I remember way back when I first started cooking hams, they were so confusing. There were so many different kinds and there never seemed to be any standards and often no directions. Well, this ham, Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham is so easy, even if your ham has the directions attached, toss them out.
Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham
And while you’re at it, toss out the packet of glaze, too, that comes with your ham unless maybe you want to use it on something like chicken wings, later. This glaze is so good, any packet glaze can’t compare.
About Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham:
Now, first of all, you’re not seeing any pineapple rings, cloves or cherries or other decorations on this ham. It’s all about the taste and getting that glaze built up over time in the oven. Any decorations? They’ll just be in the way. Besides, there’s something gorgeous about that unbroken expanse of shiny glaze, just as is.
You’re not losing any of the flavors, though. There’s plenty of pineapple in the glaze and all the flavors that go so well with ham, especially a fall/winter ham. Ginger, clove, and allspice (and can I say how good your house will smell?) mean this is a fab ham for Thanksgiving, Christmas or for your New Year party. But wait, there’s more! A little dry mustard powder (one of my Top Secret Super Stealth Arsenal of Ingredients items (yeah, I know, I’ve never been accused of being dramatic) and a good slash or two of hot sauce keep all that glaze from being just one note sweet.
Any ham of about this size will work with this recipe, a bone-in, bone-out, spiral, it doesn’t matter it’s all good. My frugal choice is usually a bone-in half ham, although in recent years there are a lot of inexpensive choices in the spirals. This particular ham was a “donation” from my son (isn’t he great?) and though sadly, no bone for soup it was moist and delish and leftovers were easy!
Making Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham:
I started out with a glaze recipe recited to me from someone at the doc’s office of all places. I’ve spent enough time there this year with shoulder surgery (It’s helped so much but I still have work to do with physical therapy) and then I added a couple of little touches of my own. The glaze is basically just dumped and simmered; the bit of hot sauce and vinegar go in last so they keep some bite; the flavor transforms as that glaze bubbles and caramelizes on the ham.
The key to the ham is to cook it low and slow, 300 degrees and then letting the ham rest, so plan ahead. You’ll be rewarded when everyone raves! And glaze it, several times. Don’t think you’ll get to cheat the glaze and put it on thick, though. It’s not going to work if you do that and will be like wet, sticky pineapple jam. Delish, but that’s not what we’re going for!
Rest your ham, loosely covered so that glaze doesn’t steam, for just about as long as you can. 15 minutes up to a half an hour. That’s going to help keep the juices IN the ham and also give you time to turn up the oven on your sides or finish up any last minute items.
I love me some ham leftovers!!
Saving Money on Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham:
Any big holiday is going to bring a host of sales and it really pays to take advantage of those sales! Buy what you need for the holiday, but don’t stop there…keep buying everything you’re going to need in the next few months; enough to last until the next great sale.
One of the items that will be on sale, especially before Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and again at Easter and often Mother’s Day is ham. In our area, sometimes we’ll see prices as low as 69 to 99 cents a pound at the low but even the normally pricier hams will be at stellar prices. Ham keeps for weeks in the fridge and can be tossed in the freezer, so think about buying more than one. You’ll hardly find a protein at a lower price and you can cook one later for the family (and for the leftovers) or trot one out for any parties or dinners you have coming up. Ham’s a great buffet item.
To see what kinds of things might be on sale for just about any holiday, see my post Win at the Grocery. Each holiday has a link leading to a page with items you might want to look for and pick up at a low. Of course, one of the most frugal things you can do is to use your ham leftovers well. If you’re looking for inspiration (and some recipes) for those leftovers, you might want to take a peek at 12 Days of Ham (because I started out with 12 recipes, but it keeps growing! I think there are around 45 recipes, now!)
I’ve mentioned this before on my site, but I love my kitchen slicerr, cheap and rickety as it is!! It makes great work of any ham leftovers and I use it for a zillion things in my kitchen.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham
Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 pound fully cooked ham
- 15 ounce can pineapple, crushed or tidbits (if chunky, add to blender with juices and pulse until broken down to tidbits)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (sub 3/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons molasses)
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- scant 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- slash of tabasco or pinch of cayenne
- 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
Unwrap ham, remove packaging (including any plastic covering the bone.) Allow ham to come to room temperature for one to two hours; in the meantime, start the glaze. In a saucepan combine the pineapple and any juices, the sugar (or substitute), he mustard powder, clove, ginger, and allspice. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and allow to simmer, stirring now and then and simmer until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and add the tabasco or cayenne and vinegar. Stir and set aside.
When ready to cook, heat oven to 300 degrees F.
Place ham in roasting dish (if ham is cut, place cut side down) just a bit larger than the ham. Brush with glaze (slightly heat glaze if it has cooled and is too thick to use) add water to the depth of 3/4’s of an inch. Tent lightly with aluminum foil and bake for a total of 20 minutes per pound. 2 hours and 40 minutes for an 8-pound ham, three hours for a nine-pound ham and 3 hours 20 minutes for a 10-pound ham.
After the first hour, remove foil (save it to tent the ham with later as it rests) and brush lightly with the glaze; do not replace foil. Repeat light layers of glaze about every 30 minutes, but do not glaze after the ham reaches 20 minutes to being done. The glaze does need that bit of time to dry in the heat of the oven after each application, especially the last. If at any time the water level looks low, add a little more.
When ham is finished, if the glaze is still sticky, turn up the oven to 425 for several minutes; watch closely.
Remove ham from oven, place on platter, lightly tent with foil and allow to rest for 15 to 30 minutes before slicing. If there is any remaining glaze, it may be thinned a bit if needed and passed with the ham.
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I’ll be taking Easy Pineapple Glazed Ham to Angie’s Fiesta Friday #308, hosted this week by me!
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