Make your own spiral cut ham at home with this juicy Honey Baked Ham. Coated in a luscious honey butter glaze. Learn how to create the spiral slices at home, keep the ham moist and make a rich honey butter glaze and bake it in the oven.
About This Honey Baked Ham - Spiral Cut
Christmas isn't Christmas without a ham and this honey glazed ham has a gorgeous classic glaze but with the twist of honey butter. If you've ever tried honey butter, you know how good it is on sweet and savouries (like this honey butter chicken). The glaze takes around 5 minutes to make with simple ingredients.
I will also show how to get a spiral cut style of ham at home! This is an easy version of the super popular spiral cut ham. We will cut the ham on one side so that the ham is easy to serve.
Spiral cut hams are very popular in the United States but have not made their way here in Australia. They're popular because the glaze can get permeate into the ham so the flavour infuses into the ham so its not just on the outside. Because they are pre-sliced it's super easy to carve at the table.
The trick to getting this spiral look to your ham is by using an electric carving knife! I rang around so many butchers but none of them could do it but this method came to me in a dream! I got Mr NQN to do it for me while I filmed as he has a steadier hand.
The only downside to spiral cut hams can be they can be a bit dry as there is more surface area exposed but I've got some tips to GUARANTEE that your ham stays super moist (see below)!
How Much Ham Do I Need Per Person?
Around 200g/7ozs of boneless ham per person on average is good as part of a Christmas spread. Heartier eaters can eat 300g/10.6ozs of ham.
How long do I need to cook ham and at what temperature?
The cooking time is about 15 minutes per every 500g or 1.1lb of ham at 135C/275F conventional or 115C/239F fan forced. Hams are always pre-cooked so this is just heating it through and you don't need to worry about raw meat. Also ham can be served cold, warm or hot!
Video: How to Make Honey Baked Ham and Spiral Cut It
Ingredients For Honey Glazed Ham - Spiral Cut
Ham - Use a boneless ham. Hams look very different - lightly smoked hams are pale on the outside while I used a triple smoked ham that was very dark and almost black on the outside. Some boneless hams are sold with some rind still on them, while others (like the triple smoked one I bought) didn't have any rind but it had string and netting around around it.
Butter - Use salted butter.
Brown sugar - Light or dark brown sugar is good. Use dark brown sugar if you want a richer, more molassesy flavour.
Garlic and onion powder - Fine garlic and onion granules. You'll find these in the spice aisle. Tip: store in the freezer to avoid clumping.
Cloves - A little goes a long way with ground cloves so use them sparingly.
Thyme - dried or fresh thyme works here.
Honey - Use a runny honey. Tip: spray the bowl with oil spray and the honey will easily glide out of the bowl.
Juice - Any sort of juice works like orange, pineapple or mango juice. I prefer orange or pineapple for their acidity.
5 Ways to keep your Spiral Cut Ham Moist
1 - Sit the ham in a deep baking dish using 1 cup of water to create steam. We don't need to use a rack because there's no crispy skin to look out for. Sitting it in the water create a nice, cosy steam bath for the ham.
2 - We drench the ham every 15 minutes with those delicious pan drippings. I mean we really drench that baby with a turkey baster!
3 - We also make sure the ham is well covered in double layers of foil to lock the moisture in. Make sure that the foil is sealed well so we don't lose any of that juiciness!
4 - Stop cooking this ham as soon as it hits 57C/135F. It's done (and will continue to cook a bit once out of the oven)! :)
5 - Like all roasts, rest the ham for 10-15 minutes after it comes out of the oven.
Honey Baked Ham - Spiral Cut Recipe
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Cooking time: 60 minutes (15 minutes per 500g/1.1lb of boneless ham)
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients Needed
1.7kg/3.7lb boneless ham, smoked (see ingredient note above)
120g/4ozs butter, cubed
60g/2ozs brown sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
200g/7ozs honey
50ml/1.7ozs orange, pineapple or mango juice
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 PREPARE - Preheat oven to 135C/275F conventional or 115C/239F fan forced and have a baking dish and rack ready. Take ham out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. If your ham already has the rind removed and has been strung, remove the string and netting from the ham. Otherwise if your ham still has the skin on it, remove it with a sharp knife and score the fat in a diamond pattern.
Step 2 CUT - Trim one side of the ham so that you get a flat surface to cut it on. Then using an electric knife, slice thin slices in the ham stopping an inch from the base. Place in a deep baking dish and add 1 cup of water. Cover tightly with two layers of foil and bake for 15 minutes.
Step 3 TEST - With the extra piece of ham already cut off, taste the ham (ham in Australia is already cooked) to see if it is salty. If it is already salty you don't need to add any salt to the glaze ingredients. I find its rare to have to add salt to ham.
Step 4 SIMMER - Place the butter, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cloves and thyme in a small saucepan and melt the butter and stir to combine. Then add the honey and juice to the sauce and whisk in well. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the brown sugar has melted completely. Put 1/4 cup of glaze aside for the end.
Step 5 GLAZE - Once the 15 minutes is up, glaze the ham including inside all of the slices with the glaze using a tablespoon and a knife to lift the pieces. Cover again tightly with foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, reglaze the ham using the pan drippings. I like to use a turkey baster to really moisten the ham and get into all the cracks. The total time to cook this 1.7kg/3.7lb ham is 50 minutes. The cooking time is about 15 minutes per every 500g or 1.1lb of ham. Always replace the foil tightly on top of the ham and make sure to drench the ham with the drippings and don't let the ham dry out - once it hits 57C/135F it's done.
Double layer the foil
Step 6 GLAZE - Brush reserved glaze on in the final 15 minutes and once cooked, rest ham for 10 minutes. Place 1 cup of the pan drippings to simmer in a saucepan for 5-8 minutes and reduce to make glossy glaze to brush on top of ham. Serve the rest of the drippings as a gravy on the side.
Personal Note
While baking this ham my best friend was little Teddy Elliott. Our tiny boy has a very discerning way with food. He oftens hopes for an upgrade with his food and will turn his nose up at his dog food in the hopes of getting something more delicious. Like his ham. Can you see him waiting patiently for a piece of ham?
Hello ham?
Little Teddy has had quite a hard couple of weeks. First there was the anal gland procedure at the groomers and then one night, while I was out, Mr NQN heard Teddy fall down the stairs! At least that's what we think happened as he didn't see it happen but he heard Teddy cry out and from then on Teddy refused to go down the stairs. Going up the stairs was no issue but coming down was a huge problem.
We would pick Teddy up and take him downstairs but one night I was upstairs with Teddy and Mr NQN came home. Teddy was desperate to see his daddy but he couldn't bring himself to go down the stairs. He started trembling, crying and howling in utter misery. His cries were a vice clenching around my heart and I knew that we had to get him used to the stairs again.
We bought some carpet stair treads to give him a bit more grip when using the stairs. They arrived just a couple of nights ago and we installed them straight away. Mr NQN has been patiently training him to go down the stairs - literally one step at a time. There is one long flight of stairs and one smaller flight and so far we are on three steps on the smaller flight. And we've been using his favourite foods like like ham and pizza crusts!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have any tips on helping Teddy go down the stairs? And have you ever tried a spiral ham?
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