This year for Easter I made a fresh ham. I have to say, I was super happy with the finished product. I think it is important to note, that fresh ham taste completely different the ham that has already been cured and baked. This ham is not as salty as cured ham and it really has a great texture to it! When purchasing a ham, try to locate a local farmer that has pastured ham. Be sure the skin is still on the ham, as that offers so much flavor and texture to the final product. Make sure the ham is uncured. If you like your ham salty, you can always brine your ham. For this recipe, I did not brine the ham and it was absolutely wonderful. Follow these simple steps and you will have the most wonderful and flavorful ham that you have ever tasted!
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- Rinse ham and pat dry.
- Spread some yellow mustard all over the ham.
- Very liberally salt your ham with unrefined sea salt and garlic salt. Don't worry about over salting the ham. Pepper your ham as well.
- Bake until internal temperature reaches 160 F. This will be about 18-20 minutes per pound of meat. Mine took about 4 hours to cook and it was almost 9 pounds.
- Mix together the apricot preserves, honey and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- When the internal temperature reaches 140 F, start basting the ham with the apricot glaze (this is done for roughly the last 1½ hour of the baking). Do this every 30 minutes until the ham is done.
- When ham reaches 160 F, take out of oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve.
Do you put any liquid in the pan with the ham? I have an 18lb ham so it will be cooking for about 8-9 hrs and i am worried about it becoming dry.