Pineapple Ham (Spiral Ham Recipe) - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take to cook a fully cooked spiral ham? ›

If you're starting with a pre-cooked ham, you'll only need to cook your ham long enough to heat it all the way through. Total cook time will depend on the size of the ham, your cooking method, and the cooking temperature. In general, you'll want to plan for 10-16 minutes per pound.

Don't bother decorating the outside of your ham with fresh pineapple, as the enzymes in the fruit will turn the meat to mush. Instead, add slices to the pan in the final moments of glazing, which burnishes the meat's diamond scoring that mimics a pineapple's quilted peel.

Whether you heat your spiral ham in the slow cooker or oven, all you have to do is open the glaze packet and apply it 30 minutes before your ham is finished cooking. By the time it's ready to serve, you'll have a satiny-glazed ham without any of the time or effort it takes to make a ham glaze.

Heat oven to 275° F. Remove all packaging from the ham and place in shallow roasting pan face side down, then cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 275° F for approximately 15 minutes per pound (do not overcook).

You don't need to wash a ham before baking.

To reheat a spiral-sliced ham in a conventional oven, cover the entire ham or portion with heavy aluminum foil and heat at 325 °F for about 10 minutes per pound.

In the case of pineapples, the bromelain is actually a mixture of two enzymes classed as proteases that break down proteins. These proteases target the large protein molecules in meats (specifically the connective proteins called collagen), and break them down into shorter segments.

“Typically, when you're doing a country ham, you need something sweet to neutralize the ham's saltiness, and pineapple does this really well.” And it's not just me and Benton: Pineapple shows up in ham recipes—atop the ham, in glazes slicking the ham, in shield-your-eyes versions of fried rice—the world over.

Peach preserves, hot pepper jelly, and maple syrup work as sweet bases for glazes that add sheen as well as distinct flavor. Tasty additions such as aromatics, herbs, and spices switch up a traditional ham and make it truly memorable.

The glaze should not be applied until the final hour to 30 minutes, in order to avoid burning the sugars. What you're going to do with the glaze ingredients is just combine most of them into a paste, and then apply it to the ham. After that, the heat in your oven will take care of everything.

How do you get glaze to stick to ham? ›

Basting – As the brown sugar ham glaze cools, it thickens so it sticks better to the ham as you baste during the cook time. Be generous and slather it on thickly – aim to use it all by the end of the cook time.

The honey glaze packets that come with the ham are meant to save you time and make your life easier, but making a glaze from scratch is quite simple and worth the extra time when you taste the elevated difference.

How do you bake a ham without drying it out? Spiral cut hams should be covered with aluminum foil to help retain moisture when re heating. You could also place a foil pan with water underneath the ham to create some steam inside the oven to keep everything moist.

Spiral Sliced Hams

To heat this ham, heat oven to 275 degrees. Remove packaging, reserving liquid. Place ham cut-side down on a large sheet of foil in a roasting pan. Pour reserved liquid over ham and wrap completely with foil.

Pre-cooked spiral ham is an easy-to-make and crowd-pleasing entree for your guests. However, since it's already cooked, it's prone to drying out easily in the oven when you heat it up. The key to preventing a shriveled spiral ham disaster is to wrap it in aluminum foil before sticking it in the oven.

Cooking Temperature and Time

If the ham is a half ham weighing five to seven pounds, it should heat at 325°F for 22-25 minutes per pound. If it is a whole ham weighing between 10 to 14 pounds, heat the ham at 325°F for 18-20 minutes per pound. The internal temperature should be 140°F.

The goal is to reheat the ham without drying it out. The best way to do this is to place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan. Add water to the bottom of the pan and cover the whole thing tightly with foil. Bake at 325F for 16-20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 135F.

While baking a show-stopping ham is simple and easy, be sure to leave yourself plenty of time to bring the ham to room temperature for an hour (for even heat distribution) as well as up to 2 1/2 hours to bake it long, low and slow, depending on your ham's size.

Remove all packaging materials and place ham face down directly into baking dish or roasting pan. (Place whole ham on its side.) Cover tightly with lid, foil or place in cooking bag and heat at 275°F for approximately 12-15 minutes per pound.