Tip # 1: Always use a meat thermometer when baking ham. This applies regardless whether you’re baking a partially cooked or fully cooked ham. It will tell precisely when your ham is done avoiding over-cooked, dry hams or undercooked meat – which can cause foodborne illness.

You can’t guess at ham doneness by eyeballing or using general per-pound oven cooking times. Ovens vary too greatly, as to peoples’ eyeball perception of doneness.

Tip #2: Use the thermometer of your choice. There are many types of meat and food thermometers on the market. Choose the one you feel the most comfortable using. They’ll all do the job.

Tip #3: Insert the thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding the bone. For any bone-in ham, the thickest part is going to be the cut portion of the ham. But when baking a ham, it’s by far best to bake it cut side down to preserve juices. This is necessary if you’re cooking a spiral sliced ham. Solve this dilemma by inserting the thermometer at an angle from above into the thick portion below, while being careful to not insert too far to hit the bone.

Read more about meat thermometers and food safety from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Enjoy your Holiday Ham, and please share with us your best tips on using a meat thermometer with Ham.

Peculiar as it may sound, soda pop is a tried and true ingredient in many ham glaze variations, used in recipes by such celebrity cooks as Emeril Lagasse and Nigella Lawson. These concoctions use nearly any pop, any brand found on your grocer’s shelves – colas, ginger ales and lemon-lime sodas, orange, cherry, even diet soda to cut the calories (you get the picture).

What’s the benefit of adding pop? That carbonation in the soda acts to cut the sharpness of the salty flavor of some hams. This is a big plus particularly if your taste buds react more strongly to sodium.

The most basic ham glaze contains a type of sugar (brown or maple sugar are common), an acidic liquid (such as vinegar) and flavoring agents for subtle or bold tang and spice – depending on your preference. In these, the soda replaces the vinegar and adds flavor as well.

Here are some to get you thinking:

• Emeril Lagasse’s Spiced Honey and Lemon Baked Ham
• Nigella’s Ham in Coca-Cola
• A basic Ginger Ale Ham Glaze from CDKitchen

Use these to add pop to your glaze or experiment with your own soda pop ham glazes, then share with us the results.

But, seriously, ham needn’t be a complex dish. With these simple tips, you’re guaranteed to have success.

Know your ham. Many are probably unaware of the different types of ham available. Most of the hams sold in grocery stores are of the city ham variety (there are also country hams and fresh hams). You’ll recognize them filling chilled meat cases everywhere you look this month as people shop for their Holiday Ham. City hams are brined then either smoked or boiled to be moist and tender. Most are partially or fully cooked and come in a variety of choices – bone in, spiral cut, etc.

What to buy. Since most people in the U.S. choose city hams, we’ll focus on them here. There are many fine city hams to choose. One absolute: bone-in hams are more flavorful. Period. Plus, the bone makes a great soup stock.

What’s the word on water content? The more water added to the product, the less your ham will taste like a ham and it will have less of a meat-like texture. Aim for the highest protein to water ratio that you can afford, and remember this is the season for great ham deals at many markets.

Cook it right. You might think there’s little to cooking a ham. You’re mostly right, but a couple simple tips will help you nail it perfectly the first time. Note that regardless whether you choose a fully or partially cooked ham, cooking it is essential. For the former, it will enhance its flavor and juiciness. For the latter, it’s necessary.

Baking your ham is the hands-down best way to prepare it. Wrap your ham in aluminum foil, and place it in an oven bag cut side down inside a roasting pan. This method helps prevent you from inadvertently drying out your ham and is worth the effort.

If it’s a spiral-cut ham, it’s particularly important to place the ham in your roasting pan facing cut side down so the cut slices do not flop apart, dry and ruin your dish.

A partially cooked ham will need to cook 20 minutes per pound at about 350 degrees (175 celsius).A fully cooked ham will take less time, about 10 minutes per pound, to heat through.

Since ovens and hams vary, use a meat thermometer to gauge exactly when the ham is done. For accuracy, it’s important to know exactly where to insert the thermometer probe in your ham. Choose the center of the thickest part of your ham avoiding the bone. I usually go in at an angle from above,

You’ll know your ham is ready to come out of the oven when your thermometer reads about 140-degrees. It will continue to cook while it rests and stopping at this point will keep your ham juicy. The recommended rest period is 30 minutes, tented under foil, prior to slicing and serving.

That’s it! With these few simple steps you can choose, cook and serve the perfect Holiday Ham or Ham dinner any time. Share your tips with us here.

