Honey baked hams are delicious and are super popular at the holidays like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and other special occasions and this honey orange ham glaze is always a hit. A large ham makes a big feast on a holiday table, and will practically cook itself freeing you up to make your favorite sides.
Equipment
Aluminum foil
Roasting pan
Saucepan
Whisk
Meat Thermometer
Basting brush
Ingredients
10poundbone-in ham, I use spiral cutAdjust the cooking time based on the size of your ham.
1/2cupwater
1cupbrown sugarpacked
½cuphoney
½cuporange juice
1teaspoonground cinnamon
1teaspoonground clovesoptional
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of the roasting pan with foil for easy cleanup as the glaze can harden quite hard on the bottom of the pan without the layer. Line the roasting pan both directions with large pieces of foil so you'll be able to bring it up and over the ham to close.
Place ham in a large roasting pan with the cut side down, preferably on a metal rack. Add the water under the ham. Bring the foil up and over the ham and roll it to close the foil around the ham and the water in the bottom.
Bake the ham for 12-15 minutes per pound of meat. For a 10 pound ham this will be 2- 2 1/2 hours. Please see the notes if your ham is a different size for how long to bake it. Check the temperature of the ham with a meat thermometer.
About 45 minutes before the ham is finished baking, place the brown sugar, honey, orange juice, ground cinnamon and ground cloves in a small saucepan. Over medium heat mix together the ingredients with a whisk. Bring the glaze to a simmer, then cook for 1-2 minutes to dissolve all of the sugar. Your glaze should be smooth, not gritty when finished.
About 30 minutes before you expect your ham to be finished cooking, bring the ham out of the oven. Usually when the ham reaches an internal temperature of about 120, it's a good time to baste. With a brush, baste the outside of the ham with the juicy glaze. Then reseal the foil and continue baking until finished.
Take the ham out of the oven and let it rest when it reaches an internal temperature of 135-140 as the ham will continue cooking while resting. Allow your ham to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving. The ham will reach an internal temperature of 145 when it is finished resting
Notes
Place the ham on the counter about two hours before you plan to cook it for a bone-in ham, and about an hour before you plan to cook a boneless ham. This keeps you from shocking the ham with the temperature difference between the refrigerator and the hot oven which can cause the ham to cook less evenly.Expect to cook the ham for 12-15 minutes per pound. The ham needs to be cooked until it is about 145 degrees inside but can be removed from the oven when it reaches 140 degrees then rested for 20 minutes. The ham will continue to cook as it rests.
8 pounds- Between 1 hour 36 minutes and 2 hours
9 pounds- Between 1 hour 48 minutes and 2 hours 15 minutes
10 pounds- Between 2 hours and 2 hours 30 minutes
11 pounds- Between 2 hours 12 minutes and 2 hours 45 minutes
If the glaze hardens too quickly before you have a chance to use it to baste, place it back on the stovetop to warm it up and loosen it up. I like to also purposefully brush the glaze between some of the slices on a spiral baked ham, but it's not necessary.