How To Cook Your Smoked Ham

If you've never had pastured pork before, get ready for your first pastured ham!

If you had the butcher smoke your ham, that means the meat is already cooked and all you need to do is reheat your ham before serving. You definitely don't want to over-cook the meat as that can cause it to dry out; however, since your pork is heritage, pastured meat, this isn't as big a risk as with a traditional lean, grocery store ham.

Make sure to thaw your ham the day before, and to speed up your heating time, you can also let it come to room temperature before putting it in the oven.

Don't trim any fat from the ham before cooking -- this will help to keep it moist. If you don't want to eat the fat (it's delicious but I'm sure someone's pet will if you don't), you can trim it before serving. Place the ham cut side down in the pan, 

The general rule of thumb for heating smoked ham is 10-15 minutes per pound in a 350 degree F oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 135-140 degrees. (A meat thermometer is a helpful tool if you don't have one already!)

For a half ham, this generally translates to about 1 1/2-2 hours, or 3-4 1/2 hours for a whole ham. If you don't want to mess it up, get on the scale with your ham to check the weight and test the temperature with a meat thermometer when you start to get close to your estimated time.

Some people recommend adding water to the bottom of the pan -- we don't think it's necessary with your pastured pork, but it won't hurt to try it. You can also baste the ham with the drippings if you like -- again, not necessary but may add to the deliciousness if you're up for the extra work. 

Your smoked ham will also taste amazing on its own, but if you want to dress it up, there are many different glaze recipes to be found on the internet. One of our customers really loved this spiced maple glaze from Everyday Maven. She said, "we all agreed it was by far the best ham any of us have ever had."

If you find a glaze you like, you can score the skin of the ham and add the glaze to start, but then you'll want to tent the ham with foil so the sugars don't burn. Alternately, you can wait until the last 15 minutes of cooking time to add the glaze, and turn the heat on your oven up to 450F. Just watch it closely until it's browned.

Let your ham sit for 10 minutes, then carve and serve!