High school kids in Charleston, South Carolina, helped create a recipe for a ham soup that was recently named among the semi-finalists in a nation-wide contest to create a healthy school lunch dish. The Recipes for Kids Challenge competition is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to end childhood obesity.

Brainstorming about what to add to their submission in the legume category to make it attractive to students, kids on the team suggested adding ham, according to the write-up in the Charleston Post & Courier.

The team, made up of students, a chef, and a representative from Slow Food Charleston and from the Medical University of South Carolina came up with Confetti Soup. Among other things, it incorporates loads of vegetables – including the health-food star, kale – with black eyed peas and turkey ham. And there are many lean ham choices that add great flavor and nutrition to soups and other dishes.

This soup is among five of the semi-finalists in the legumes category. View all 15 semi-final recipes. Try them, then vote for your favorite.

It’s just another great example of why we love ham soup. It’s good and good for you.

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites

With the Green Bay Packers playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 45 this year, more people we know are hosting big parties with big eats. Planning our menu this week, I was reminded that ham is the perfect centerpiece for your Super Snack Table, regardless of whether you favor Green and Gold or Gold and Black.

Here are some tasty and fun ways to add ham to your Super Table this year:

• Ham and Cheese bites: A make-ahead Super Snack you can bake ongame day.
• Another make-ahead appetizer, particularly if you love working with yeast: Country Ham and Cheddar Pretzel Bites.
• No suitable Wisconsin table is without a cheese ball. Here’s a simple Ham and Cheese version to serve with your favorite cracker assortment.
• Pittsburgh is famous for its ham, which they make into BBQ Chipped Chopped Ham Sandwiches.
• A favorite ham sandwich pared down for game noshing: Mini Muffalettas.
• A crowd-pleasing sandwich bar featuring ham minimizes kitchen work.
• Don’t forget small bites, like these Ham and Dill Pickle bites

Which team has the best eats? I won’t speculate, but plenty of others have weighed in on this food fight, including the Mouse House Kitchen.  What’s your take?

One of the best things about serving a holiday ham is the soup that follows. Here, we’ll provide a foolproof formula for making the best ham soup ever. With this method, you can have a perfect soup at your table whenever you have on hand a bit of ham or leftover bone from a holiday ham and a few other ingredients.

1. In a heavy Dutch oven or soup pot, sauté one onion, several stocks of celery, one to two carrots and garlic (if you like it) in a small amount (1 Tablespoon or so) oil until the onions are translucent. We prefer olive oil, but any vegetable oil will do. (Tip: I like to dice the onion and garlic – but not too small – and do a larger slice or chop for the celery and carrots so you can see them in the soup. But there’s no real rule here. Slice, dice or chop your sauté veggies how you prefer short of mincing them up super fine so they mush.)
2. Add ham bone, stripped of loose meat, to the pot and cover all with water. Water should come one or so inches above your bone. If you have no ham bone, use a quality chicken or vegetable stock or broth.
3. Immediately add to the pot soaked or canned legumes and/or evenly cubed or cut vegetables* of your choice. Here’s where it gets really fun! You’re limited only by your imagination. But leafy greens (spinach, kale, etc.) should be reserved and added to the end of your cooking time. (*Beans and veggies we like include tomatoes from our freezer or a can, potatoes, turnips, parsnips, celeriac, green beans, corn or barley, and any type dried bean.) Also add herbs of choice, fresh or dried, at this point. With a limited selection of good fresh herbs in Wisconsin this time of year, I usually crush 1 teaspoon oregano and basil between my fingers into the pot, plus a couple bay leaves. Use your taste buds as your guide.
4. Let soup simmer on low for one to two hours, depending on your ingredients. (Certain legumes, unless canned, will take more time to cook. Same with hard root vegetables like turnips. Test your beans/veggies at regular intervals until they’re soft with some give, but not crunchy.) Add water as needed so ingredients remain covered as they simmer. About half way through, add reserved ham that you have (one cup or so torn or cut into pieces), or take out the bone and remove any ham remaining and return meat to the pot. You can also add small pasta or barley, 1/2 cup to 1 cup, here or a little later depending on the pasta cooing time.
5. At the end of your cooking time, add one to two cups fresh, chopped greens of your choice. Spinach and kale are great choices. Cook for just a few minutes until done.
6. Serve with garnish of fresh chopped parsley, sliced scallions, shredded hard cheese (like parmesan or cheddar).

