Recipe Background
Bring festive flavor to life with this honey-glazed holiday ham, perfect for gatherings.
The tradition of making this glorious honey-glazed ham started one chilly Christmas Eve during my first year teaching high school English. I had just moved into a cozy little apartment and felt the pull of nostalgia for the comfort of family holidays. Determined to bring a slice of home to my new friends, I decided to recreate Grandma’s famous ham, which had always been the centerpiece of our festive table. With a bone-in Virginia ham and a sticky concoction of honey and Dijon mustard, it was a tall task. But in that small kitchen, with snow flurries swirling outside, it felt like a worthy endeavor.
Slathering the fragrant glaze onto the impressive cut of meat, I felt a satisfying sense of continuity. While the honey dripped and the cloves added a sharp, festive bite, memories of sneaking tastes from the kitchen as a child filled the room. I discovered a chef's trick that evening: scoring the surface of the ham with a diamond pattern allowed the glaze to seep deep into the meat, creating layers of flavor. And of course, the classic tip of tenting the ham with foil kept it from darkening too quickly, a mistake Grandma would never forgive.
As the guests arrived, their noses led them to the warm, sweet-smelling living room. This wasn't just a ham; it was a tribute to togetherness and tradition. The evening transformed into a delightful melding of laughter, stories, and the satisfaction of carving perfectly thin slices. That holiday marked not just the birth of a timeless recipe in my own kitchen but also a deeper connection with my family roots, and a brilliant new tradition of my own.
Ingredients
- 1 (18-pound) whole Virginia honey ham bone-in
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 cup water plus more, to taste
Directions
- Position a oven rack to the lower third position in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line a roasting pan with a rack.
- Wrap the ham in parchment-paper-lined alumninum foil.
- Transfer the wrapped ham to the prepared roasting pan, with the thicker rind-side facing up.
- Roast the ham on the lower third oven rack for 2 hours 30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl, add the honey, the Dijon mustard, the brown sugar, and the cloves and whisk to combine. Set the glaze aside.
- Carefully unwrap the ham and allow it to cool slightly until it can be safely handled.
- Using a thin-bladed knife, carefully peel the rind from the ham and trim the fat all over to a 1/2 inch thickness.
- With the tip of the knife, score the surface of the ham, creating a diamond pattern about 3/4-inch-wide.
- Roast the ham again, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
- Continue to roast the ham, while basting it with the reserved glaze mixture every 30 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F at the thickest part, about 2 hours. To prevent scorching, add 1/4 cup of the water to the pan. If the water evaporates quickly during cooking, add the extra water, 1/4 cup at a time, if needed. Make sure to tent the ham with foil if it starts to darken too quickly.
- Allow the ham to rest for 20 minutes.
- Thinly slice the ham and serve.
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