Alton Brown's City Ham with Ginger Snap Crust

Learn about the city ham recipe from Alton Brown that has a ginger snap crust. Is it worth to make it for Christmas or Easter?

Why make this ham? A city ham is an already cooked ham that you will reheat at a low temperature so not to dry it out. Alton Brown's ginger snap crust adds a lot of flavor to the ham and is better than any glaze you could buy in the grocery store.

My first time ever cooking ham I wanted to try out a good recipe. One that would be different that what I have had before.

For Easter dinner back in 2010 I gave Alton Brown's recipe for city ham a try. It's been a tried and true recipe I have gone back to many a times. And even if I don't do the crust that same way every time, I always follow the techniques I learned from this recipe.

Jump to:

• 🏙️ What is a City Ham?
• 🛒 Ingredients
• 📋 Instructions
• 💭 Final Thoughts
• Alton Brown's Ginger Snap Crust City Ham

🏙️ What is a City Ham?

When you go to the grocery store you aren't going to see a sign that says "city ham". This type of ham is the ham most of us think of when we think of ham. It's your shank or butt end ham or your spiral sliced ham. Unless you live in the south or have a Cracker Barrel near you, you won't likely find a country ham. There is a difference process for making each type of ham.

RELATED - Learn about the different types of ham you can find in the grocery store.

🛒 Ingredients

This recipe has you applying a crust to that ham that is made up of dark brown sugar, brown mustard, and ginger snap cookies. Yes I said ginger snap cookies. You turn them into dust in your food processor and apply them to the ham in the final hour of cooking. How delicious does that sound?

Here is what you will need for the crust

• 1 shank end or butt end bone-in ham
• ¼ cup brown mustard
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 cups crushed ginger snap cookies

I used a shank end city ham, like Alton picked out in the show. I have also tried it with a butt end ham, but (see what I did there), I prefer the shank cut as I think it's easier to carve in the end.

Alton's recipe calls for adding bourbon to the ham as well. I don't do alcohol so I always skip that part. He has you spray 1 ounce of it onto the ham for flavor. I haven't had no issues with the crust without it, so chose if you want to or not.

As for the ginger snap cookies, I highly recommend the brand "Stauffer's". The cookies are loaded with ginger flavor.

If you don't have brown mustard, you could just use regular yellow mustard or Dijon or even stone ground mustard.

Light brown sugar would work as well but dark brown will have more flavor, so I recommend using it.

📋 Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 250 degrees. You want a slow reheating process for your ham so that it is heated up evenly. Plan for 3-4 hours for this. If you go too high that outside of the ham will be hot and dry while the center will still be cold. The amount of time will depend on the size and shape of your ham.

Place your ham onto a roasting pan or a sheet pan. Score the ham in a diamond shape with a pairing knife by running the knife in two different directions. Don't be too fussy with this.

To know when the ham is hot enough you will need a thermometer. I recommend a probe style so you can monitor the temperature throughout the process. Check out my podcast interview transcript on Why Thermometers Will Save You Money to get more info on the best thermometers to use for this.

You are looking to insert the probe into the center of the ham, being careful not to hit any bone. Then set the alarm to go off at 130 degrees.

Before you put the ham in the oven, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil. This will keep the ham from drying out.

Once you get to 130 degrees, remove the ham from the oven. Turn the oven temperature up to 350 degrees. Remove the foil and keep the probe in.

Now it's time to add the ginger snap crust. Here is how you will do that:

• Using a paper towel, dab the ham
• Using a basting brush spread the mustard in a thick layer onto the ham.
• Carefully pack brown sugar onto the mustard
• Crush up the ginger snap cookies and add them as the next layer. If they aren't sticking or you aren't using the bourbon you can spray on a little water to see if that helps. Naturally some will fall off the ham, but do your best to keep that to a minimum.

Return the ham to the oven uncovered now and cook until it reaches 140 degrees. Pull from the oven. Alton says to allow 30 minutes for it to rest with it covered back in foil again. I think 15 minutes is enough. I have waited that long before and it was no problem.

For carving the ham, I like to use an electric knife. Doesn't have to be an expensive one either.

💭 Final Thoughts

The crust. The crust. Oh my goodness the crust. It made this ham truly the star of my Easter dinner and it has stared at Christmas now as well. My wife wanted to try this recipe because she isn't really into ham, but like the idea of the crust and now she asks for it! I didn't really have any problems with this recipe. It was rather simple and good.

The only downside at all is that the leftovers are not as good unless you reheat them in the oven as the crust will get soggy in the fridge. It's been fresh out of the oven for sure. You could try re-heating leftover ham in your air fryer for better results.

Want to try making a ham in the Instant Pot? Follow my recipe that I have been using for many years now, since I first got my first Instant Pot.