This is a very simple baked ham recipe. There's no scoring and no studding with cloves, because neither of those steps is necessary. Using a moist heat cooking method for the first half of the process, followed by a blast of high heat at the end to caramelize the surface will yield a beautifully burnished ham with moist, tender meat.
Ham: I am a huge fan of Dakin Farm hams (no affiliation here ... truly just a long-time fan since my VT aunt and uncle introduced me to their products years ago.) I think the secret to making a good ham lies in the quality of the ham itself. Regardless of what brand you use, you need a cooked ham. All you're doing here is reheating it.
Notes:
Dakin recommends estimating 1/4 lb per person buffet style or 1/2 lb per person for dinner, depending on appetites.
Cook 10 minutes a pound at 325ºF.
Cook fat-side up in a roasting pan filled with about 1/2 inch of water covered tightly in foil for the bulk of the time.
During the last 30 minutes, remove the foil, crank the heat up to 425ºF, brush with a simple glaze at least twice.
Let rest 20 minutes before carving.
Recipe by Alexandra Stafford on March 26, 2021
Prep time: PT5M
Cook time: PT2H15M
Total time: PT2H20M
Rating
4.8 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
baked, ham, recipe, simple, brown sugar, glaze
Ingredients
1 bone-in whole ham (11-13 lbs.) or half ham (5-6 lbs), see notes above
water
foil, heavy-duty is nice here
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
my grandmother’s mustard sauce, aka “the ham sauce”
Categories
Dinner
Cuisine
American
Steps
Heat oven to 325ºF.
For this recipe, you’re going to roast your ham for 10 minutes a pound total, but you’re going to crank the oven temperature up to 425ºF during the last 30 minutes, during which time you’ll glaze it twice. So, calculate your ham’s total cooking time; then subtract 30 minutes to calculate how long the ham will be in the oven for the first portion of the cooking period. (For example, if your ham weighs 13.69 lbs, you’ll roast it for 1 hour and 45 minutes at 325ºF; then 30 minutes at 425ºF.)
Place ham, fat side up, in a roasting pan large enough to fit it. Add 2 cups of water or enough so that the water reaches about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Cover the pan tightly with foil and transfer to the oven. Set the timer for the amount of time you calculated in step 2.
whisk together the brown sugar, maple syrup, and freshly squeezed orange juice. Set aside.
After the first portion of the cooking is complete, remove the ham from the oven, and increase the oven temperature to 425ºF. Remove the foil. Brush the ham all over generously with the glaze and return the ham to the oven for 15 minutes. Brush the ham again generously all over with the glaze and cook for another 15 minutes. (If you have any leftover glaze, dump it over the ham during the last 5 minutes of cooking time.)
Remove ham from the oven and let rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Carve by removing large chunks of meat and slicing up those chunks. See video for guidance. Don’t worry too much about the ham bone — save that for after dinner. Remove as much meat as possible. Save the bone for soup.
Reviews
Ali on 2024-11-29 (5 stars): Thinking of getting a boneless ham. Would I have to change the cooking or recipe?
Samantha Lewis on 2024-11-30 (4 stars): I made this with a shank ham it was delicious. Used maple syrup oj & brown sugar. I squeezed mandarin oranges that’s what I had.
John Doe on 2024-12-25 (1 stars): Followed it to a T and it wasn't fully cooked
JFiera on 2025-04-20 (4 stars): Recipe is goodx don't get me wrong... that being said the auth DEFINITELY broiled the ham for a few moments for a nice deep crispy texture. Yours will come out fantastic of course, this is a super simple basic ham recipe that is always delicious. Even bumping to 425 helps the skin crisp of course! Just don't expect it to be as dark as the photos. Either way, again, this is a super classic ham flavor ( I omitted OJ, didn't have any.. mixed a little water with apple cider vinegar and brown mustard. I also kept the juices and made a gravy). Very good, just know what you will get.
Lisa L. on 2025-04-20 (5 stars): I made this today with a special ham I buy at a polish deli that smokes their own. It's so good and this recipe with your delicious mustard sauce made it out of this world! I did do one thing differently. I used your glaze first, and then I made a little more and heated it up to thicken it. It was nice and thick and stuck even more to the ham and created a beautiful glaze. I removed some of the water in the pan with the ham and the thickened glaze plus the little bit of water created a delicious "sauce" that I poured over the slices in our dish. Your recipes never disappoint. At the last minute I decided to serve it with some vanilla peaches I had in a jar. Wow, was that a treat even when I dipped them in the mustard sauce with a piece of the ham! YUM!!
Donna R Beaty on 2025-12-11 (5 stars): Instead of water I used pineapple juice and add the chunks of pineapple as well.. I make my glaze with brown sugar, molasses and some of the pineapple juice. It's always a huge hit and no cloves. Reminds me of toothache medicine.
Michael on 2025-12-25 (5 stars): This was pretty awesome. On a scale of 1 to 10 this was a 12 or 14, especially the mustard sauce. I subbed apple cider vinegar for orange juice. Great choice! The glaze i would double the brown sugar and half the liquids. Too watery. but this was a spectacular ham.
Deborah Taber on 2026-01-01 (5 stars): This was good. I do need to say that the timing doesn't really work but using a temperature probe absolutely does. I baked it on the lower oven temp until it reached 100 degrees internally, removed the foil, upped the oven to 425 and basted it 2 or 3 times. It came out perfectly caramelized and juicy. Thanks!
Arline Newton on 2026-04-04 (5 stars): Ham turned out super moist and tender.. 1st time I used a glaze. I was pleasantly surprised. Will use this recipe all the time with your glaze. Thank you so much.
Deborah Kara Keel on 2026-04-05 (5 stars): Absolutely delicious! I made the ham and the mustard sauce yesterday. Homemade biscuits this morning. Very economical purchase. At least 3-4 meals from the ham, plus the fat and bone for beans or soup.
