Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

No need to fear the ham! It’s super easy with this magic 5 ingredient Brown Sugar Ham Glaze that will transform your Christmas Ham into the most incredible sticky, caramelised centrepiece! Plus, my simple tricks to make your Christmas ham look and taste as good as they do in glossy magazines (and blogs 😂). Christmas made easy!!

New to glazed ham? Start here -> How to Make Glazed Ham. Want to try my signature Maple Glazed Ham? Here it is!

BROWN SUGAR GLAZED HAM – Made Easy!

I’m abnormally paranoid about wasting your time and money – especially for grand centrepieces. Hang ups from my youth – we lived on a tight budget when I was growing up.

I hope I always remain this way!

As a result, I have somewhat of an obsession with ensuring my recipes work. Which means making them repeatedly until I’m confident I’ve covered off the “problem” areas.

So. Christmas Ham. I think I’ve made it considerably more than your average person. And today I want to share the knowledge I’ve accumulated. Making Christmas Ham easy, easy, easy!

How to make Christmas Ham: 3 simple steps

1. Remove rind – easy, it wants to come off!

2. Baste ham with 5 ingredient Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

3. Bake for 1.5 hours on a lowish temp (160C/320F standard, 140C/285F fan), basting every 20 minutes

Choosing the Best Ham

Here’s my take on choosing the best ham for Christmas:

• Bone in or out – Bone IN – it’s juicier!! **She says adamantly** Bone out is easier to carve but you lose so much juice through the hole where the bone was. 😩

• Whole or half ham – One day I might find an occasion for a 10kg/20lb whole ham leg, but for now, I always get a half leg. There are 2 types – with the handle and the other end (which looks like a half soccer ball – see below). I always get the one with the handle even though there’s less meat-to-bone because a) it looks more traditional b) it’s easier to carve; and c) you get a bigger ham bone to use later;

• Type: Natural wood smoked, ready-to-eat ham. NOT raw ham eg gammon

• Difference between value and quality hams: Good hams from quality butchers have a kind of “meaty” texture and a pure ham flavour. It’s completely different to the stuff you slap on sambos! Supermarket and value hams are injected with brine (salty water) to make them juicier. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing per se, it’s just that some go overboard and you end up with a rubbery,  kind of wet ham texture. Lower quality hams pretty much taste like the stuff you put on your everyday sandwiches!

How to remove ham rind

{Watch the video!} The ham rind (or ham skin) that covers the ham all over is inedible. It’s rubbery and tough so we need to remove it. The rind wants to come off – so it’s not hard to remove. Here’s how:

1. The Handle – first, cut through the skin around the handle. We’re going to leave the skin on the handle so it holds its shape and is easy to hold for carving. If you remove the skin, it gets all buckled and twisted while baking;

2. Cut slits down the each side – this just makes it easier to peel off the top, then the underside in clean sections;

3. Run knife along rim between the rind and the fat;

4. Slip your fingers in the gap;

5. Run your fingers back and forth to release the rind whilst pulling the rind back gently;

6. Pull – About halfway through, you should be able to just pull most of the rind back. It will probably tear – that’s fine, just peel back / slice off the remaining bits. Repeat on underside.

7. Scoring – score a 2.5cm / 1″ diagonal pattern all over the surface (not underside);

8. Fat only – cut into the fat only, don’t cut into the skin.

Clove studding option – follow directions in this Maple Glazed Ham. It’s more for visual than flavour – needs to be removed before serving.

Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

Brown Sugar Ham Glaze is a classic recipe. It’s very similar to the Maple Mustard Ham Glaze I shared years ago – but made without maple. It’s truly magical how such a simple ham glaze recipe can transform into caramelised amazingness once it’s slathered on the ham.

The key with the Brown Sugar Ham Glaze is to balance the sweet (sugar and some honey) with sour. I use vinegar and mustard (which also thickens the glaze). I like to add a touch of holiday spirit with All Spice and Cinnamon, but this optional!

Making a Brown Sugar Ham Glaze is as simple as plonking the ingredients in a saucepan then just simmering until the sugar dissolves. Then slather all over the ham. And I mean ALL OVER THE HAM!!!

Baking the Glazed Ham!

This is the easiest part – if you follow a few very simple Nagi Ham Rules that make all the difference!

1. Level the surface – this will ensure your ham caramelises more evenly. If it’s sloped, the highest point browns far faster and you end up with burnt patches and some barely caramelised bits. Also the same trick I adopt to get a perfect crackling all over my Pork Roast 🙌🏻;

2. Water in the roasting pan – it’s a must to stop the drippings from burning! Sugar in glaze = burnt mess = can’t baste using pan juices + no sauce 😩. Plus, water = more moist environment for your ham. I use: water, white wine or OJ;

3. LOWER TEMP – The oven temp of most ham recipes is too high, resulting in too many burnt bits. Lower the temp slightly – you’ll thank me later!

4. Baste, baste, baste! Baste lots – every 20 minutes. More basting = better glaze!

5. Baste LOADS before serving – This is where magic happens, especially if you’ve got bits that didn’t caramelise well. As the ham rests, the liquid in the pan thickens so you get a thicker glaze on the ham.   Think of it like paint – it will make your ham a glowing deep caramel colour with a super thick, glossy glaze!

6. Wrap the handle – for practical purposes, so you can hold it. And if you are so inclined, pretty it up with ribbon and some greenage (last year I stole a sprig off the Christmas tree!)

Sauce for Ham

The glaze is everybody’s favourite part…. and there’s just not enough to go around! So some years ago, I started using the pan drippings as the sauce to serve with the ham. It’s loaded with flavour from both the Brown Sugar Ham Glaze AND the juices of the ham.

The pan drippings are usually a bit thick to use as a sauce so I just thin it with water. The flavour is very intense so you don’t lose flavour at all.

Other sauce options: chutney, Cranberry Sauce, mustard, caramelised onion jam.

And there you have it. My ultimate ham guide! There’s a few bits I haven’t covered – cooked ham storage, shelf life, making ahead (this is super handy!) – which I’ve popped in the recipe notes.

Ah – wait! And most important – save the ham bone!! Last year I promised I’d share a ham bone recipe shortly after Christmas and a mere 8 months later, I published a 3 ingredient Chinese Ham Bone Rice Soup. 😂

This time, I can 100% promise you that I am sitting at my computer eating this years’ leftover ham bone recipe. It will be with you in the first week of the New Year (because I have something else I’m super excited to share as this years’ Christmas leftovers recipe!!).

And finally. After possibly the longest post of 2018 – I present to you the Brown Sugar Glazed Ham Recipe. 😅 ~ Nagi x

PS. For a mini, everyday or economical version, you can even use this glaze on chicken pieces too – check out Sticky Glazed Christmas Chicken! Also, my other Christmas Ham child is Maple Glazed Ham. The maple flavour is lovely in this!

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WORTHY OF YOUR LEFTOVER HAM

• Ham and Potato Chowder

• Monte Cristo (Ham French Toast Grilled Cheese)

• Ham Puff Pastry Bites

• Ham and Cheese French Toast Roll Ups – insanely good and super quick!

• Ham and Cheese Bread Bowls or Pockets

• Epic Christmas Leftovers Bread Bowl Sandwich!

• Also use in place of bacon in: Quiche Lorraine, Frittata, Egg Muffins

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

LIFE OF DOZER

It is that time of the year when we strip Dozer of what little dignity he has remaining for the amusement of myself and others at the dog park….