Ahh, Christmas food… The turkey, the stuffing, the pigs in blankets – and of course, that all important Christmas ham.
If you’ve never made one before you might be wondering how to glaze xmas ham – and that’s where we come in! Read on, for all our best culinary Christmas tips.
How To Glaze Christmas Ham – Step By Step
Although it may seem like a daunting task, cooking a ham for Christmas is actually a surprisingly easy task. Let’s look into the steps…
The best glazes for ham contain a sweet element, such as honey or sugar, which contrasts deliciously with the saltiness of the meat.
You can also add herbs, spices and mustard to your glaze, to add a new dimension to the depths of flavour.
- Start by cooking your ham in a deep saucepan with onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns and cloves.
- Cover the ham with enough water that it is just submerged, then bring the water to a boil before covering with a lid and reducing the heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour 15.
- Turn off the heat and let the ham sit in the liquid for a further 30 minutes, while you prepare your glaze.
- Mix together 1-2tbsp English mustard, 70g of honey and 2tbsp dark brown sugar (this will help with the colour of your final product).
- Once the ham is cool enough to handle, remove the thick layer of skin until you reach the fat. Score this with a knife in crisscross patterns.
- Place the ham in a roasting tray lined with foil, then generously brush the glaze all over the meat.
- Pop it in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until it has gone that characteristic sticky brown, then remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes.
- Carve it into thick slices, then serve!
Here’s an article that takes you through all the steps, and also tells you useful nutritional information about your favourite Christmas treat.
Do You Glaze A Ham Before Or After Heating?
This question can be a little confusing, because technically you DO add the glaze before heating – but not before the actual COOKING process.
You will need to thoroughly cook your ham by boiling it, and it would be pointless to glaze it before this point, as the glaze will simply melt into the water.
If you spread the glaze over the ham before the last half an hour in the oven, you will get that rich, delicious sticky glaze that we all know and love.
Glazing the ham after it has been in the oven will not be as effective, as the flavours and ingredients will not be able to caramelise.
So, to sum up – cook the ham thoroughly, then glaze it, then place it in the oven. Following these steps will give you the perfect Christmas ham!
Is It OK To Glaze Ham The Day Before?
A baked ham is actually a pretty easygoing Christmas dish – you can prepare it in advance, so that you have less to do on the day.
You can bake and glaze the ham the day before you serve it, and either warm it up in the oven or serve it cold.
Cooked ham keeps really well, so you can cook it up beforehand and save the last half hour for when you are ready to serve it.
The glaze will keep for up to a week; just mix the ingredients together and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
The day you are planning to serve, simply remove the container from the fridge and allow it to get to room temperature, then spread it over the ham and bake.
What Is The Honey Glaze Made Of On Ham?
The clue is in the name really – the honey glaze contains a fair bit of honey, for that well-known sweet and salty flavour.
Traditionally, ham glaze contains honey, sugar and mustard. People often add other flavours, such as spices or fruit juice, but this is the basic recipe.
But what to do if you are making a glaze for someone who doesn’t like honey, or is allergic?
It’s not a problem, you can just use other sweet ingredients instead. Maple syrup is a good bet, though it may need to be thickened more.
Try adding golden syrup in place of the honey – you may not need as much, because golden syrup is fairly concentrated.
You can simply add more sugar, but remember that it will need to be mixed with something else liquid so that the glaze doesn’t turn into toffee.
Whatever you user in your ham glaze, try to stick to the rough quantities outlined so that you don’t end up with a disaster – we are sure you won’t!
How To Thicken A Glaze For Ham?
We all want a thick, tasty glaze for a ham, right? After all, it’s one of the main characters of a Christmas meal!
If yours is looking a little runny and is sliding off the meat, don’t panic – there are steps you can take.
If your glaze is too thin, chances are it contains too much liquid – maybe you added orange juice, or your honey was particularly runny.
Simply add a little more sugar to the glaze, stirring constantly to mix it in, until it becomes a more thick consistency.
Alternatively, you can add a little cornstarch or even plain flour to it – just make sure that you mix it well so you don’t get clumps of flour.
Leaving the ham a few minutes extra in the oven should also thicken up your glaze – just be careful you don’t burn it!
If you are looking for a thick glaze that will go crusty, check out this video:
So there you have it – all the advice you will ever need to make the best xmas ham you have ever made.
We can’t offer you any tips on making sure you actually get to eat any though – it will be so delicious that you may well find it’s all gone before you have even sat down at the table!
