How To Bake A Ham

A perfect dinner is almost incomplete without a lip-smacking ham dish and any foodie would gladly vouch for that. This delicious and traditional centerpiece has been an inevitable part of almost all Christmas and Easter dinners and is treated as the star attraction of almost all elaborate menu cards. Cooking ham is indeed a culinary art that deserves right ingredients and a perfect knowhow. The options for cooking ham are endless and it is only a matter of your palate on how you wish to devour this scrumptious meat. Basically constituting the rump or thigh of pork or boar, ham has been an integral part of the main course of many European and even Asian cuisines. A truly delicious and versatile meat, ham has come to occupy a large part of most dinners today. As already said, the choices for cooking ham are endless but a little expertise can help you stir up your ham in your own unique fashion. If you have been dying to know the secret behind that perfectly baked ham, here is how you can achieve the yummiest ham without having to toil hard. Read on to know more on how to bake a ham.

Tips For Baking Ham

Most meat lovers tend to buy frozen meat or freeze their meat before using it. Freezing meat definitely gives it a longer fridge-life and the liberty to be consumed anytime, anywhere. However, it is important to thaw your meat before cooking. Also, refrain from refrigerating the thawed meat again.
One of the best ways to thaw a ham is to remove it from the deep freeze and put it in the refrigerator. Just put the ham in the platter and leave it in the refrigerator. A small ham will take four to five hours, while a bigger sized ham will take a minimum of seven hours to get thawed. It is one of the easiest ways to thaw your ham. What's more, you can store your ham in the refrigerator for at least five days.
Another way of thawing ham is to defrost it in cold water. Just fill a tub with cold water and dunk the frozen ham in it. Zip lock the ham in sealable pouch, before dipping it in water. Never use hot or warm water to defrost your ham, as it would ruin its taste and texture. Drain and fill up the sink every thirty minutes to keep the water cold. A small ham will take two hours, while a big ham will need a minimum of four hours to deice.
How you bake your ham will largely depend on whether it is pre-cooked or uncooked. No matter, whichever form of ham you take, remember to preheat the oven to 325°C. Now, line a roasting pan with a silver foil and put the ham on it. Put the pan inside the oven and bake it for twenty-five to thirty minutes. A pre-cooked ham, however, will take less time to cook. So, tune your timing accordingly.
Flip the ham when half-done and return bake the meat inside the oven and wait till it is all done. Do not overcook the ham. Remove it from the oven and allow it to stand for fifteen minutes before cutting and serving.
You can glaze you ham for a nice, great flavor. If you want to glaze your ham, do it thirty minutes prior to serving it. Just take out the half done ham from the oven and glaze it using a brush and then return back the ham to the oven.

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