Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful, ham roasts are easy enough for a family dinner at home, but also special enough for holidays and celebrations.
8poundssmoked hamsemi-boneless or bone-in. It depends on the brand
4tablespoonsunsalted buttermelted
1cupbrown sugar
¼cuphoney
¼cupspicy brown mustard
1teaspoonsalt
½teaspoonblack pepper
¼teaspoonground cloves
1cupwater
whole clovesoptional garnish
Instructions
Remove or lower your middle oven rack in your oven before preheating. Preheat the oven to 325°F. You will need a large roasting pan and an extra-large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Remove all the packaging from the smoked ham. If it came with a seasoning packet, I typically just discard it. Place the ham into the roasting pan.
Using a very sharp knife, you will make score marks into the skin and fat of the topside of the ham. You will want to create a diamond pattern of 1 to 1½ inch-sized diamonds. Your score marks should be about ½ inch deep.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, honey, spicy mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground cloves. Set aside.
Add the water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cover the ham tightly with a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure that you seal the edges well so that no steam escapes. This helps to ensure that your ham stays moist and heats through evenly.
Bake for 1 hour (or all but the last hour of bake time according to the size of your ham). Remove the ham from the oven and remove the piece of aluminum foil from the ham. Set the foil aside.
Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire surface of the ham. Try to get the glaze mixture into the score marks on the top of the ham.
If you want to add the optional whole cloves to garnish your ham, carefully poke a single whole clove into the center of some of your diamond marks to create a beautiful presentation. If you plan to use whole cloves, you can cut back the amount of ground cloves in your glaze to ⅛ teaspoon.
Place the ham back into the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 1 to 1½ hours of cook time. Your ham should have an internal temperature of approximately 140°F. During this time, you can spoon some of the juices from the roasting pan over the top of the ham to baste your ham and keep it moist.
TENTH STEP: Allow your ham roast to rest on the counter, lightly tented with the reserved piece of aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.