BakeAmerican
Oven-glazed city ham
A cured ham is already cooked. You are warming it gently and building a sticky crust, not starting from raw.
Made it?
2 hr 24 min · 20 min hands-on · pull 140°F · rest 20 min
Ingredients
8 lb on the fire · ~6 lb to the table · 12 plates at 8 oz
- bone-in city ham, spiral or whole8 lb
- brown sugar1/2 cup
- Dijon or yellow mustard1/4 cup
- apple cider vinegar2 tbsp
- honey2 tbsp
- ground clove1/4 tsp
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 300°F. Place the ham cut-side down in a roasting pan with a cup of water. Cover tightly with foil.
- 2
Warm to 120°F internal, about 12–15 minutes per pound. Uncover.
- 3
Stir sugar, mustard, vinegar, honey, and clove. Brush on a thick coat. Raise oven to 400°F.
- 4
Glaze twice more in 10-minute intervals until 140°F and the crust is lacquered. Rest 20 minutes before slicing.
If you don’t have it
- City ham (cured, cooked) → Smoked picnic or a boneless ham roast. Country ham is a different product — soak and treat as salt-cured, not this recipe.
- Brown sugar glaze → Maple, apricot mustard, or honey-chili. Keep acid in the glaze (vinegar or mustard) so it is not candy.
- Oven → Pellet at 250°F after the warm-through. Apple or maple wood. Glaze at the end so sugar does not scorch for an hour.
Same cook, different day
Spiral-sliced weeknight
The ham is already cut. Cover, 300°F until 120, glaze, 400°F to 140. The slices dry faster — do not skip the foil.
Clove-studded whole
A showpiece. Score the fat, stud with cloves, then the same gentle warm and hot glaze.
Leftover fried ham
Breakfast. Thick slices in a dry skillet until the sugar on the edge caramelizes. Eggs, not more glaze.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making potatoes au gratin.
In the oven the last 70 minutes of a roast, or while steaks reverse. Yukon Golds, ⅛-inch, layered with cream, garlic, salt, Gruyère. 350°F until a knife meets no fight, then a brief broil.
1 hr 15 min
- With this dish, try making buttermilk biscuits.
While gravy happens, or a ham comes out. Flour, baking powder, cold butter, buttermilk. Fold, stamp, 425°F.
25 min
- With this dish, try making skillet mac.
In the oven while a roast rests, or the last stretch of a smoke. A real béchamel, cheddar, a breadcrumb top. Do not start it at the same time as a packer and expect timing to match.
40 min