Spiral Cut Ham

[funnybone]

I was thinking of getting one, but am not sure of the best place to get one. When we lived in GA, there used to be a ham store (can't remember the name), but I have never seen anything around her. I have seen some in Costco, but I didn't want to get one there unless absolutely necessary.

Does anyone know of a good place to order these hams? Thanks for your help.

[RobinC]

Honey Baked Ham has excellent spiral cut hams. They also ship all over. You can find them at http://www.honeybaked.com

[funnybone]

Thanks - I will check them out.

[SusanT]

I've had the ones from Costco and they're pretty good!

[HDgirl]

Honey Baked Ham has the best hams. SO insists on them, of coarse I was the one who turned him on to them.

I have never been disappointed. I find them a little more expensive but worth it. They also have lots of other things, sides, pies, etc. I am lucky enough to have a store about 30 mins away.

[Jewel]

I've also had the 'Kirkland' ham from Costco, and they are very good. Do you have the brand 'Cure 81' out there? I believe it's a division of Hormel. If you do, that's the finest spiral cut ham I've tasted, but Costco's ham is very comparable!

My mother purchased a $50 Honeybaked Ham for Christmas last year and was VERY disappointed. I wasn't there to taste it, but she said it was very fatty and had a 'stale' taste to it. Personally, I'll stick to my Cure 81 or Costco with my Bourbon, Pepper and Brown Sugar Glaze! YUM! ;)

[SusanT]

Jewel - would you share your glaze recipe?

[HDgirl]

Jewel,

That's too bad that your mom was disappointed. I have been ordering through them for about 15 years. Even in the begining when they were shipped to me I never had a problem. Of coarse now I go there and see what I am buying.

My SIL served a ham she purchased at Costco for Easter and I thought it was terrible. So I guess maybe it's hit or miss????

Karen

[Leanne]

We get ours at Sam's every Christmas. It comes with a glaze mix & everything. It's way cheaper than Honey Baked & they're really good.

[Deanna]

I have always been very happy with Honeybaked Hams. They are pricey, but worth the cost, in my opinion.

A hint: If you want to save money, you can purchase a "miscut". All that means is they discount the cost of hams where the spiral cut went awry!

[Grace]

I also have to vouch for the Honeybaked hams. Haven't had the Costco or Sam's hams, so I can't comment on how they compare, but we've been doing Honeybaked for as long as I can remember, and have NEVER had a problem.

I think, Jewel, your Mom may have just gotten an extremely rare fatty one. I bet if she would have called they would have done something for her (refund, another ham, etc.). Anyway, sorry your Mom had a bad experience, and maybe it's just a difference of tastebuds or something, but we really love Honeybaked.

[tracey67]

I was psyched to see this thread since I'm thinking of buying a spiral cut ham for an open-house type party this holiday. I have never bought a pre-cooked (or cut, for that matter) ham so I have some questions.

They ARE pre-cooked right?
How long does re-heating take?
The spiral cut -- what's this all about -- do you have to do anything further to serve it and/or cut it completely?

Like I said, I've never bought a ham of this type so some of these questions might not even make sense, but I appreciate any insight you guys can provide.

Oh -- and I've got an actual Honeybaked store only about 20 minutes from my house. Maybe I could visit and even get a "taste-test"?

thanks!
tracey

[Jewel]

Originally posted by SusanT
Jewel - would you share your glaze recipe?

Susan I don't have the exact measurements, they're at home and I'm supposed to be working... ;) I'll post the exact tonight, but I think it's 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 cup of bourbon...sounds strange, but together it's wonderful! The combination of the sweet brown sugar and the spicy black pepper is amazing, and the bourbon adds an extra kick! I pull slices of the spiral cut open and slather the glaze inside too! I always double the glaze. I'll post the exact recipe tonight.

Mom taught me how to make Redeye Gravy when I was young, and the drippings from this ham make a great gravy using cold coffee! YUM! Can't wait for the holidays!! :D

[funnybone]

Thanks for all your comments and reviews. I will have to look into the different brands (Cure 81, etc) and if local places offer first. I guess since I never had to buy one around here, I haven't noticed what may actually be around. I have only seen the ones at Costco as they are there year round.

I have also heard that www.HarryandDavid.com carry them, and I noticed that they have a Turkey and Ham Sampler, which may be a great idea as well as you get a bit of both. Tracey67, that may be an idea for you.There is a store locally, so I can go and check them out. To answer your question, they are fully cooked. You just heat and serve.

[heatherfeather]

I usually serve a spiral baked ham for Christmas. I have lived in Kentucky where you can get excellent hams and also in many more remote locations where it was a lot harder to find a good ham. Anyway - one brand that I have usually been able to find, even when I lived in the middle of Kansas, was Hillshire Farms Brown Sugar Baked Ham (which comes spiral cut or not). It is very good ham and I have never been disappointed. It is also often leaner than some hams I've tried and is obviously a readily available ham. I don't just pop them in oven and seve as is, however - I always prepare a ham glaze. Last year I found an excellent recipe on the Food Network for a Rootbeer Glazed Ham which was fabulous and I will repeat it again this year.

As far as spiral cut hams go, they are already cut into lots and lots of perfectly thin slices but are still partially attached to the bone. The best way to serve the ha is on a special hame stand that holds the ham upright by the bone end. Then it is easy to see each ham slice facing straight up at you. It is an elegant presentation - espiceally if you decorate the base of the stand with a wreath or something. If you don't have a ham stand, it is not essential - it is just harder to cut off the bottom half of the slices - you kind of have to flip the ham over to get to the bottom half of the meat. A Ham stand looks a lot like a vertical metal rack you stick a turkey or a chicken on to roast in the oven, except the part that would go into the cavity of the chicken/turkey is open like a ring to set the hame into.

