New Year's Day Fresh Ham Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What temperature is a fresh ham done? ›

Cook all raw fresh ham and ready-to-eat ham to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F (62.8 °C) as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.

Hams can be fresh, cured or cured-and-smoked. The term ham refers to the cured leg of pork. A fresh ham would be an uncured leg of pork. The fresh ham will have the term “fresh” in the title of the product. The term fresh means that the product has not been cured in any process.

For a precooked ham, reheat for about 18 minutes per pound to hit 140°F. In general, we prefer bone-in ham, which is more flavorful and less expensive per pound than boneless ham. Plus, you can freeze the ham bone to make stock or toss it into a pot of beans or braised greens.

Cooking Temperature and Time

If the ham is a half ham weighing five to seven pounds, it should heat at 325°F for 22-25 minutes per pound. If it is a whole ham weighing between 10 to 14 pounds, heat the ham at 325°F for 18-20 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should be 140°F.

Heat oven to 350°F. Place ham, flat side down, on rack in shallow roasting pan; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake approximately 13 to 18 minutes per pound until heated through.

Uncured ham, also labeled as "fresh ham" is the same cut as cured ham.

Ham is the cured leg of pork. Fresh ham is an uncured leg of pork. Fresh ham will bear the term "fresh" as part of the product name and is an indication that the product is not cured. Hams are either ready-to-eat or not.

In fact, most ham that is sold to consumers is already cured, smoked or baked. As a deli meat, it can be eaten right out of the refrigerator, but other hams are typically reheated for improved flavor and texture. You can also buy fresh ham, and it would have to be cooked prior to eating.

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.

How do you cook a precooked ham without drying it out? ›

The goal is to reheat the ham without drying it out. The best way to do this is to place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan. Add water to the bottom of the pan and cover the whole thing tightly with foil. Bake at 325F for 16-20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 135F.

If you are baking a precooked, bone-in spiral cut ham, the great news is it's already cooked and you're just basically reheating. The bad news is if you over bake it, you can dry it out easily. Since it's already sliced, it really doesn't take much to dry it out.

Celebration Ham

Raised without antibiotics or added hormones. Naturally hardwood smoked. Fully cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Unwrap the ham and rinse it in cold water. Place it on the rack in the roasting pan. Cover the pan with the lid and bake for half the estimated cooking time (Total cooking time is about 20 minutes per pound.)

Both whole or half, cooked, vacuum-packaged hams packaged in federally inspected plants and canned hams can be eaten cold, right out of the package. However, if you want to reheat these cooked hams, set the oven no lower than 325 °F and heat to an internal temperature of 140 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture points out that uncooked hams will need to reach an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit before they can be safely consumed. However, pre-cooked hams only need to reach 140, and going past this temperature runs the risk of drying out your ham.

Cooked canned ham and cooked vacuum-packaged ham, both from federally inspected plants, can be eaten right out of the package. All of these along with spiral-cut cooked ham are safe to eat cold or can be warmed to an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C), as they are already fully cooked.

City ham should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches 140 F. Country and fresh hams should be cooked until the internal temperature reaches 160 F. Always let it rest 15 minutes before slicing to lock in the juices.