The Secret of Spiral-Sliced Hams
Source of Recipe
November, 1999 Cooks Illustrated
Recipe Introduction
Holiday hams are usually dry and dull. For a moist, juicy, and flavorful ham, ignore the package directions and bake it in a bag.
The challenge: Compare the packaged instructions for heating and saucing that come with different brands of supermarket ham and you may find yourself confused and disillusioned. Recommended cooking times and temperatures vary, as do the results: the meat can turn as dry as dust or as mushy as a wet paper towel. And the sauces—sometimes enclosed with the ham in a packet, sometimes suggested by a recipe—tend to have one thing in common: they’re as sweet and gooey as candy. How, we wondered, could we prepare a spiral-sliced ham with a moist and toothsome meat that had just the right amount of bite? Could we develop fairly simple recipes for more flavorful, "grown-up" tasting sauces?
The solution: We found out that getting the temperature and texture of the meat just right means slow-cooking to preserve its juices. But this presented a new challenge: how to slow-cook the ham without having it tie up the oven for half of the day. To keep oven time to a minimum, we let the ham come up to room temperature before putting it in the oven and used an oven bag to seal in the heat. We then developed two sauces—one made with stout and dried cherries, the other with mustard, vermouth, and thyme—that do elegant justice to our perfectly cooked ham.
For good measure: When buying a spiral-sliced ham, ask your grocer for a "shank end" (which is flat on the cutting side and tapers to a point on the other side) rather than a "butt end" (one side of which is rounded and blunt rather than tapered). Each cut will cook up just as nicely and taste just as good, but the shank is easier to carve.
HOW TO PREPARE SPIRAL-SLICED HAM
You can put the ham in the oven cold, bypassing the 90-minute standing time. If you do, add a couple of minutes per pound to the heating time. If using an oven bag, cut slits in the bag so it does not burst. Allow about 3 to 4 servings per pound for a bone-in ham. Most half hams range in size from 7 to 10 pounds, serving 20 to 30. We recommend buying a shank portion because the bone configuration makes it easier to carve; look for the half ham with the tapered, pointed end. The Polder Cooking Thermometer/Timer is the perfect tool for monitoring the ham’s temperature; leaving it in the ham while the ham is in the oven and setting it to alert you when the ham has come up to temperature will save you from having to constantly check the oven to see when the ham is “done.”
List of Ingredients
1. Unwrap one 7- to 10-pound spiral-sliced half ham, preferably shank end; remove and discard plastic disk covering bone. Place ham in plastic oven bag, tie bag shut, and trim excess plastic. Set ham cut-side down in 9 x 13-inch baking dish and cut four slits in top of bag with paring knife. Alternatively, place unwrapped ham cut-side down in baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Let stand at room temperature 90 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Bake ham until center of ham registers about 100 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours (about 14 minutes per pound if using plastic oven bag, about 17 minutes per pound if using foil), depending on size of ham. Remove ham from oven and let rest in baking dish in oven bag or with foil cover until internal temperature registers 115 to 120 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 30 to 40 minutes. Cut open oven bag or remove foil, place ham on carving board, and slice. Serve immediately with one of the following sauces, if desired.
Recipe
DRIED CHERRY AND STOUT SAUCE WITH BROWN SUGAR AND ALLSPICE
Makes about 4 cups
Stout is a strong, dark beer made from toasted barley. Here, it makes a rich, full-bodied sauce with subtle smoky notes and a characteristic bitter finish.
1 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium shallots, chopped fine
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
4 cups stout
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup dried tart cherries (about 5 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper
Whisk together chicken stock and cornstarch; set aside. Heat butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until foaming; add shallots and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in allspice; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add stout, brown sugar, and dried cherries; increase heat to medium-high, bring to simmer, and cook until slightly syrupy, about 10 minutes. Whisk chicken stock and cornstarch mixture to recombine, then gradually whisk into simmering liquid; return to simmer to thicken sauce, stirring occasionally. Off heat, stir in balsamic vinegar; season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated up to 2 days. Reheat in medium saucepan over medium-low heat.) Serve with ham.
MUSTARD SAUCE WITH VERMOUTH AND THYME
Makes about 31/2 cups
The Dijon mustard lends a creaminess to this sauce, while the whole-grain mustard adds texture and visual appeal.
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium shallots, chopped fine
2 cups dry vermouth
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Salt and ground black pepper
Whisk together chicken stock and cornstarch; set aside. Heat butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until foaming; add shallots and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in vermouth and sugar; increase heat to medium-high and simmer until alcohol vapors have cooked off, about 4 minutes. Whisk chicken stock and cornstarch mixture to recombine, then gradually whisk into simmering liquid; return sauce to simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Off heat, whisk in Dijon and whole-grain mustards and thyme; season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be cooled to room temperature and refrigerated up to 2 days. Reheat in medium saucepan over medium-low heat.) Serve with ham.
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