Ingredients
Scale
- 8–10 pounds (4–5 kg) of a bone-in (or boneless) fully cooked ham
- ⅓ cup of pineapple juice
- 1 cup of honey
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of unsalted butter
- ¼ cup of whole cloves
Instructions
- To begin, preheat your oven to 300 F (150 C), then place a rack in the lower third portion of the oven. Remove the ham’s plastic wrapping and netting. Remove and discard the rind. Let the ham sit at room temperature for about 1-2 hours.
- Line a baking tray or dish with several sheets of parchment paper or aluminum foil (if preferred, this will make sure that cleaning up is a lot easier)
- Remove the ham’s rind or skin, but leave the fat on. Score diamond patterns across the whole ham using a sharp knife (ensure not to cut more than 1/4 inch deep). Put a clove in the middle of each diamond-shaped pattern.
- Put the ham on the oven tray, pour pineapple juice into the bottom of the pan, then bake for 15 minutes, while the ham is covered with two sheets of foil or parchment paper.
- Simultaneously, melt the butter over medium heat in a small pot or saucepan until golden brown. Whisk in the honey and brown sugar until the brown sugar dissolves completely, then remove from the heat (after about 2 minutes).
- Reduce the heat to a low setting and allow it to thicken slightly before setting aside to cool to a lukewarm setting (the glaze should possess the feel of room-temperature honey).
- Take out the ham from the oven with care after 15 minutes of baking, then raise the oven’s temperature to 425°F | 220°C. Take off the foil or parchment paper from the ham and drizzle 1/3 of the glaze over it, ensuring to brush in between the cuts for even coating. Return the ham to the oven and allow it to bake for another 15 minutes, uncovered.
- Remove the ham from the oven, brush it with the remaining third of the glaze and some pan juices, then bake for 15 minutes extra, or until a dark golden-brown crust forms (about 30 minutes in total). Mix some of the juices from the ham with the glaze in the saucepan for extra flavor depths. This will also help to maintain the glaze in a liquid enough form for brushing.
- If the crust is still pink after baking for the recommended time, put it on your broiler (or oven grill) and broil for 2-5 minutes, keeping a watch on it so the sugar doesn’t make it burn.
- Give the ham 10-15 minutes to rest before you slice into it.
Notes
This honey-baked ham recipe is juicy and delicious on the outside, with crispy, burnt, sticky edges. For your dinner table, this is definitely the perfect baked ham recipe and we recommend trying it out.
If you’d like more recipe ideas for honey baked ham, then you should see this video recipe.