Ree's Dr Pepper-Glazed Ham Is the Only Recipe You'll Need This Easter (2024)

FAQs

What is the best kind of ham to cook for Easter? ›

What most American cooks procure for Easter dinner is a wet-cured, lightly smoked, prebaked ham, what neighborhood butchers called a city ham, when there were still neighborhood butchers. There is nothing particularly urban about city ham, the meat expert Bruce Aidells said, but the name took hold as shorthand.

The glaze should not be applied until the final hour to 30 minutes, in order to avoid burning the sugars. What you're going to do with the glaze ingredients is just combine most of them into a paste, and then apply it to the ham. After that, the heat in your oven will take care of everything.

Cooking a ham in cola will impart a slight sweetness to the ham, which is foiled by the saltiness of the meat itself. However it is only the outside of the ham that will really pick up the sweetness, it does not penetrate all the way through the ham.

Pre-cooked ham can be served directly from the refrigerator. If you'd like to serve it hot, heat in a 350° oven to an internal temperature of 140°. At 140°, the ham will be thoroughly warmed and moist.

Bone-in ham

The bone provides the meat with better flavor and texture. As a bonus, the leftover bone is great for making soups and stews, like this Old-Fashioned Split Pea Soup. Bone-in hams are sold as half hams. When you opt for bone-in ham, you'll also need to consider the part of the ham you buy.

Not Covering Your Ham

If you don't cover your ham while cooking it will quickly dry out. Instead: Put some aluminum foil over your ham while it's cooking. It is recommended that the ham is covered for at least half of the cooking process and only removed during the last half when you glaze it.

Bake the ham in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest portion registers 140°F, basting every 30 minutes with 1/2 cup of the glaze. Be sure to keep an eye on the ham, and cover it loosely with foil if it starts getting too dark.

Peach preserves, hot pepper jelly, and maple syrup work as sweet bases for glazes that add sheen as well as distinct flavor. Tasty additions such as aromatics, herbs, and spices switch up a traditional ham and make it truly memorable.

“Typically, when you're doing a country ham, you need something sweet to neutralize the ham's saltiness, and pineapple does this really well.” And it's not just me and Benton: Pineapple shows up in ham recipes—atop the ham, in glazes slicking the ham, in shield-your-eyes versions of fried rice—the world over.

What is the red stuff in ham? ›

But actually that red juice in your meat is not blood. Blood is removed during the slaughter process and afterwards very little blood remains in the muscle tissue. That red liquid is water mixed a protein called myoglobin.

What kind of ham is best for Easter dinner? Look for a fully-cooked, bone-in ham that isn't spiral cut—it stays juicier in the oven! Shank-end hams are the big, beautiful ones you're used to seeing for the holidays and those work great here.

In most of the world, lamb is considered the traditional Easter meal, but in the U.S., the sweet, crunchy-glazed Honey Baked Ham reigns supreme.

The best rule of thumb for ham is to plan about 1/2 pound per person when picking a bone-in ham (it's heavier) and 1/3 pound if boneless. Look, at the end of the day, some people will eat more than expected, some will eat less—it'll even out.

It really depends on what you like and how many people you're serving! We liked both whole and spiral-cut hams and didn't have a preference for bone-in or boneless.

With a bone-in ham, plan on one-third to one-half pound of meat per person (or two to three servings per pound), or more if you want leftovers. For a boneless ham, figure about quarter-pound per person, or more for leftovers.

Smithfield

Both hams have received decent-to-good reviews from customers, with the brown sugar flavor earning more acclaim than the hickory. Positive reviews focus on the ease of preparation — Smithfield hams simply have to be heated in the oven and spread with a pre-made glaze that comes in a packet.