Honey Ham

Name: Honey Ham
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups Riesling or other semi-dry white wine; 1 tablespoon juniper berries; 1 teaspoon whole black or green peppercorns; 5 whole cloves; 3 tablespoons honey; 1 large onion, thickly sliced; 1 presliced quarter-ham (4 to 6 pounds), drained if needed; 1/2 packed cup brown sugar; 3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard

By Genevieve Ko

Updated April 4, 2024

Honey Ham — Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.

Total Time: 1¼ hours
Rating: 4(652)
Comments: Read comments

A little honey soaks into the slices and crackles on the brown sugar crust of this celebration ham, which ends up with a just-right salty-sweetness. Gently simmering presliced ham on the stovetop before blasting it quickly in a hot oven to caramelize its honey-mustard coating keeps the meat moist and makes it intensely flavorful all the way through. Warming a sliced ham with only an oven bake invariably dries it out and takes a long time. This faster method will give you a juicy ham with the surprising piney perfume of juniper berries and the warmth of cloves. You can double the ingredients below for a spiral-sliced half-ham and use a bigger pot. Leftovers make stellar sandwiches or a perfect filling for an omelet.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

2cups Riesling or other semi-dry white wine
1tablespoon juniper berries
1teaspoon whole black or green peppercorns
5whole cloves
3tablespoons honey
1large onion, thickly sliced
1presliced quarter-ham (4 to 6 pounds), drained if needed
½packed cup brown sugar
3tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Choose a pot that fits the ham with enough space on top to close its lid and with space between the ham and the sides. Combine the wine, juniper berries, peppercorns, cloves and 2 tablespoons honey in the pot, and mix well. Arrange the onion in the center to form a rack for the ham and place the ham on top, flat side down. It should sit just above the wine.
Step 2
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, basting after 15 minutes, until the ham is heated through, 30 to 40 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet pan with foil. Combine the brown sugar, mustard and remaining tablespoon honey in a small bowl.
Step 4
Carefully transfer the ham to the foil-lined pan using 2 sturdy metal spatulas. The slices should have fanned open. If they haven’t, separate the slices, nudging them into a pretty arrangement. Add 1 tablespoon cooking liquid from the pot to the brown sugar mixture and stir until smooth. (Save the remaining cooking liquid for stews or braises.) Pour over the ham, spreading evenly all over the top and not letting too much spill onto the foil. Fold up the sides of the foil to form a little boat to hold any ham juices.
Step 5
Bake just until the topping is crackling and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully transfer to a serving platter with the spatulas, then pour the juices from the foil all over the ham. Serve immediately, with the onions from the pot, if you’d like.

Ratings

4 out of 5

652 user ratings

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Comments

William Wroblicka3 years ago

The problem with this recipe is in step 2, which says to simmer "until the ham is heated through" without specifying an internal temperature. Regardless of the heating method, if its internal temperature is over 120 degrees, a pre-cooked "city" ham will be dry. America's Test Kitchen recommends heating the ham to just 100 degrees and then finishing it in the oven as in step 5 above.

msoq3 years ago

Two words: sous vide. The ham already comes vacuum sealed ready to drop to the water bath. Then coat with the glaze followed by a short hot blast in the oven to brown the crust. Edge-to-edge temperature perfection with moisture preserved. My preferred brand: Trader Joe's Spiral Slice Uncured Ham.

TOM G3 years ago

Instead of making the glaze in the recipe, I used the glaze that came with the spiral ham bought at Costco. One could use water instead of wine. I didn't have juniper berries and wasn't about to go in search of....

MJ2 months ago

Had a half ham, bone-in, spiral cut, 11 pounds. I figured it might take twice as long as the recipe says on the stove top, but it took nearly 2 hours to get it to 140 degrees. Presumably the geometry of a half ham meant that it was harder to get it warm in the center. (The ham was too tall for my 12” pot, so I used foil held in place with a large inverted bowl in place of a lid.) I multiplied the other ingredients by 1.5. I may not bother doing that next time, as I ended up with a lot of liquid and more than enough glaze. I used rosemary instead of juniper berries, because that’s what I had on hand. This recipe wasn’t a whole lot quicker than just heating the ham in the oven, and it was more work because I had to keep basting and checking the temperature, but it was worth it – the ham was delicious.

Jim2 months ago

Love this recipe. Cut it in half for a small buffet ham. Tongs make short work of moving the ham to the baking pan and arranging the slices nicely and so they get plenty of the yummy glazing.

ellen5 months ago

I made this for Christmas day. It seemed braised and not roasted at all, unfortunately. I probably wont make again

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