Our new year hams

I thought heating up a pre-cooked ham should be easy. All one has to do is to buy a pre-cooked ham from the grocery store, place it in a baking pan, let it bake at 350F for 10 minutes per pound of meat, and serve when it's done. But then, after my first attempt, I discovered that there is more than the instructions say:

First, it's best to put the cut side facing down when baking, so that it will not dry out. This allows all the skin to be nicely browned. Do not cover the ham with foil. With a ham below 10 lbs,  it's not necessary to use a drip pan. The cut side actually needs to be in the juice when heating.


Second, I find it helpful to add some 20 minutes or more to the time given by the instructions, so that the meat is fully heated up to the bone. This is especially important if one plans to freeze some leftovers.


Third, after taking the meat out of the oven, it's good to drain the juice first, and allow the ham to sit on the counter for 15 minutes before cutting. This way, the heat is distributed more evenly into the meat. And the meat hardens up, so that slicing is easier. It's also easier to handle when the surface is cooler. I learnt this the hard way when the big hot ham fell off my hands, back into the juice of the pan, and spilled fat all over the kitchen floor!


Fourth, and I find this funny to me: the knife used to slice up the ham is the same one used to slice fresh bread! It's a long thin blade with sawtooth, and forked tip. The sawtooth is very good for slicing. The forked tip is good for pickup up the slices. Other than this long knife, a smaller knife with a pointed sharp end is needed to carve the meat off its bone. When cutting the meat, I actually find it easier to slice it up first before detaching the slices from the bone. The meat holds better this way.


Fifth, after cutting the ham, I realize it's a good idea to keep the sliced meat in a thin layer of the juice from cooking (skimmed of fat). This preserves the moisture of the ham. In fact, the ham soaks up the juice as it slowly cools down. Without the juice, the ham would dry off rather quickly within 30 minutes.


All these discoveries brought to our home a nice little ham for a party at the new year eve of 2010. It tasted so good... early the next day I went out to the store to buy a second one, cooked it and shared it with our friends who didn't make it to the new year eve party!!

It's such a joy sharing the abundance of life!