The holiday season is in full swing, and Christmas is almost here. I made a ham last year, and my husband loved it so much I decided to make one this year too. In fact, this is going to become a new Christmas tradition for us. This year I found a recipe that uses one of our favorite things in the glaze: bourbon. I might have drooled a little when I read this Bourbon Orange Glazed Ham recipe, and my husband’s eyes lit up when I told him about it. Ham and bourbon must be the best idea ever—why didn’t we think to combine the two?
This post was originally published on December 3, 2018. The text and photos were updated on December 6, 2021. The review and rating have not been changed.
Sticky, sweet, tangy, and full of flavor… this bourbon mustard and orange glazed ham is one that you’ll be happy to have as the star of your holiday meal!
The Ingredients
The author recommends a particular brand of ham in the blog post with this recipe (I forget the name, but there’s a link in her post), but I went with an $11 grocery store ham. The brand she recommends looked and sounded incredible, but it was way out of this year’s budget. It will go on my try it when I can list for sure though.
Tip: A nice, thick layer of skin and fat on the ham is ideal for roasting. They both help keep the meat moist while cooking and the fat adds a bit of flavor, IMO. The skin is pretty easy to remove once cooked and can be saved to make cracklings.
Other than the ham, all I had to buy was a jar of orange marmalade. I had the rest of the ingredients on hand, including the whole-grain Dijon mustard. I think I have a real thing for mustard—I have at least four different types in my refrigerator. Is that weird?
The Process
Glazed ham has to be one of the easiest dishes to make, and this recipe was no exception. I’d say scoring the ham is the most labor-intensive part of the process, and that really isn’t much work at all with a sharp chef's knife. The rest is just a matter of mixing up the glaze ingredients and brushing them onto the ham a few times.
As far as special equipment goes, you will need a roasting pan with a rack and a basting brush. Tip: be sure you have plenty of aluminum foil on hand. I had just enough to cover the ham but not enough to also line the bottom of the baking pan. That sticky glaze dripped off the ham and burned onto the bottom of the pan. I had to soak and scrub it a few times to get it clean. You want to avoid that, trust me!
Even though you’re really just reheating the ham since it’s already cooked, it does take a while. Here is how my time broke down:
- 8 minutes to prep
- 2 hours to cook (my ham was about 6 1/2 pounds)
- 9 minutes to increase the oven temperature
- 20 minutes to cook*
- 20 minutes to rest
- 2 hours 57 minutes total
*For the last 5 minutes I turned the broiler on to caramelize the glaze.
