Ree's Dr Pepper-Glazed Ham Is the Only Recipe You'll Need This Easter (2024)

FAQs

Why do people put Pepsi on ham? ›

WATCH: How to Glaze a Ham

Bourbon, apple juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice are delicious in a ginger ale glaze. Cola adds caramel sweetness to a ham glaze and can stand up to other strong ingredients like bourbon and cloves.

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.

About 20 minutes prior to the end of cooking time, begin glazing the ham but applying it with a silicon brush. Continue to glaze every 5 minutes until the ham is done. The ham is ready when a thermometer reads an internal temperature of 135-140f.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the ham on a rack in a large baking pan and add about 1/4- to 1/2 inch of water to the pan. If the ham is labeled "fully cooked" (does not require heating), heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes per pound, or to an internal temperature of 140 F.

“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.

Cured country hams can be cooked with sweet beverages, like ginger ale, champagne, or, in this case, Coca-Cola, to counteract their salty character.

Not Covering Your Ham

If you don't cover your ham while cooking it will quickly dry out. Instead: Put some aluminum foil over your ham while it's cooking. It is recommended that the ham is covered for at least half of the cooking process and only removed during the last half when you glaze it.

Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 10-14 minutes per pound, or until a meat thermometer registers 135F. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving. If the ham came with extra glaze, follow the package directions for adding it and cooking the glaze.

If you're just learning how to cook a ham, here's the most important part: Avoid overcooking it. Remember, the ham is already cooked, so all you need to do is gently reheat it in the oven.

Cover the ham to keep it moist! I've found that just tenting the ham with foil does the job. Keep it tented until you brush on the glaze. Once glaze in on the ham, remove the foil so the glaze has a chance to get all caramelized and yummy.

Should ham be at room temp before glazing? ›

Take ham out of fridge 1 hour prior. Preheat oven to 160°C / 320°F (140°C fan). Arrange shelf in lower third so the ham will be sitting in the centre of the oven (rather than in top half of oven). Make Glaze per recipe.

Heat oven to 325ºF. Remove all packaging materials and place ham on its side, fat side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan; cover loosely with aluminum foil. Heat approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound until heated through. Remove ham from oven and let stand, covered, 20 minutes before serving.

Whether you are cooking a bone in or boneless ham, pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Start by removing the packaging from the ham (and bone guard if you're cooking a bone in ham), and you can rinse the ham before cooking if desired.

A pre-cooked/smoked ham should be reheated for around 20 minutes per pound at 325 degrees. Every 15-20 minutes, glaze the ham. An optional step is to add a sprinkle of sugar after each glaze to build up even more of a crust, but this is personal preference.

Cooking a ham in cola will impart a slight sweetness to the ham, which is foiled by the saltiness of the meat itself. However it is only the outside of the ham that will really pick up the sweetness, it does not penetrate all the way through the ham.

Marinating steaks in dark Pepsi-Cola lends a slight sweetness to the meat and adds an appealing dark color to the steak. Acid in the Pepsi-Cola helps to tenderize the meat, but a single can of cola does not make the final marinade.

These fizzy drinks bring a lot to the table. For one, they're acidic, with a pH level about as high as lemon juice, which helps break down tough muscle fibers and tenderize meat. And soda's high sugar content speeds up caramelization on the grill, resulting in picture-perfect crosshatches and reliably crusty exteriors.

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.