Customize however you like. Add more ingredients to make it chunky like a stew. Limit ingredients to create dishes like ham and potato soup or Cuban black bean and ham soup. Find your favorite ingredients and have fun. And please share your results. I’m always looking for more great ham soup ideas.

Seems I’m not the only one who could use a little spiral aid. The fine folks at Cooks Illustrated have come up with a fool-proof method to spare yourself the same ordeal. Simply follow these tips on making the perfect spiral ham posted on Judy’s Kitchen: Holiday Ham 101.

From Judy:

“Their fool-proof method produces  moist and delicious spiral-sliced ham.  Soaking the ham in hot tap water for 1-1/2 hours brings the internal temperature of the ham up slowly, reducing the oven time.  Baking at a low temperature (250F) for a short period (about 1-1/2 hours) ensures the ham will stay moist.”

Leave it to the obsessive folks at the Cooks Illustrated Test Kitchen to find the perfect solution to make yours the Best Spiral Holiday Ham without any of the guesswork.

Happiest of Holidays to you from all of us at gThankYou!

Uncured ham is also called fresh ham. It’s the same cut as cured, but not embellished with any of the brine and smoke or other flavorings the more common city hams and gourmet country hams. It even has a light pink or grey color, as you would expect in uncooked meat. It requires a little extra preparation and cooking time than its cured counterparts. Here’s a good explanation of ham types from the City Cook. 

You could infer that uncured hams are a healthier alternative. Many are labelled organic or natural. And with uncured hams you won’t get any of the nitrites or nitrates used in many cured hams – a controversial addition for some. Fresh hams are described as far less salty, too, even if you brine the pork yourself.

But the reason I think we’re seeing more interest in the uncured variety of hams is this: We continue to be in the golden age of DIY cooking. This trend grew up with Martha Stewart’s Omnimedia empire, still going strong after many years, and continues to evolve with widening demand for local and organic foods.

In certain ways, people are spending more time in the kitchen. This is particularly true around the holidays. So it makes sense that uncured hams are lining shelves.

If you decide to try uncured ham, how do you cook it? Here are a few tips and recipes:

1. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a food safety sheet for Ham that’s handy. It includes a time table for cooking fresh hams.
2. A Perfect Ham Recipe from the New York Times.
3. Smoke your own Ham with these instructions from eHow.
4. Epicurious offers a great recipe for Grilled Molasses and Rum-Glazed Fresh Ham.
5. Brine your own ham using this universal brining instruction from Cook’s Illustrated.

We love pulling out the grill in winter, so we’re thinking of doing a basic brine and then throwing it on the grill. Share your favorite fresh ham cooking technique or recipe with us.

Soup is the reason I prefer bone-in hams. There’s a good reason why so much meat clings to those bones. It just begs to be made into soup! In its recipe for Ham Stock Epicurious says a shank will yield a meatier broth base. But I’ve had good results with all types. And if you need a pot of ham and bean soup and have no bone, you can always throw in a ham hock and get a great flavor, too.

Growing up, my mom always made Split Pea with Ham soup after our big holiday meal. In my mind, it remains the best  ham and bean soup. Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of cooking plenty of other varieties, too. Here’s a sampling of what’s out there, plus some good, basic references:

• Uncle Bill’s Split Pea with Ham from RecipeZaar
• Kalyn’s Kitchen has a good tutorial on Ham Stock
• Chowhound’s What to do with a Ham Bone
• Ham & Lentil Soup from 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook
• Ham Bone Soups from Old Fashioned Living

Perhaps my favorite reason for cooking ham and bean soups is that it’s actually better to make it ahead. The soup freezes well and actually develops more flavor if you serve it the next day (or day after) it is made. Enjoy a pot today, or tomorrow.

Likewise, I have favorite recipes I pull out annually following the big Holiday Ham Dinner. I make ‘em once a year and they’ve become almost as much a tradition as what we do on Easter itself.

In my estimation, there are probably about 101 ways to use up a bone-in ham. Boneless, too – although I favor a ham bone to make a rich soup stock.  Here are the dishes I rotate from year to year:

• Nueske’s Black Beans with Smoked Ham and Rice
• Build-it yourself Ham Quiche
• Substitute any leftover ham in Jamie Oliver’s Rolled Bread with Ham
• Eat like a Senator with this versatile Senate Bean Soup
• For leftover eggs, you can’t beat this Curried Egg Salad a la Martha Stewart’s daughter Alexis

Send in your family favorites. Bet there are about 101 of them.