Slow Cooker Ham

Last year on Thanksgiving Eve, my husband casually said, “a ham would be good, too for Thanksgiving dinner”. While I am certain that no one at my house fully understands the planning and prep time that occurs for this feast, I thought about it and decided, okay, we can add ham to the menu. And full disclaimer- I do love a good ham.

So I ran to the store, purchased a ham, not even a fancy one- just a store name, cheapest they had, spiral cut ham.

Most all hams are precooked. So essentially, you don’t need to cook it to death. You just need to warm it and keep the moisture in. My favorite is a huge, old fashioned picnic ham that just pulls apart when you try to slice it. But on this particular day, there was no time for that and the main course and star of the show was the turkey I had been brining and babysitting for two days…

Thanksgiving morning, I took the packaging off the ham and threw it cut side down into my large, oval slow cooker. And with everything I had going on, I honestly didn’t give a second thought to this ham. It had a glaze packet with it and I mixed it with some water (per the packet direction) and poured over it. And yes, I know, you can mix brown sugar and brown mustard together and make a wonderful glaze, but honestly, I can’t stress enough about how much I did not care about this ham.

After 4-5 hours on low, I took the cover off to find a watery, sweet smelling, clove infused concoction in the bottom of the slow cooker. I removed the ham and sliced it up on the platter, again, not caring about it. I dumped the watery concoction left in the pot into a sauce pan, turned the burner on high and tried to reduce it. I was sure I could make a sugary, real glaze out of the watery stuff.

I had no luck reducing it, so I made a cornstarch slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp cold water) and dumped it into the saucepan.  Then the magic happened…there was some type of chemical reaction, a puff of caramel looking stuff came up out of the pan, I jerked it off the burner and thought I was in real trouble. But what transformed was some type of wonderful, thick, sugary, glaze/sauce and I poured it over the ham on the platter.

It was THE BEST HAM I HAVE EVER MADE. And I have made it so many times since then. The great part is the leftovers- from frittatas to soup, the possibilities are endless. The leftovers also freeze well.

Print Recipe

Slow Cooker Ham

Author: Christy Young Goza Courses: Mains

Description

This slow cooker ham is great for a crowd, or for plenty of leftovers. The sweet, sugary glaze is perfect for the salty ham.

Ingredients

Cook Mode Cooking Mode Disabled

Servings

• 4 -7 lb ham (I used spiral, but any half ham would work)
• glaze packet or spicy brown mustard and brown sugar

Cornstarch Slurry

• 1 -2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp cold water

Instructions

1. In a large oval slow cooker, place the ham cut side down.
2. Pour over glaze and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
3. Remove ham and place on a serving platter.
4. Pour the remaining liquid into a saucepan and boil on medium high to reduce for a few minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add the cornstarch slurry.
5. Pour the mixture over the ham. Any remaining glaze just pour in a bowl and serve on the side.

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