Easter Ham Tips & Recipes

Every holiday needs their big chunk of meat. Thanksgiving has turkey, St. Patrick's Day has corned beef, and Easter has ham. If you are planning to bake a ham (how come we don't roast a ham?) this year, here are some tips and guidelines that you might find useful. You will find links to other parts of my website that will provide you with more information about each topic.

Select the Ham
In order to pick a ham you need to know what the difference is between the different types out there. I also think that you should avoid boneless hams at all costs. The week before Easter, hams will be on sale at pretty much every store. I keep track of the sales in Michigan. Even if you are not from Michigan, you might be interested in comparing prices with your region.

What I Use When I Bake A Ham
Here are some tools that I use whenever I am baking a ham.
1. Roasting Pan - You need something big to bake your ham in and a roasting pan is the perfect vessel. I don't recommend not stick in this case as I always find that I still end up with burnt sugar in the bottom from my glaze. It's harder to clean a non-stick pan without scratching it and ruining the non stick. So just go with an stainless steel that you can scrub easier.
2. Electric Knife - Makes carving the ham a whole lot easier. You don't need something expense here. A cheap one works just fine.
3. Probe thermometer - Even thought hams come cooked most of the time, you still need to heat it up. Don't trust the instructions that came with your hand, trust a probe thermometer to get your ham reheated to the properly temperature. I have had ham that has been overcooked, a dry ham is not something you ever want to experience.

Ham Recipes
I have posted a couple different ham recipes on this site. The first one is for Alton Brown's City Ham. This ham is covered in a glaze featuring mustard, brown sugar, and smashed ginger snap cookies. The second one is for a Spiced Root Beer Glazed Ham. I allow some spices to steep in root beer for a half hour and then I reduce it until it's the consistency of a glaze.

What to Do with the Leftover Ham
You can freeze leftover ham for later use. I like to separate into individual servings that I pulled out when I need to make a sandwich. I also make either split pea or bean soup using the ham bone. There is a new recipe I want to try out from the Food Network show, Sandwich King. It's for Ham on Sweet Potato Biscuits with Blackberry-Balsamic Drizzle.