Bourbon Glazed Ham
This bourbon glazed ham recipe features a honey and brown sugar glaze with bourbon and orange juice—better than store-bought and half the price!
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 628kcal
Ingredients
- 1 8-10 lb. ham (fully cooked)
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- zest and juice from 1 orange or 1/2 cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Line the bottom of a large roasting pan with foil for easier cleanup.
- Insert a meat thermometer in the ham, wrap it securely in tin foil and place on a rack in a roasting pan. (See notes for detailed instructions on wrapping the ham.) Add apple juice or water to bottom of pan to keep it from dryin out. Bake the ham to an internal temperature of 120 degrees F (or calculate about 15 minutes per pound.)
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup bourbon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and zest and juice from 1 orange or 1/2 cup orange juice until well blended. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a high simmer and cook until the glaze has thickened and reduced slightly. Stir frequently while the glaze is cooking.
- When the ham reaches 120 degrees F, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and fold the foil down so that the ham is uncovered. Don't remove the foil because you may need to tent the foil if the ham starts getting too brown. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, you can pour out some of it.
- Brush glaze all over the ham, getting down in the cracks of fat that you scored earlier. Bake another 30-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with additional glaze. Be sure you do not let the pan dry out underneath the rack. If the ham starts to burn or get too dark, bring the foil back up to make a loose tent.
- When the ham is golden brown and the glaze is set, remove the ham from the oven and place it on a cutting board. Save the pan drippings to serve with the hame. Allow the ham to rest for 15-30 minutes then carve into slices and serve.
- Serve with leftover pan drippings on the side.
Notes
How to prepare the ham: If it has a rind, use a sharp knife to remove it. You want to bake the ham fat side up, and use a knife to cut the fat back to one-quarter to one-half an inch. Then score the fat in a diamond pattern. You can stud the ham with whole cloves if you want.
What to do if you don't have a rack: Take a large piece of foil and roll it into a log. Then take the log and coil it around. You can use this as a rack to keep the ham off the bottom of the pan.
How to wrap the ham: Lay two large pieces of tin foil perpendicular to each other across the rack. Place the ham with the flat side down on the top piece of foil and insert your meat thermometer into the ham. Be sure the thermometer is not touching the bone. Then fold the foil over the ham and seal. Fold the other piece of foil over the ham and seal. The ham should be fully covered and tightly wrapped.
Add a little water or apple juice to the bottom of the pan so that it doesn't dry out. Place the roasting pan in the oven and set the thermometer to 120 degrees F. You can also time it to bake 15 minutes per pound.
