How long to warm up an 8 lb ham?
Christmas dinner tonight! We have an 8 pound ham that we injected with cherry and pineapple juice, and let it set in the fridge overnight. I’ve never done a ham before. I wanted an uncooked ham, but the specialty meat store I went to didn’t have one, so this one just needs to be warmed up.
We’re going to baste it with a brown sugar, cherry and pineapple juice mix.
So, what temp and how long? And is it possible to over cook a ham the way you can over cook a turkey? Will it dry out like a turkey?
Any other suggestions would be VERY much appreciated.
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10 Answers
Here are some suggestions.
Yes, you can easily dry it out. Do you have a meat thermometer? 140˚ seems to be where you want to end up.
It looks like an hour for every 2.5 pounds, so that would put us at about 3.5 hours at 350.
Yes, I have a meat thermometer and I’m willing to use it!
I would try 325˚. You don’t have to have it untouchable. With a big meal, all the dishes are sitting on the counter or table and generally become room-temperature. That is certainly true for seconds.
Remind yourself, as I have to do always, that Martha Stewart is not there with her photographers.
Tell a few jokes and buy it dinner?
I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. At least I waited til you had a couple of good answer.
<presents hand for slapping>
My mother used to buy a ham, cut off a small piece and bake the large end in one pan and the small one in a smaller pan.
When we got curious, she said that that was her mother’s method. Her mother said that that was her (my great-gran’s) method.
Great-gran said, “My roasting pan was too small for the whole ham.”
Does it have a bone in it? Put it in covered pre heated to 350 for 40 minutes and then turn up the heat to 400 and caramelize the baste in the last 5–10 minutes.
@Neizvestnaya I think that was the answer I was looking for! But….too late. It was good, could have been better. I loved that some of the meat had a red tint to it from the cherry/pineapple juice we injected into it!
@gailcalled Reminds me of something I read in Reader’s D. Gal was making her first Thanksgiving dinner. To thaw the turkey she put it in the dish drainer with a big pot over it. Her mom saw that and asked why she had a pot over the bird. Gal said, “Because that’s what you always did!”
Mom says, “But you don’t have a cat!”
@JilltheTooth : ) Consider yourself slapped! : )
@Dutchess_III: Yay, ham! I’ll be basting ours tomorrow night with cranberry sauce cut with whiskey and Sriracha sauce. Happy Holidays Dutch_Cat :D
Thanks MzVzzz! Same to you! (Tis The Season when the FIRST thing you think of when you wake up in the morning is, “Oh God. The kitchen!!” It’s been 3 hours and I’m almost done!)
@Dutchess_III : Oh, I know! My first thing Christmas morning will be hoping that KatawaGrey sleeps late so I can get a bunch of stuff done before she even appears…
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