Ree's Dr Pepper-Glazed Ham Is the Only Recipe You'll Need This Easter (2024)

FAQs

What is the best kind of ham to cook for Easter? ›

A whole bone-in ham includes both the shank and leg bones, which are said to impart extra flavor when cooking. That's why these hams can be particularly tasty, and a bit more expensive per pound. Most hams in American grocery stores are pre-cooked, but it is possible to find uncooked bone-in hams as well.

The glaze should not be applied until the final hour to 30 minutes, in order to avoid burning the sugars. What you're going to do with the glaze ingredients is just combine most of them into a paste, and then apply it to the ham. After that, the heat in your oven will take care of everything.

WATCH: How to Glaze a Ham

Bourbon, apple juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice are delicious in a ginger ale glaze. Cola adds caramel sweetness to a ham glaze and can stand up to other strong ingredients like bourbon and cloves.

A fully cooked, ready-to-eat ham (also referred to as a "city ham") can be sliced and served cold or at room temperature—there's no need to reheat it. A spiral-cut ham is delicious this way, whether eaten by the slice, tucked into biscuits, or in a grilled cheese sandwich.

Buy bone-in ham. Yes, the bone is a little more work to cut around, but the meat is more flavorful and the hambone can be used to flavor soups and stews. Check the label. City hams can be artificially plumped up with water or solutions, but this dilutes the flavor, so look for one with no added water or juices.

Not Covering Your Ham

If you don't cover your ham while cooking it will quickly dry out. Instead: Put some aluminum foil over your ham while it's cooking. It is recommended that the ham is covered for at least half of the cooking process and only removed during the last half when you glaze it.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the ham on a rack in a large baking pan and add about 1/4- to 1/2 inch of water to the pan. If the ham is labeled "fully cooked" (does not require heating), heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes per pound, or to an internal temperature of 140 F.

Peach preserves, hot pepper jelly, and maple syrup work as sweet bases for glazes that add sheen as well as distinct flavor. Tasty additions such as aromatics, herbs, and spices switch up a traditional ham and make it truly memorable.

“Typically, when you're doing a country ham, you need something sweet to neutralize the ham's saltiness, and pineapple does this really well.” And it's not just me and Benton: Pineapple shows up in ham recipes—atop the ham, in glazes slicking the ham, in shield-your-eyes versions of fried rice—the world over.

What is the red stuff in ham? ›

In this sense, nitrites have been used for a long time in the elaboration of cooked hams as an ingredient in brine, which allows the meat product to acquire a pink–red colour together with specific flavour and antibacterial protection [1].

Cooking Temperature and Time

If the ham is a half ham weighing five to seven pounds, it should heat at 325°F for 22-25 minutes per pound. If it is a whole ham weighing between 10 to 14 pounds, heat the ham at 325°F for 18-20 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should be 140°F.

The best rule of thumb for ham is to plan about 1/2 pound per person when picking a bone-in ham (it's heavier) and 1/3 pound if boneless. Look, at the end of the day, some people will eat more than expected, some will eat less—it'll even out.

What's a traditional Easter menu include? The main dish for an Easter meal varies, but some typical dishes include honey-baked ham, pot roast, pork chops, and fish. Some popular side dishes include scalloped or mashed potatoes, spring vegetables, and dinner rolls.

It really depends on what you like and how many people you're serving! We liked both whole and spiral-cut hams and didn't have a preference for bone-in or boneless.

There are quarter hams (they serve four to six people), half hams (they come in five sizes — six to ten pounds), whole hams (you could serve a party of 36), and boneless hams (which don't have that signature, around-the-bone, spiral cut).

The honey flavors the ham, making honey-cured hams just as sweet as they sound. Sugar-cured ham: Another sweet ham you'll find on the market is a sugar-cured ham.