookies among other things to bake a ham, could I use dr. Pepper? What have you used to keep the slice warm in the crock pot?????

[reinhard1]

with a spiral ham [i'm sure you know its already sliced to the bone} you should make sure you wrap the ham in foil, or when you put it in a pan make sure the ham is covered with foil over the pan. this way the ham is prevented from drying out. i personaly have never bought a spiral ham. nothing wrong with them, however regular hams have the same quality and always less expensive. hams that are unsliced retain their moisture better. the ham [being water added during the curing proccess]should give you enough liquid to put in a crock pot along with your slices. i also cover regular hams in foil until the last half hour when i put a glaze on. good luck.

 

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[ThunderLund78]

We always make our spiral hams in a roasting pan with a cover. Dump apple juice (use 100% natural--no artificial high-fructose stuff)over the ham put the cover on it and let it cook by steaming it in the apple juice. It adds great flavor and then you have plenty of juices in the bottom when finished. I usually monitor the ham and baste it frequently--let it cook for an hour then check and baste every 15 min or so. You don't have to cook it quite as long as the package says, especially if you're putting it in the crockpot with the juices. So once it's done baking, cut it in slices, put in the crockpot and pour as much juice in as you can from the pan in there with it. Put it on low to keep it warm and serve at your leisure.

[delcecchi]

One thing is to not get it too hot since that makes it dry out. Just warm it since it is already cooked.

[picksbigwagon]

Okay, I should clarify. I plan on making the ham in the oven, then cutting if off the spiral and then placing it in the crock pot afterward so when people are hungry, they can make a sandwich whenever they feel like it, now what kind of liquid could I add to the ham in the crock pot to keep it from drying out???

[reinhard1]

by covering the ham and heating it up, it should provide the natural juices from the ham. as i said in my post, put those jucies in the crock pot and keep it on low. if you feel you dont have enough moisture, add a little chicken broth [swansons for example]. but dont drown the ham in it. crock pots create some moisture of their own. good luck.

[picksbigwagon]

Thanks R1, the last couple of Jon spiral hams did not give much "juice" which made It hard to make gravy. I will wrap it and heat it as you suggested. I love it when the house smells of ham

[reinhard1]

cant do wrong with chicken broth. its mild and wont distract from the ham. use the drippings from the ham and add the broth if needed and keep on low. merry christmas and good luck.

[fishhuntwork]

Alls you have to do with a ham is heat it through. I usually cook it at 250 for 3 hrs with water, brown sugar and pine apple. If your going to slice it, slice it 1st and then heat it up.

[reinhard1]

Whole or half bone-in hams are not labled fully cooked. in general you can do what you recommend, however when purchasing a ham with the bone in i dont know of two many people that slice it first. if your going to glaze your ham it should be left whole and follow cooking instructions. even without the glaze it should be left whole and sliced after heating it through. spiral hams are pre-sliced by sliceing around the bone at the plant. heating the ham through while whole [unsliced] retains the moisture and the flavor. just my opinion after 35 years as a meat cutter. good luck.

 

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[Swimbait2009]

Hints for moist ham:

Before you remove your ham from it's vacuum sealed plastic, soak it in hot tap water for 45 minutes. Pour the water out and repeat the process. Unless you are cooking a fresh ham (hard to find and not always worth the effort), your ham is most likely already cooked. The hot water bath raises the internal temperature of the meat before exposing it to the dry heat of an oven.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Second, use an oven bag. "Reynolds" sells them at your grocery store for sure. Put your ham in the bag, and tie the top so the bag is moderately snug around the ham. Make four small slits at the top of the bag to prevent the bag from bursting. Put the ham (in its bag) into a roasting pan and place it all in the oven. Roast for 10 minutes per pound, until roast reaches an internal temperature of 100 degrees (about 1 - 1 1/2 hrs for most hams)

Remove roast from oven and increase temperature to 350 degrees. Cut bag away from roast and just bunch it up at the bottom of the ham (no need to take it out of the pan...leaving it in there will actually help with cleanup). Baste ham with 1/3 of a glaze of some sort (I made one tonight, so I'll put the glaze I made at the end of this diatribe). Return it to the oven until glaze becomes sticky, around 10 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer roast to a cutting board, baste with another 1/3 of the glaze, and tent loosely with foil. Allow ham to rest for 15 minutes. <---- VERY IMPORTANT STEP!!!

While ham rests, add about 5 Tbsp of any juices from the bottom of your roasting pan to the remaining glaze and heat over low heat to create a nice sauce for the table.

Carve, serve and enjoy! Repeat as many times as needed!

Orange, cinnamon, and star anise glaze (yields around 1 1/2 cups):

1 cup orange juice

1 Tbsp grated orange zest

2 cups, packed light brown sugar

4 star anise pods

1 3" cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until mixture is thick and syrupy, and about 1 1/2 cups, 5-7 minutes. Glaze will continue to thicken between bastings.

This recipe works equally well with a spiral-cut or whole ham.

Good luck, and merry christmas!!

 

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