Christmas Ham is the best!

Hi readers,

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I wanted to share my Christmas Ham recipe with you. The photo is dreadful, but you’ll get the idea!!!

Tradition in my house is to cook the ham on Christmas Eve, so it’s one less job on Christmas morning as we prepare for Christmas lunch with family and friends. My neighbour, Joe, has been known to sit on the front porch for hours waiting for Ham! Bless him!

Over the many years of cooking the ham, I have tried many other variations and recipes but for me, my version is truly Christmas.

Print Recipe

Christmas Ham

Christmas Ham
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Christmas, Main Course
Cuisine: Australian, Christmas
Keyword: christmas, easy, glazed, ham, traditional
Author: Maddy Newman

Equipment

  • 1 Aluminum roasting tray (or a normal pan, lined with alfoil for easy clean-up)
  • 1 glass / micro safe jug or small saucepan

Ingredients

  • 1 Ham on the bone (or boneless if you prefer)
  • Handful whole cloves
  • 1 orange – juice and rind, sliced rounds
  • 1 jar cranberry sauce/ jelly
  • 1 sploosh apple cider vinegar
  • 1 sploosh maple syrup
  • 1 tblspns mustard with whole seeds
  • 1 tblspn dijon mustard
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary and thyme
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

Instructions

  • Preheat oven on low temperature.
  • Prepare ham – leaving a layer of fat, carefully remove rind, gently "lift" with knife and peel back, try to keep whole if you can so you can wrap the ham for storing later. I cut a fancy diamond edge around the end of the bone leaving some rind on the bone end (helps it not burn). Reserve rind in fridge.
    Score top of ham into the fat, in criss-cross to make diamond shapes. Stud with whole cloves in centre of diamond.
    Place ham in tray. Cover end of bone with alfoil so it doesnt burn.
  • Prepare marinade – mix together all of the other ingredients, warm gently in microwave in a couple of 30 second blasts mixing well inbetween, or on stovetop. Do not boil!
    Baste ham with half of the marinade. You can also put orange rounds on top as well if you like. Place in oven uncovered.
  • Cook the ham, baste every half hour with remaining marinade and pan juices. Usually takes about an hour & a half, depending on size of ham. Just want a nice golden brown top with the scored fat, and be careful not to burn the top! If you do, just cut those bits off, and don't tell anyone.
  • Let the Ham rest for at least 20 minutes before carving, though I strongly suggest eating a slither or two, just for quality control, of course. (My neighbour, Joe, literally sits on the front porch for hours until the ham is ready for eating!)
    Serve hot with roast veggies as main fare, or slice ham onto a platter to serve cold. As we traditionally cook our Ham on Christmas Eve for part of our Christmas lunch, I usually slice what I need once cooled and arrange on the platter the next day.
    The remaining Ham last for days, and we usually feast on leftover Ham and my husband's famous potato salad whilst watching the cricket on Boxing Day, one of our lovely Australian Christmas traditions!
    I always use the bone to brew my Pea & Ham soup with some leftover ham in it too. Also great added to frittatas, or instead of bacon in an egg fry-up!
  • Storage of ham – use a cotton calico cloth or ham bag, a cotton tea towel, or even a pillowcase! Soak the cloth in white vinegar. Cover cooked whole ham with the remaining rind, then place/wrap in cloth.
    Rinse cloth with white vinegar every day or two to keep the ham fresh.