To keep a ham juicy, the biggest secret is patience and low heat. Since most store-bought hams are already fully cooked, your only goal is to gently warm it through without drying out the moisture.
Set your oven to 250°F (120°C) and place the ham flat-side down in a roasting pan. Wrap it tightly in foil (or seal it in an oven bag). This traps moisture and allows the ham to gently steam in its own fat and juices, instead of drying out in the oven's dry heat.
8 Baked Ham Mistakes for the Juiciest Holiday Dinner Ever
Place ham, cut side down, on rack in shallow roasting pan; cover loosely with aluminum foil. Heat approximately 10 to 15 minutes per pound until heated through. Remove ham from oven and let stand, covered, 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Always add moisture: Ham reheats best with a little extra help. A splash of water, broth, glaze or leftover pan juices creates steam that keeps every bite flavorful and moist.
For years, I've been making my glazed ham the day before serving then just reheating it on the day of. It saves so much work on the day – no babysitting the ham and basting, basting, basting! The ham comes out 99% perfectly. The glaze is just as good as freshly made and the ham flesh doesn't dry out.
The meat is placed in an oven with a higher dry heat, causing the drippings to evaporate when cooking. While some drippings may make it to the bottom, most will not—causing the meat to dry out.
Ham Heating Instructions
Wrap ham in foil and place, cut side down, in a pan with a roasting rack. Place pan in oven and cook (allow about 10 to 14 minutes per pound of meat.). When digital meat thermometer, inserted in thickest part of ham, registers 100 to 110 F, remove ham from oven and unwrap.
Fully cooked, ready-to-eat hams can be served cold or reheated; spiral-cut hams are often consumed cold. When reheating, cook a pre-cooked ham for 10 minutes per pound at 350ºF until it reaches an internal temperature of 140ºF.
Cook to a minimum internal temperature of 145°F (63°C) and allow to rest for at least 3 minutes. 10 to 14 lbs. 18 to 20 min/lb. Half, bone-in 5 to 7 lbs.
Your oven needs to be primed and waiting at the right temperature for your baked goods as soon as you're ready, so make sure to preheat your oven before you start the recipe. Cake batters in particular should be baked very soon after mixing to give them the best possible rise and fluffy texture.
Cover the ham tightly with a tent of aluminum foil. This will help keep the ham from drying out. Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 110 degrees. Note, the ham is already cooked, so we're just just trying to reheat it.
'If you're starting off by cooking your ham in water, make sure you're poaching it and not boiling it. If you're boiling it, the ham becomes quite tough and tight, so you want it on a gentle simmer, really around 85 degrees – no hotter than that. You want slow cooking as that helps to keep it moist. '
For best results, place the ham flat-side down on a rack in a roasting pan in the lower half of the oven, loosely covered in foil to retain moisture while cooking. Add a cup of water, stock, or apple juice to keep it juicy.
Basting: Periodically baste the ham with its natural juices or a mixture of broth, butter, and spices while it cooks. This helps to keep the meat moist and adds additional flavor. Tenting: If you notice the ham starting to brown too quickly or dry out, loosely tent it with aluminum foil.
Cover in Foil to Keep Ham From Drying Out
The foil traps steam and keeps the meat moist. You don't have to wrap the aluminum foil tightly around the ham because you'll want to be able to check on it later. Instead, simply cover the ham with the foil, tucking it under the lip of the roasting pan.
Return to oven and bake, uncovered, 20-30 minutes or until thermometer registers 140°F (for fully cooked ham) or 155°F (for partially cooked ham). (Temperature will rise approximately 5°F-10°F during standing.) Cover loosely with aluminum foil and let stand 15-20 minutes for easier carving.
→ Follow this tip: Place the ham cut-side down in a baking pan. Cover the ham with foil or use a baking bag to heat up the ham until it's time to glaze. You can also add a little bit of liquid, like wine or water, to the bottom of the baking pan for some additional moisture.
It's not essential to boil a gammon before roasting, but it's almost certain to result in a more succulent ham. Aim to simmer the gammon for 20 minutes per 500g/1lb in a large saucepan, then roast for a further 20–25 minutes, or until the fat is browned and any glaze is glossy.
But--and this is a big "but"--those hams are pretty salty in a bad way, and they are cured with sodium nitrate. Par-boiling gets rid of the sodium nitratiness of the ham, which is one reason why people par- boil before baking.
For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook food to higher temperatures. Reheat cooked hams packaged in USDA-inspected plants to 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) and all others to 165 degrees F (73.9 degrees C).
The ham will be very happy on a rack set in a roasting pan (but if you don't have a rack, that's okay too). There's no need to cover it with foil, but you could if you want (some sources argue that this avoids any drying out). Just make sure you uncover before glazing.