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How To Cook A Ham
By Jenna Litchfield
Ham, the most delicious part of a pig so far, great for holiday dinners and great for slicing off to put on sandwiches.
Now how do we cook one? How many different ways are there?
A ham is basically the hind leg of a pig or known to some people as a hog.
Basically to cook the ham we need to scrub the ham thoroughly and soak the ham overnight or for twelve hours in water.
Usually we need to soak a ham to remove the saltiness within, however some hams are not salty at all and you feel like it, salt the ham well on all sides, and insert cloves in and around the ham.
Then we will put the ham into a nicely sized cooking dish or whatever can hold the ham so it can be cooked the best and put about five cups of water in it, and cook the ham for twenty five to thirty five minutes at five hundred degrees in an oven.
Some say to cook the ham by boiling it as well, keeping it covered in water and boil it, you can try whichever method best suits you.
You can also add peaches, carrots, apples, onions and black pepper into the dish as well or whatever your taste buds fancy this will bring an array of flavors to the ham.
Then after that there tends to be varied differences in what to do next, some say:
Turn the oven off for three hours then turn it back on to 500 degrees and cook the ham for a further thirty minutes.
However others say cut the temperature back to three hundred and fifty degrees for twenty minutes, then turn the oven off for two hours and repeat.
Also at this interval you can place pineapple slices on the cooking ham and sprinkle the ham with brown sugar, it is all up to your own taste and also glaze the ham for extra flavor.
There are so many glazes out there, with different ingredients, however find the one you like the most and use that on your ham.
After basting turn the oven off and leave the cooked ham to stand and cool for about eight hours if you want the ham to be served hot, carve it straight away.
Be careful not to overcook the ham as it can be come tough and dry, cooking a ham with lower temperatures may take longer to cook however it will keep the juices and flavors in the ham and it will be nice and tender, be careful not to poke or prick the ham as the juices will escape and in turn the ham will go dry.
You can use the juices in the pain after cooking the ham as a lovely sauce to poor over the cooked ham, just mix it with corn starch a bit of cola and quarter of a cup of pineapple juice and slow boil it in a pan until it thickens then use it on top of your ham!
There are also a lot of sauces you can poor over your ham, from applesauce to cranberry sauce.
Ham is always easier to slice and cut when it is cold however remember if you have any leftover cooked ham to wrap it tightly in cling foil or tin foil and refrigerate until their next usage.
See Also:
More information on how to cook a Ham
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