Brined Fresh Ham Recipes

ROASTED FRESH HAM WITH CIDER GLAZE

Steps:

• One day before roasting: In a plastic container large enough to hold the ham, stir the water with the salt and brown sugar until dissolved. Add the spices. Score ham in a diamond pattern through the skin and fat, taking care not to cut into the meat. Add ham to brine, weight it with a plate to keep it submerged, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but no more than 8 hours. Drain, rinse, pat the ham dry, and refrigerate.
• One hour before roasting, remove ham from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• For the rub: Pulse the olive oil, mustard, parsley, sage, garlic, red pepper, salt, and black pepper in a food processor to make a paste. Rub it all over ham. In a large roasting pan, toss the onion wedges with 1 cup of the apple cider and set the ham on top. Roast the ham for 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees F, about 4 hours. After the first hour, loosely wrap aluminum foil around the bone to keep it from burning.
• Meanwhile, for the glaze: Boil, then simmer, the remaining apple cider in a saucepan, skimming as needed, until syrupy and reduced to about 2 cups, about 1 1/2 hours.
• During the last 1 1/2 hours of roasting the ham, brush it with the glaze every 30 minutes. Transfer the cooked ham to an ovenproof platter and let it rest in the turned-off oven for 30 minutes. Loosely cover the onions in an ovenproof bowl and put them in the oven as well. Strain the pan juices into a saucepan, skim off any excess fat, and bring to a boil. Make a paste with the flour and butter and whisk a bit at a time into the juices. Boil until thick. Carve the ham and serve with the onions and sauce.

FALL APART FRESH HAM ROAST - OVEN ROASTED

Steps:

• Brine roast for 3-6 hours then pat dry. (Instructions below!)
• Prep your ham! Cut the top fat layer in a diamond pattern or in parallel lines for seasoning!
• Preheat oven to 350º
• Place ham into a 13×9 inch baking dish.
• Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides of your ham roast. Make sure to rub the seasoning into the diamond-shaped or parallel lines cup on the fat layer.
• Add 2 - 3 cups of cold water to the baking pan... The water level needs to come up about 1 inch on the sides of your roast.
• Tightly cover your shallow roasting pan or baking dish with foil to seal in steam.
• Place prepared roast into the oven for 2 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 145º. For food safety make sure your ham reaches at least 145 degrees internally! For a bigger ham roast, you should use less salt and a longer soak time. The reason for this is to let the solution penetrate the ham evenly all the way to the bone without making the outside too salty. Smaller hams require more salt and a shorter soak time. After 2 hours of roasting, remove roast from the oven.
• Turn the oven temperature up to 450º
• Remove foil from pan.
• Mix maple syrup and balsamic vinegar and bast roast with that.
• Place ham roast in the oven, and set the timer for 10-15 minutes of cook time. Baste roast every 5 minutes or as often as you like at this stage of cooking!
• After 10-15 minutes, turn the ham roast over and baste the other side, roast for another 10-15 minutes to brown both sides. (The water will ALMOST be cooked out, but there should be a little left for basting before serving.)
• After browning, remove your roast from the oven, and let it cool for at least 10 mins.
• For best results, use a spoon and take the remaining liquids from the bottom of your baking dish and cover your baked ham roast with them. This gives the roast back all those yummy flavors that have cooked down through the roasting process!

FRESH HAM WITH MAPLE-BALSAMIC GLAZE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Using a sharp knife, score entire surface of ham in a diamond pattern, cutting down just through the skin to the flesh underneath. (If you are cutting to the right depth, the skin will spread apart a bit as you cut.) Rub outside of ham all over with salt and pepper, pressing it into crosshatch spaces between the skin. Put roast on a rack in a large roasting pan and place in oven.
• After 20 minutes, reduce oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and cinnamon. Baste ham hourly with mixture, as well as with fat from the bottom of the pan, roasting until the very center of the ham reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, 2 1/2 to 3 hours total cooking time. (Begin checking at 2 hours, inserting a meat thermometer into the absolute center of the roast.)
• Put the toasted pecans and candied ginger into a food processor and pulse lightly until crumbled and well combined.
• When ham is done, remove it from roasting pan, shower with pecan-ginger mixture and cover it loosely with foil. Allow the meat to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. (Its internal temperature will rise to 150 or more as it rests.)
• Tip roasting pan to the side so you can spoon off all the fat from the pan juices, then place pan on stove over medium-high heat. Scrape the bottom of pan to free any browned bits, skim any film off surface and season liquid as needed with salt and pepper. Pour into a gravy boat.
• Carve ham into thick slices, drizzle with pan sauce and serve, passing remaining sauce on the side.

HOME-CURED HOLIDAY HAM

Steps:

• Place kosher salt, brown sugar, pickling spice, and pink salt in a container large enough to hold the brine and the ham.
• Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil and pour over the brine ingredients; whisk to dissolve. Pour in 1 gallon fresh cold water to cool down the mixture.
• Score the skin side of the pork roast with a sharp knife. Cut into the fat beneath the skin but not into the meat. Score about 1 inch apart, then score in the opposite direction to get the classic diamond-shaped pattern.
• Lower scored roast into the cooled brine, skin side up. Use a plate to weigh down the roast so that it cures fully submerged in the liquid. Refrigerate for 1 day for every 2 pounds of pork (for a 7 pound roast, cure for at least 2 1/2 days). Turn the roast over halfway through the brining process.
• Remove roast from brining liquid. Discard the brining liquid and transfer the roast back to the brining container. Cover the roast with fresh cold water to rinse off some of the salt. Depending on how salty you want your ham, you can soak it for just a few minutes or overnight. Remove roast from the water and blot dry with paper towels.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Add a cup of water to a roasting pan with 2 whole star anise. Place roast on a rack in the roasting pan.
• Roast until ham reaches an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees F, about 2 hours. Ham will not be fully cooked at this point. If water has nearly evaporated, add a splash more. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Continue to roast until skin is browned and crispy and ham reaches an internal temperature of 145 to 150 degrees F.
• To make the optional glaze, mix the mustard, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and salt together in a bowl. Brush glaze on the ham at this point, not before. Return roast to oven for about 5 minutes to crisp it even further.