Easy recipe for Christmas cranberry ham glaze + Quick how-to video (2024)

FAQs

Do you put the glaze on a ham before you cook it or after you cook it? ›

The glaze should not be applied until the final hour to 30 minutes, in order to avoid burning the sugars. What you're going to do with the glaze ingredients is just combine most of them into a paste, and then apply it to the ham. After that, the heat in your oven will take care of everything.

To Prepare Ahead: make the glaze up to 2 weeks in advance. Remove the rind from the ham and score it, return to the fridge up to 2 days ahead. On the day of, apply the glaze, bake and baste.

After the ham has cooked for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, brush the surface with some of the glaze. Then pop it back into the oven, uncovered, for another 20 minutes or so. Pull it out and brush on more glaze, then pop it back in the oven. Then pull it out and brush on more glaze!

Whether you heat your spiral ham in the slow cooker or oven, all you have to do is open the glaze packet and apply it 30 minutes before your ham is finished cooking. By the time it's ready to serve, you'll have a satiny-glazed ham without any of the time or effort it takes to make a ham glaze.

Not Covering Your Ham

If you don't cover your ham while cooking it will quickly dry out. Instead: Put some aluminum foil over your ham while it's cooking. It is recommended that the ham is covered for at least half of the cooking process and only removed during the last half when you glaze it.

Bake at 325F for 16-20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 135F. Unwrap the ham and apply the glaze; increase the heat to 400F and bake for 15-20 minutes longer until the glaze is burnished. It's difficult to grill a whole or half ham because the method uses such dry high heat.

Prep The Ham

Once you've chosen your glaze, place the ham, cut-side-down, in a heavy-duty aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan. Let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush 1/2 cup of the glaze over the ham with a heatproof spatula or pastry brush.

Baked Ham Best Practices

Cook fat-side up in a roasting pan filled with about 1/2 inch of water covered tightly in foil for the bulk of the time. During the last 30 minutes, remove the foil, crank the heat up to 425ºF, brush with a simple glaze at least twice. Let rest 20 minutes before carving.

Glazing: Empty contents of the glaze packet into a small saucepan. Add 22 mL (1 1/2 tbsp) warm water. Heat glaze mixture on high, stirring constantly, until glaze begins to boil. Remove immediately from heat.

Baste lots – every 20 minutes. More basting = better glaze! Baste LOADS before serving – This is where magic happens, especially if you've got bits that didn't caramelise well. As the ham rests, the liquid in the pan thickens so you get a thicker glaze on the ham.

What is honeybaked ham glaze made of? ›

Heat the honey, corn syrup, and butter in a double boiler to make the glaze. Brush the glaze over the ham and bake in a foil-lined pan for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, brushing every 15 minutes or so with the glaze. Broil the ham for a few minutes before removing it from the oven.

Any meat that is roasted in the oven needs moisture so it won't burn at the bottom of the pan or dry out. The trick is to make sure you add some kind of liquid to your pan. So here's the hack: Add half a cup of wine or stock to the bottom of your pan before popping that ham in the oven.

Remove all packaging materials and place ham on its side, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan; cover loosely with aluminum foil. Heat approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound until heated through. Remove ham from oven and let stand, covered, 20 minutes before serving.

Peach preserves, hot pepper jelly, and maple syrup work as sweet bases for glazes that add sheen as well as distinct flavor. Tasty additions such as aromatics, herbs, and spices switch up a traditional ham and make it truly memorable.

Cooking: As the ham is already cooked, the purpose of glazing is to add your own flavour notes and to caramelise the fat.