A baked ham is the perfect centerpiece for any holiday meal or other gathering of friends and family. A simple sweet and tasty glaze puts this in a class by itself. There are almost endless ways to serve this and endless possibility for side dishes. Everyone will go crazy over this....and maybe the best part-it makes the best leftovers.
Estimated Time 3 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 24Servings
Here's What You Need
10-12poundsmoked ham-shank portion - see Notes
12wholecloves
12slicespineapples
12 wholemaraschino cherries
12ouncespineapple juice (from slices)
112 ounce canroot beer
toothpics
For the Glaze
1 ½cupsdark brown sugar
¼cupapple cider vinegar
2tablespoonsprepared yellow mustard
pinchkosher salt
Here's What You Do
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Unwrap the ham and trim off some of the hard rind and excess fat. Make sure to leave a nice ¼ inch layer of fat on the ham. Mix the can of root beer with the pineapple juice form the slices.
Score the ham in a cross-hatch design and place one whole clove at each intersection.
Place the ham in a roasting pan. Pour the pineapple/root beer over the top of the ham in the pan. The excess liquid will remain in the pan and mix with rendered juices while roasting and make an excellent basting liquid.
Place the ham in the pan on the oven.
Combine the glaze ingredients, mix well and set aside. Get the pineapple slice and cherries ready.
After one hour, remove the ham from the oven and baste well with the pan juices. Place the pineapples all over the top of the ham in a single layer and place a cherry in the center hole of each slice. Secure all to ham with the toothpicks. Return the ham to the oven.
In a couple of hours check the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer. Keep monitoring the IT and when it reaches 135 degrees, remove the ham again from the oven and increase the temperature to 400 degrees.
Baste the ham well with the pan juices. Pour the glaze all over the top of the ham making sure to get some over all the pineapples and the face of the ham. Return to the 400 degree oven.
Continue to bake for another 30 to 45 minutes until it reaches 145 degrees internal temperature and the glaze is browning a bit. If it is browning too fast, tent with aluminum foil until its ready.
Remove the ham from the oven and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
The ham label should say fully cooked, water added, ready to eat. If you want more information about ham labeling, please check out this lagniappe post. Remember to save that ham bone!