Baked Glazed Ham with Brown Sugar and Grainy Mustard

This gorgeous sticky glazed ham will sit beautifully on your Thanksgiving Dinner Table this year. It’s coated with a sauce made of brown sugar, molasses, and grainy mustard. A touch of cinnamon, cloves, and fresh ginger enhance it as well. Oh, and brandy, I can’t forget to mention the brandy. Not only does this main course dish give an impressive presentation, the aroma emanating from your kitchen will most definitely cause friends and family to congregate there.

Why I love this Glazed Ham Recipe:

1. The flavor of the glaze is “out of this world” good. I’m really not just saying that because it’s mine. The combination of ingredients that make up the sugary coating is a perfect balance of tastes.

2. It’s one of the easiest main courses to prepare. Because the ham is already cooked, basically all you have to do is warm it up before you caramelize the glaze. All in all, it takes about 1 hour and 55 minutes to cook with very little involvement.

3. It can feed a crowd. Depending on the size of ham you choose, this ham could be served at a small intimate dinner party or a Thanksgiving celebration with the grandparents and all the cousins.

4. This ham is so impressive that it will “steal the show” as it sits on your table. The glaze when it caramelizes gives such a gorgeous brown glisten to the ham itself. You’ll not want to slice into it because it’s so pretty. But you will, because everyone around will be begging you to.

How to Choose a perfect ham

When shopping for a ham consider how many guests you will be serving. One-half pound per person is what you are looking for. So if you are planning for 20 people, you will need a 10-pound ham. But if you want leftovers, which I can’t image you won’t, you’ll want to go just a bit larger.

I chose a bone-in shank ham because it has so much flavor and is much easier to carve. Next time I may try a butt ham because they’re a little more tender. The butt ham is from the upper part of the leg which gets less exercise.

Linger’s Expert Tip: If you want a lot of flavor, go with a bone-in cut of meat. When the bone is heated the marrow (rich in fat and other amazing flavors) penetrates into the meat which creates a juicy and tasty end product.

Check out this “Complete Guide to Buying a Ham” from Kitchn. You’ll find helpful information about the different types of ham you can purchase.

Scoring the Ham

Scoring means to make shallow crisscross cuts in the outer fatty portion of the ham to allow the glaze to penetrate the meat.

Start at the top of one side of the ham, using your knife, cut diagonally down to the end of the other side. The cuts should be 1/3 to 1/2 inch deep. Continue cutting diagonal lines about one-inch apart across the whole ham.

Next, using diagonal lines again with one inch apart, cut from the other direction. This gives a diamond-shaped pattern across the whole surface. It’s not only for flavor but for a stunning presentation as well.

Linger’s Expert Tip: Use a sharp paring knife when scoring the ham. If your knife is dull, it will tear the ham and not give you the pretty diamond shape pattern that you’re looking for.

Warming the Ham before Glazing it

When you purchase this ham it’s already fully cooked. Therefore the ease of preparing it is incredibly simple. The main reason it goes into the oven is just to warm it.

The following is how I recommend cooking this ham. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place the cut side of the ham down into a shallow roasting pan (the fatty side up). You can add a little bit of water (maybe 1/4 cup) but I didn’t even do that because the juices of the fat kept the meat plenty moist.

Cover the ham tightly with foil at this beginning warming stage. This helps prevent the meat from drying out.  It creates its own steam within the foil. Cook on this low temperature for about 10 minutes per pound. I had a seven-pound ham and I cooked it for one hour and ten minutes.

Not to brag … okay, maybe I will. I cooked mine just like I spelled it out above. Listen, it turned out absolutely perfect, tender and juicy.

Linger’s Expert Tip: Be careful not to cook the ham too long or at too high a temperature – 300°F and 10 minutes per pound. This helps ensure the ham will not dry out.

Preparing the Glaze

The glaze, in my opinion, is what produces the enticing flavor and stunning presentation of this ham. The pungent flavor of the mustard, the sweetness from the sugar, the richness of molasses, the spicy tones of cinnamon and cloves, and the sweet but warm aspect of the ginger, all of these contribute to the depth of flavor in the glaze.

I’ve had a lot of hams with a lot of glazes in my lifetime, and this one tops all of them!

A simple and quick glaze

There is nothing complicated about this glaze. Basically, you throw everything in a small pan, bring it to a low boil and simmer it for about 3 minutes. I told you this whole dish is so dang easy and with very little participation.

At some point in the middle of cooking the ham, prepare the glaze. You want it to sit for some time, cooling a bit before it goes on the ham. It needs to be warm and runny enough to spread on the ham, but not too cool that it’s hard to smooth out.

To begin with, spread 1/3 of the glaze over all of the ham. This will be the first round of glazing.

Turn the heat up to 450°F. There’s no need to cover the ham with foil again because what we want now is the glaze to caramelize. With the first round of glaze on the ham, cook it uncovered for 15 minutes. Pull it out of the oven and spread it with another third of the glaze. Back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Then the remaining glaze for another 15 minutes. This is a total of three glaze applications and 45 minutes.

Linger’s Expert Tip: Be careful when spreading the glaze on the ham that you don’t tear up the meat. It’s best if the glaze is still warm when applying it.

I wish with all my heart you could smell the magnificent aroma of this ham right now. Honestly, guys, while it was cooking, the scent drew both my husband and son into the kitchen and they hovered over me for a good hour while I took photos.

They were like puppy dogs waiting for the scraps to fall on the floor. And believe me, they went crazy over the flavor when they finally got to stuff it in their mouths. Yep, I do believe I have found the perfect entrée for our Thanksgiving celebration.

Succulent, delectable, sweet and mustardy – this main course dish is over the top delicious!! I know everybody says, “you gotta try my recipe,” but REALLY – you gotta try my recipe. With this as the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving dinner, it will for sure be a talking point among your guests for weeks to come.

If you’re looking for more Easter Main Course Recipes, check out the following:

Roasted Racks of Lamb with Apricot Mustard Glaze

Roasted Leg of Lamb with Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

Fruit Stuffed Pork Loin with Peach Glaze

Herbed Crown Roast of Pork

Apricot Glazed Stuffed Cornish Hens

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