Christmas Ham with a Brown Sugar Mustard Glaze, and How to Carve It

A fully cooked ham is the easiest Christmas roast there is, because somebody else already did the cooking. Your job is to warm it through without drying it out and give it a glaze people go back for. Then carve it so the slices come off neat instead of in rags. This works the same for a cold US Christmas and an Australian one where the ham comes out at lunch and it is 95°F (35°C) on the back deck.

The knife for this job

Two blades do the work here. The Hellfang 5" Hand Forged Butcher Knife is the small one. Its short blade gives you control for scoring the fat into a tidy diamond pattern. When you carve, the tip works around the bone where a long blade cannot go. It also starts the rind on an Australian leg ham.

The Mamba 11" Hand Forged Brisket Slicing Knife does the carving. A ham is wide, and the long straight edge crosses the whole face of it in a single stroke, so each slice comes off even and whole. Yes, you can carve a ham with the serrated knife from the bread drawer. You can also paint a fence with a toothbrush.

Choosing the ham

Look for a bone in ham labelled fully cooked or ready to eat. In the US that is usually a half ham, either the shank end or the butt end, at 8 to 10 lb (3.6 to 4.5 kg). That feeds 12 to 14 people with leftovers. The bone gives you more flavor and a pot of soup in the new year.

In Australia the Christmas ham is normally a cooked leg ham on the bone, sold whole or as a half leg with the rind still on. Same method, with one extra step to take the rind off first.

A spiral ham is a bone in ham already sliced around the bone. It saves you carving but dries out faster, so it gets gentler treatment. I cover that below.

Remove the rind (Australian leg ham)

If your ham has the thick skin still on, take it off before glazing. With the Hellfang, cut around the shank about 4 inches (10 cm) up from the end, in a zigzag if you want it to look smart. Then slide your fingers in between the rind and the fat and peel the rind back off the ham in one sheet. Go slowly so the fat stays on the ham and not on the rind. Leave the rind around the shank for something to hold. Keep the rind too. Laid back over the cut face of leftovers, it helps keep the meat moist.

Score the fat

Trim the fat cap to an even layer about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick if it is much thicker in places. Then use the Hellfang to score lines across the fat about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, and a second set on the diagonal to make diamonds. Cut about 1/4 inch (6 mm) deep. You want to go through the fat, not into the meat, because cuts in the meat open up and dry out in the oven. The scoring gives the glaze somewhere to sit and turns the fat into crisp, sticky edges. Push a whole clove into the center of each diamond if you like the old school look.

Ham glaze recipe: brown sugar and mustard

This is a simple glaze with enough sharpness to cut through the sugar. In a small saucepan stir together 1 cup (200 g) packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup (80 g) Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup (85 g) honey or maple syrup, 1/4 cup (60 ml) orange juice, 1 tablespoon cider vinegar, a pinch of ground cloves and a few grinds of black pepper. Bring it to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes until it is glossy and coats the back of a spoon. It thickens more as it cools. If it sets too firm, warm it again with a splash of orange juice.

Most ham glaze recipes ask for a dozen ingredients and a reduction that takes an hour. The ham does not know.

Baked ham recipe: heating and glazing

Take the ham out of the fridge about an hour before it goes in. Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Set the ham cut side down in a roasting pan, pour about 1 cup (250 ml) of water into the pan and cover the whole thing tightly with foil. The foil and the water keep it from drying out while it warms.

Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes per pound (450 g). For a 9 lb (4 kg) ham that is a bit over 2 hours. Go by the thermometer, not the clock. When the center of the ham reads about 120°F (49°C), take it out and turn the oven up to 400°F (200°C).

Remove the foil, brush on a thick coat of glaze and put the ham back in uncovered. Glaze it again every 10 minutes, three coats in all, until the outside is dark and lacquered and the center of the ham reaches 140°F (60°C), which is the USDA temperature for reheating a fully cooked ham. Watch the last coat closely. Sugar goes from caramel to charcoal faster than you can find the oven mitts.

Rest the ham for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. In Australia plenty of people glaze the ham the day before and serve it cold at Christmas lunch. That works fine too, since the ham was already cooked.

Spiral ham

Do not score a spiral ham. It is already cut. Wrap it tightly in foil, cut side down, and heat it at 325°F (165°C) for about 10 to 14 minutes per pound until it reaches 120°F (49°C). Open the foil, brush glaze down between the slices, and give it 10 to 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C) until the glaze sets and the center hits 140°F (60°C).

How to carve a ham

Put the ham on a large board with a damp towel underneath so it does not slide.

1. Make a flat base

Lay the ham on its side. With the Mamba, cut two or three slices off the thinner side, parallel to the bone, until you have a flat surface. Turn the ham over onto that flat side so it sits still. A ham rolling around the board is how people end up carving their thumb.

2. Slice down to the bone

Starting near the shank end, cut straight down with the Mamba in slices about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick until the blade meets the bone. Use the full length of the edge in long, smooth strokes. Keep going along the ham, slice after slice, all still attached at the bone.

3. Release the slices

Switch to the Hellfang. Run it horizontally along the top of the bone, under the slices you just cut, and they come free in one go. Lift them onto the platter.

4. Work around the bone

Turn the ham and repeat on the other side. Around the shank and the knuckle the bone changes direction, so use the tip of the Hellfang to follow it and take off the meat in smaller pieces. For a spiral ham, just run the Hellfang along the bone and around the slices to release them.

Leftovers and the bone

Keep the ham cold. Sliced leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Australians often store the leg in a clean cotton ham bag or pillowcase soaked in water with a splash of vinegar, rinsed and soaked again every few days. Keep the bone for split pea soup.

For ideas on the knife to give the person who always ends up carving, read the Christmas knife gift guide, or look through the BBQ and carving knives. If you want the meat knives sorted in one go, the Smokehouse Set is the one I would put under the tree.