How to Glaze a Christmas Ham

Glazing the ham takes it from something fairly ordinary to a show-stopping centrepiece on the Christmas table and adds heaps of flavour too.

Here is a guide to selecting your Christmas Ham.

In this video, you’ll see how to prepare and carve the perfect glazed ham for Christmas, Thanksgiving or any other special occasion.

Ingredients

Glaze

• 1 & 1/2 cups of dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp ground cardamon
• 1 tbsp dried mustard powder
• Orange Juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Place an oven shelf in the lowest position in your oven. Line a large baking dish with 2 layers of non-stick baking paper, or better still, use a disposable foil baking tray.
2. Use a small, sharp knife to cut around the shank of the ham, about 10cm from the end. This makes sure the hock of the ham looks presentable when serving at the table
3. Gently lift the rind off in one piece by running your fingers between the rind and the fat.
4. Use a knife to score the fat in a diamond pattern, about 5mm deep. Stud the centres of the diamonds with cloves.
5. Mix all the dry glaze ingredients together, add orange juice to make a loose paste.
6. Spread half the glaze over the ham with a pastry brush. Add one cup of water to the base of the baking dish to stop the glaze from burning.
7. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the ham starts to brown. Use the remainder of the glaze and return to the oven for a final 25 - 30 minutes. The ham should now be a beautiful golden colour and warmed through. Rest for 30 minutes before carving.
8. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

Notes

STORING THE HAM

After everyone has had their fill, the ham needs to be kept in the fridge in a ham bag. This can be a purpose-made calico or muslin bag, or a pillow case, and it needs to be soaked in a weak vinegar solution. It’s best if all the glazed bits have been eaten off just so the ham bag doesn’t instantly turn glaze-coloured – but that’s not the end of the world. The bag needs to be rinsed and re-soaked in vinegar solution every three days or so, until the ham is used up.

There are many schools of thought as to how long the ham will last after Christmas, some people say days, others say weeks, I say in my experience we can eat it for about a week if the bag is refreshed. Use your own common sense, give it the sniff test, make sure it’s not left out of the fridge for too long at a time. It can be frozen – but in my opinion it’s nowhere near as nice afterwards so best to eat it up while it’s good!