Buy this ham here: Smoked Heritage Ham Bone-In

I prepared this ham very simply. The ham I had was from a Red Wattle pig, about 19 pounds.  I figured on a long slow baking time to heat it through and through with a nice glaze to finish.  The most important thing when baking a ham is to take the ham out of the fridge at least an hour before cooking so it can get to room temperature.

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Score the fat on the ham in a grid pattern, and place it in the oven.
• Combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup brown mustard, and a couple shots of bourbon.  Whisk together.  I was drinking red wine when I made this, so I used a little bit of the wine to get it thin enough to be a proper glaze consitency.
• After the ham has been in the oven for an hour and a half or so, take it out and glaze it with the sugar-mustard-bourbon mixture.  Use about a third of the glaze.  Put it back in the oven.
• Cook for an hour, and glaze again.  Cook for another hour, re-glaze, and put it back into the oven.  You should be about 3.5 hours in at this point.
• The glaze shouldn’t burn, instead it will melt into the scored fat and make a really delicious skin for the ham.
• After about 4 hours of cooking, take the ham from the oven and rest under tinfoil for 15-30 minutes so that the juices can go back into the meat.  The bone will keep the ham warm so you can use this time to prepare other items on the menu.
• When you are ready to slice, slice down perpendicular to the bone, and then cut parallel along the bone to free the slices.

Our hams are really remarkable.  Everyone said it was the best ham they had ever had.  During my whole dinner party, they gathered around the stove, picking bits off and popping them into their mouths.  All in all, 15 people ate almost the entire ham.  The sad truth is, this ham was so good I didn’t get any leftovers.

Items in this recipe: Smoked Heritage Ham Bone-In