This glazed ham is the Christmas centrepiece, and it is far easier than it looks. The ham is already cooked, so you are really only colouring the fat and setting the glaze. With our Organic Pineapple Ham Glaze doing the flavour work, all you need is a sharp knife and a bit of patience.
Serves: 8 to 10
What to order: a whole free range ham on the bone, or a half ham on the bone
Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 1 hour 35 minutes | Rest: 20 minutes | Total: 2 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the ham
- 1 whole free range ham on the bone, or a half ham
- 1 jar Hagen's Organic Pineapple Ham Glaze. For a whole ham, use 2 jars to be safe
To garnish
- 1 fresh pineapple
- 1 jar glacé cherries
- 5 to 8 sprigs rosemary
- Toothpicks
- 5cm round cookie cutter
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove the plastic cover from the ham. Using a sharp knife, cut around the bone handle, slicing through the skin.
- Lift the skin away from the bone handle by sliding your fingers underneath, peeling it back gently and keeping as much of the fat layer intact as you can. Once the first strip comes away, the rest usually follows in one clean piece.
- Score the fat in a diamond pattern, about 1.5cm apart. Cut the fat only. Do not cut into the meat.
- Pour the glaze into a bowl ready for basting. Tie the rosemary sprigs together to make a basting brush.
- Sit the ham on a wire rack over a large baking tray. Pour 2 cups of water into the tray to catch the drippings and stop them burning. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Baste generously and evenly with the glaze, using the rosemary brush. Return to the oven for 15 minutes. Repeat the basting and baking four more times, until the skin is deep golden and glossy.
- Rest the ham for 20 minutes so the glaze sets.
- While it rests, cut the pineapple into 1cm rounds. You will need four or five. Stamp a neat circle from the centre of each with the cookie cutter. Char both sides in a hot pan with a little olive oil until golden.
- Using toothpicks, thread a pineapple circle and a glacé cherry onto the seam where the bone handle meets the glazed fat. Repeat until the handle is covered.
- Fold a clean tea towel around the bone handle. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate until you need it.
Do you have to cook a Christmas ham?
No. Our hams are smoked and fully cooked when you buy them. You are glazing, not cooking. Keep an eye on it and stop once the fat and glaze have colour, because taking it further will dry the meat out.
How long does it take to glaze a ham?
About an hour and a half at 180°C. Twenty minutes to start, then five rounds of basting with fifteen minutes in the oven between each one. The repetition is what builds the layers and gives you the lacquered finish.
How much ham do you need?
Depends on who is at the table and whether you want leftovers. We have written it out properly in How much ham per person? Once Christmas is done, how to store your ham will get you through the week.
Want a different glaze?
The method is the same whatever you put on it. Try maple and spice or honey mustard, or read how to glaze a ham for the fundamentals.
Ask us
Ring the store or come in. Tell us how many you are feeding and what time you want to eat, and we will tell you what to order and when to put it on. Hams are available at Bentleigh, Beaumaris, Prahran Market, South Melbourne Market, Queen Victoria Market and East Brunswick Village, or order online.
