USAThe glaze goes on in the last 30 minutes, not at the beginning. This is the most common mistake with glazed ham. If you apply it at the start of a 2-hour roast, the sugars will burn long before the ham is properly heated through and you'll end up with a bitter, black exterior and a barely warm interior. The foil stage — low, covered, with liquid in the pan — is what heats the meat through gently without drying it. Then the final 30 minutes uncovered at higher heat is purely for the crust. Two coats of glaze, 15 minutes apart, and you get the lacquered depth that one coat doesn't produce.
Leftovers are genuinely worth planning for. Cold glazed ham in a sandwich with Dijon mustard and cornichons is better than the original meal. The ham bone makes an excellent base for split pea soup or white bean soup — simmer it in water with aromatics for 2 hours and you have a stock that no cube can replicate. Ham keeps refrigerated for 5 days or frozen for 2 months. To reheat slices: a covered pan with a splash of water at 150°C for 15 minutes, not a microwave, which makes the meat rubbery.
Honey-Glazed Ham
By Sergei Martynov
A glazed ham is one of the most forgiving centrepieces you can put on a holiday table. The meat is already fully cooked — you're just reheating it and building a lacquered crust with the glaze. The glaze itself is five ingredients: honey, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, and butter. The mustard and vinegar are not decoration — they cut through the sweetness and give the glaze a complexity that straight sugar-and-honey doesn't have. The technique is low and slow wrapped in foil, then high heat uncovered with repeated basting at the end. That final 30 minutes of open roasting is when everything happens: the sugars caramelize, the glaze thickens, and the outside of the ham goes from pale pink to deep mahogany.
Key Ingredients
What you'll need
Ingredients
- 4 kg
bone-in spiral-cut ham, fully cooked
i - 120 ml
- 150 g
See recipes with light brown sugarlight brown sugar
i - 3 tbsp
See recipes with dijon mustardDijon mustard
i - 2 tbsp
See recipes with apple cider vinegarapple cider vinegar
i - 2 tbsp
See recipes with unsalted butterunsalted butter
i - 0.5 tsp
See recipes with ground cinnamonground cinnamon
i - 0.25 tsp
ground cloves
i - 240 ml
water or apple juice
i
How to make it
Instructions
- 1
Score the ham if it's not pre-sliced. If you're using a spiral-cut ham, skip this step — the slices already give the glaze somewhere to go. For a whole or half bone-in ham, place it flat-side down on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to score the skin in a diamond pattern: parallel cuts about 1 cm deep and 3 cm apart, then repeat across in the other direction. Don't go too deep — you want to open the surface and score into the fat, not cut through to the meat. Take the ham out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes in the oven.
- 2
Start low and slow, covered. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Place the ham cut-side down in a roasting pan. Pour the water or apple juice into the bottom of the pan — this creates steam that keeps the meat from drying out, and the liquid will pick up drippings and become useful later. Cover the pan tightly with foil, sealing the edges well. Roast for 15 minutes per 500 g — a 4 kg ham needs about 2 hours at this stage. The goal is to bring the internal temperature to around 55–60°C (130–140°F) before the glaze goes on.
- 3
Make the glaze. While the ham roasts, combine the honey, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, butter, cinnamon, and cloves in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts, then bring to a gentle simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until the glaze thickens slightly and coats a spoon. It will look thin and runny in the pan — it thickens more as it cools and significantly more as it bakes onto the ham. Set aside. The glaze can be made days ahead and refrigerated.
- 4
Glaze and caramelize. When the ham has about 30 minutes of cooking time left, remove it from the oven and increase the temperature to 200°C (400°F). Take off the foil. Brush half the glaze generously over the entire surface, working it into the cuts or between the spiral slices with a pastry brush. Return to the oven uncovered. After 15 minutes, brush the remaining glaze over the ham. Bake another 15 minutes. Watch it: the sugar content is high and it will go from golden to burnt quickly. If it's darkening too fast, tent loosely with foil. The finished ham should be deep mahogany with a sticky, lacquered surface.
- 5
Rest and serve. Transfer the ham to a carving board and rest for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Meanwhile, pour the pan juices into a small saucepan, skim the fat off the top, and simmer for a few minutes — this becomes a glaze-infused sauce for serving alongside. For a spiral ham, the slices separate easily by hand along the spiral cuts. For a scored whole ham, carve straight down through the scored surface, following the natural fat lines. Serve with extra pan juices spooned over the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of ham should I buy for this recipe?
You want a fully cooked, bone-in ham — labelled 'ready to eat' or 'fully cooked' at the store. This recipe is not for fresh or raw ham, which requires a different method entirely. A spiral-cut ham (pre-sliced around the bone in a continuous cut) is the easiest option: the glaze seeps between every slice, each piece is coated, and carving is essentially unnecessary. A whole or half bone-in ham that's not pre-sliced needs to be scored before glazing. Bone-in is better than boneless for this preparation: the bone conducts heat into the center of the meat and adds flavor to the drippings.
Why does the recipe start at a low temperature and finish at a high one?
A fully cooked ham just needs to be heated through to a safe serving temperature of around 60°C (140°F) in the center. Starting low and covered in foil with liquid in the pan is the gentlest way to do that without drying out the meat — the foil traps steam and keeps the surface from baking dry. The high-heat finish at the end is specifically for the glaze: sugar needs high heat to caramelize and set into the sticky lacquered crust that distinguishes a properly glazed ham from one that's just been painted with syrup. These are two separate goals and they require two separate temperature stages.
Can the glaze be made in advance?
Yes, up to 5 days ahead. Store it in a sealed container in the fridge. It will solidify as it chills because of the honey and butter — bring it back to a pourable consistency by warming it gently in a saucepan over low heat for a few minutes before using. This is actually convenient for holiday cooking because it removes one task from the day of.
How do I know when the ham is done?
The target internal temperature for a fully cooked ham being reheated is 60°C (140°F), measured in the thickest part of the meat away from the bone. The bone itself runs hotter than the surrounding meat and will give a false reading. A thermometer is more reliable than timing, since ham sizes vary significantly. If you don't have a thermometer, the rule of thumb is 15 minutes per 500 g at 160°C covered, plus 30 minutes uncovered at 200°C for the glaze.
What do you serve alongside glazed ham?
The classic Easter and Christmas pairings work because they balance the sweetness: roasted new potatoes or scalloped potatoes absorb the pan juices well. Roasted or glazed carrots echo the sweetness without competing. A sharp green element is important — whether braised bitter greens, a simple green salad with a vinegary dressing, or green beans. Deviled eggs and couscous salad are natural companions on a spring table. The key is that the ham is sweet and rich, so the sides should lean toward acid, salt, or bitterness to balance it.
China
UK
Join the conversation
Comments (1)
I've tested six glaze recipes over the years and this one wins because of the vinegar — it cuts through the sweetness and keeps the glaze from becoming candy. Baste every 15 minutes during the last hour, no shortcuts. The pan juices mixed with the drippings make a sauce that's almost better than the ham itself.