Maple Orange Garlic Glazed Ham

I’m so excited to be sharing this glazed ham with everyone today because ..(confession time again!)…it’s the first time I’ve ever cooked a ham! I grew up in a family of turkey lovers so we cooked it for Christmas, New Years, Easter, Thanksgiving and any other time we could find an excuse. It was very rare that we ate ham so I really never developed a taste for it. As an adult, I’ve carried on the family tradition so this was an entirely new and very much a learning experience.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m working with Nicholyn Farms and Barrie Hill Farms because I love their fresh products. So when I was putting this Easter menu together, I asked Lynda at Nicholyn what the favorite entrée was for most of her customers, she replied ‘ham’, without a moment’s hesitation. I did a big gulp and said, ‘ok, ham it is!’. I didn’t dare let on that I’ve never cooked one before and Lynda will just be finding out the day this is published, lol.

This is actually a good thing because for anyone feeling intimidated about cooking a big ham, I’m here to tell you – no need- easy as pie. Oh wait, not easy as pie because I don’t bake either! But that’s what the farms (and your local bakeries) are for – wait till you see the gorgeous desserts they make!

Given that this is a very large ham you can guess why I’d be nervous. You sure as heck don’t want to ruin a cut of meat this size, especially when you’re claiming to be a food blogger! I’ll admit to first doing a fair bit of research on this about cooking times, recommended sauces, cloves in or cloves out, how to carve it and much more. Every time I made a move I realized I had to go look it up the information before proceeding.

For all you first time ham cookers, aren’t you glad you came here? I’ll walk you through this step by step and you’ll be so pleased with the result and you won’t have to let on to your guests that you’re a newbie!

I have to say that this is one beautiful ham, isn’t it? This is a 5 lb. boneless, country style ham roast. The cooking times for various cuts and kinds of hams varies greatly so please carefully note exactly what type of ham you are buying and refer to this handy dandy chart at the bottom of this post from Better Homes and Gardens. I followed their cooking times and it worked like a charm. I would be lost without my meat thermometer so my best advice is to pick one up. You can get them for as low as $10 at the grocery store.

I wanted to make a healthy sauce that reflected a little Canadiana as well as some spring flavour so I came up with a maple, orange, garlic sauce. Honest truth – when I went shopping at the farm I came across a jar of Maple Orange Garlic Sauce! And the best thing about this sauce is that there is no preservatives. The ingredients are: water, brown sugar, orange juice concentrate, pure maple syrup, garlic, xanthan gum, salt, dry mustard, tarragon leaves, black pepper. Since buying this I’ve used it on shrimp and roasted veggies at least three times and I’m going back to the farm tomorrow to get more. It’s the best darn sauce I’ve tasted in a very long time! I’m going to get in touch with them to see if we can give some to you readers because you’ve just GOT to taste it! They ship to the US, so if you’d like a taste, take a peek at their site. For those of you not within shopping distance of the farm, I’ve included my recipe for the sauce and it takes no time at all to put together.

Ok…let’s begin. These are not so much cooking directions as decisions you have to make along the way about your ham…… the directions are in the recipe as far as cooking times, etc.  First dilemma – what to do with all that string? Cut it, leave it? Of course I’m the impatient sort so I started pulling the string off before I thought better of it and made my first run to the computer. Google says LEAVE IT ON! Uh oh, now I’ve made a mess of it and the photos are going to look awful! The answer….cut away just the top portion and leave the rest on because, of course, the photos take precedence, right? WRONG – don’t cut the string off. You need it to keep it all together. I was lucky that mine stayed together but it would have looked better if I had left it on. Who knows what would have happened if I taken ALL the string off – I don’t even want to think about that!

SECOND – to score or not to score. This is strictly a matter of personal preference. I like the scored look and it lets the sauce seep right down into the meat and it makes it super easy to tuck the cloves in there if you’re using them. Be sure to have a very sharp knife for this job otherwise it will make a mess. Here’s a video from Curtis Stone (you’re welcome, Ladies – he’s so yummy!) that will show you exactly how to score. (please note I’m leaving out all jokes about scoring with Curtis Stone!) I went a little deeper than he did but I didn’t really encounter a problem because of that.

THIRD – cloves. Don’t they just look fabulous? You’ll look like an expert chef when you pull that out of the oven! Be sure to take them out before carving and I must say that the flavor they added to the ham was worth the couple extra minutes.

FOURTH – use a shallow pan and be sure to put a rack beneath the ham. I’m a stickler about this because there is a lot of fat on a ham and it’s best to let it drip below and not allow the ham to cook in it. Besides, when you pull it out and put it on your serving platter, it won’t drip like crazy.

LAST and MOST IMPORTANT – Let it rest after cooking. Be sure to tent it with tin foil and take your time. So much of the reading I did recommended resting it for 15 minutes which really surprised me. I did 30 minutes while I cooked the side dishes and it all came together beautifully.

OOPS….ONE MORE LAST THING – CARVING!  If you’re carving a bone-in ham, Better Homes and Gardens advises the following : Place the ham on its side. With a carving knife, slice off a piece of ham from the bottom. Roll back the ham slice so it sits flat. Cut slices down to the bone, and cut along the bone to release the slices.

If it’s boneless, it’s simple – just like slicing a loaf of bread.  That was one thing I didn’t have to look up!  Thank goodness for Google!  Don’t you love that there is nothing that you can’t find on there?

Whew!  I think I should be giving out prizes to all you readers who went through that whole post!  It seems like a lot for a very simple job but these are things I learned along the way and after talking to friends and family, I have a feeling there are lots of ham newbies out there so I hope this helps.

Next up is 3 side dishes that I’ve prepared for your Easter menu and I’m so looking forward to sharing them with you.  One is quite decadent!  Cheers!

*Hams that weigh more than 8 pounds should be loosely covered with foil halfway through roasting.

PIN IT!