[aggie94]

Ditto on Honeybaked - they're delicious! Their turkey breasts are excellent, too. The first Christmas we were in Oregon, we weren't able to go back to Texas for the holidays so my parents sent us a Honeybaked ham and turkey breast and we invited friends over. They're a bit pricey but definitely worth it. Leftover ham sandwiches with Honeybaked ham slices are SO yummy!

[tracey67]

funnybone, thanks for the Harry and David suggestion. Let us know if you go to their store and check them out.

heather, thanks for the info on the ham stand. If I decide to do the ham I'll definitely look into this. I'm guessing you could find these at a kitchenware store like Kitchen Etc.?

tracey

[heatherfeather]

I dug up the recipe for the Rootbeer Ham from the Food Network. The recipe was actually a winner in the Food Network's hunt for the best holiay recipes across the country in a special with Sara Moulton. Anyway, the lady who created the recipe originally was Terri Kurlan of McKinney, Texas

Rootbeer Ham with Kumquats

12-15 pound spiral cut ham

2 liters quality root beer (like IBC)

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

3-4 Tbsp. hot spicy mustard

2 Tbsp. dry mustard powder

1 pound kumquats and/or green seedless grapes (she used both on the program)

Preheat oven to 220 F. Wash ham thoroughly and pat dry. Place ham in roaster that has a lid. Pour 1 liter of rootbeer over ham. Add half of the kumquats/grapes and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Bake covered, for 6 hours, basting often. When done, remove ham from juices and discard juices. Return ham to roasting pan. In a saucepan, combine remaining brown sugar and 2 cups of rootbeer. Bring to a boil and reduce until thickened enough to coat ham. Remove from heat and stir in both kinds of mustard. Brush sauce over top of ham and return to 300 F oven, uncovered, to let brown. Add more sauce as needed. Add remaing kumquats and grapes during the final 15-20 minutes. Be careful not to burn top of ham. Serve remaning sauce separately.

My notes: The very low temp is because you are slowly reheating the ham and while it reheats, it absorbs the delicious rootbeer taste. I did heat my ham at a higher temp after the first several hours and did not have any problems. Just don't heat it too high or your ham will dry out. The sauce is great! I didn't have acess to kumquats and it came out fine using all grapes, although the kumquats would have been a pretty addition.

[HDgirl]

I also do the ham stand thing. I take off about half and heat the slices in the oven and transfer to a serving platter the rest goes into the stand.

Tracey67 - Sometimes at the store I go to, they have samples that you can try. Call the store near you and see if they do the same thing. I actually bought the stand from Honeybaked, well my ex did, I just ended up w/ it.

[heatherfeather]

If you want to see what a ham stand looks like, I know that allrecipes.com has one for sale in their "kitchen cookware" section - just type ham stand in their search window once you get to the shopping portion of their site. They have it for a good price - only $7.99.

[ReneeV]

Hi All,
I always make a spiral sliced ham. There was a very informative article in Cooks Illustrated a couple of years ago. They talked about how spiral slice was preferable to regular cured grocery hams because they are not injected with so much water and are meater, not "waterlogged".

In a blind taste test, Cooks Brand, (no relation to the mag) came out number one. It's a grocery store brand and reasonably priced.

Cook's Illustrated claims that the key is in the cooking. Most spiral sliced hams' recommendation for cooking is all wrong. The magazine recommonds cooking at a low temp (250 degree)in a cooking bag for about 12 minutes a pound. I have tried this and it is fabulous! The ham is moist and succulent and really meaty.

Renée

[daney]

I serve a Honey baked spiral cut every Christmas. My family loves it. I make mashed sweet potatoes and curried fruit in addition to the regular mashed potatoes everyone wants at holiday ( I do those skin-on and use the real thing - cream and real butter to mash them - it's only once a year!!!:rolleyes: ). I haven't done a glaze before, but the bourbon one sounds GREAT. I may have to try it.

I think the curried fruit is essential and I am going to give you all the recipe, whether you want it or not!!! But, I am at work, so you'll have to hold on until tonight. :D It is really easy and goes well with prime rib, too.

I took over doing holidays when we bought our house and I really enjoy it. None of my friends can believe it, given that I was only 30 when I started hosting everyone. It is such a blast to have everyone at YOUR own house... Okay, I am OT and I will quit, now.

[schuh]

I have served Honey Baked Ham several times and they have always been delicious.

Their instructions recommend to serve it at room temperature. I have done this for open houses (when it's going to be out for a while, so it would cool off anyway) and it's delicious. Plus it's a main course with no effort at all.

I serve it on a platter and it works fine.

[daney]

This is all the standard size can for each fruit type, nothing has to be too precise. I don't have any nutritional counts, but it wouldn't be hard to figure if you put your mind to it - for us it is a holiday thing, so we don't worry about it too much.

Preheat oven 325'

1 can each: Peaches, Pears, Pineapple chunks, Apricots

Drain fruits and arrange in casserole dish.

Melt 1/3 c butter, add 1/2 c. Sugar and 2 t Curry Powder.

Pour over fruit.

Cover, bake 1 hr.

You could substitute splenda, since the sugar doesn't serve as a thickener.

Serve it warm.

I have successfully scaled this to feed 75 people, using an electric roaster to cook it with great results.

[tammy/MN]

i had never made a spiral ham before until last year when my DH got on from one of his supplies for christmas. i always make my ham the same way.............i just pour a can/bottle of beer over it & bake it. i was told to make it this way about 13 yrs ago by an old frenchman at the grocery store, he said that is the only way to cook a ham that the beer takes the saltiness out of the beer.

the spiral cut took the work out the cutting the ham!