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Spiral Ham with a Honey Bourbon Glaze

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Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade honey bourbon glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! 

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! * Recipe on GoodieGodmother.com

Glazed spiral hams are a classic centerpiece for many holiday tables. They’re economical, easy to prepare, and the ham has basically been carved for you! While most hams come with a packet of glaze, we love to take 5 minutes and mix our own. This easy bourbon glaze recipe is always a hit with the family and holiday guests.

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! * Recipe on GoodieGodmother.com

Dinner hams can be found at just about any grocery store, usually pre-cooked and spiral-cut to make serving easier. Most come with a packet of glaze, but making your own glaze is the way to go. First, you see what exactly goes in the glaze, and second, you can adjust flavors to suit your preference be it sweet, hot, or otherwise seasoned.

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! * Recipe on GoodieGodmother.com

I assure you, the variety of glazes matches the cultural diversity in the United States. Cola is a popular additive in the South, while maple syrup is a favorite in the Northeast. Citrus and soy sauce are a common find out West, and in pockets of the country you will find ingredients like root beer, berries, or jalapeño peppers.

I decided to make a honey bourbon glaze for the ham because I couldn’t pick a regional style I wanted to highlight over all others! Honey is a common denominator in most recipes across the country, and bourbon (a distinctly American product) is just great for cooking.

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! * Recipe on GoodieGodmother.com

For best results, keep the following notes in mind. Be careful to not over-bake your ham as this will cause the glaze to burn. Burning glaze can be avoided by covering your ham with aluminum foil for most of your baking. Also, letting your ham rest after baking is equally important as this helps seal in the glaze flavor inside the meat. We brushed our ham with a little extra glaze from the pan just before serving. That way we get plenty of honey bourbon flavor.

If you’d like to make something else for the holidays in addition to your ham, I have great recipes for smoked turkey or pork shoulder.

Enjoy!

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham! * Recipe on GoodieGodmother.com

Bourbon Honey Glazed Ham

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Make your baked ham extra special with a homemade glaze. It takes just 5 minutes to make the glaze for this bourbon honey glazed ham!

Ingredients

  • 10 pound ham, bone-in, spiral cut
  • 1/2 cup bourbon
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup mustard, yellow
  • 1 tsp cloves, ground
  • 1/2 tsp ginger, ground

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While the oven is heating, combine all ingredients except ham in a bowl.
  2. Score the fatty side of the ham in cross-cut fashion.
  3. Place ham in baking pan and baste using the bowl mixture.
  4. Cover the ham with aluminum foil. Bake for one hour with the foil cover.
  5. Remove the foil, add or re-baste the ham as needed, and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest for up to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

You can also make this ham in the slow cooker! Since spiral hams are fully cooked at the time of purchase, all you really need to do is reheat without overcooking. To do this, place your ham into your slow cooker and pour over the glaze ingredients. Set on low about 3-5 hours, until the internal temperature of the ham is 140 F. If you can, spoon some glaze over the top of the ham 2-3 times during the cooking process. We have done this several times and it always turns out very well.

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