The Perfect Christmas Ham
A ham is considered a centrepiece on many Christmas tables.
INGREDIENTS
- Raven’s Creek Free Range Berkshire Whole Ham (approx. 7kg)
- 800ml orange juice
- 300g brown sugar
- Cloves
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
- Water when needed
COOKING YOUR GAMEKEEPERS HAM
- Making the glaze: Place orange juice, brown sugar and mustard seeds in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Stir and bring to boil until sugar dissolves and turn off the heat.
- Cooking the Ham: Preheat oven to 150°C. Line a large, deep roasting pan with baking paper. Using a small sharp knife, cut around the ham shank, then carefully run the knife under the skin around the edge of the ham.
- Gently lift off the skin in one piece by running your fingers between the skin and the fat.
- To elevate your ham to a show-stopping centrepiece, score the fat in a diamond pattern (about 5mm deep).
- Stud the centres of each diamond with a clove. Not only is it decorative, it also creates lovely pockets of crusty glaze in the corners of each diamond.
- Pour the glaze over the ham & put on the lowest shelf in the oven. Baste the ham every 20 mins with the glaze from the pan. If using a meat thermometer, aim for about 38°C core temperature. The ham will take approximately 2hr 45mins to cook. If the glaze in the pan gets too thick, just add a little water to the glaze to loosen the caramel. Once the ham is cooked add remaining glaze from the pan into a jug to serve alongside your delicious ham.
- Storing your ham: Dip your ham bag in a solution of 2 cups cold water & 1 tbsp vinegar. Wring out the bag and place ham inside. Rinse and re-dip in a fresh solution every 3 days to keep the bag moist. Make sure you wash the bag before use. We recommend using a new bag for every new ham.
TIP: Take your ham out of the fridge 3 hrs prior to cooking or leave out overnight to let it come up to room temperature.
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