Temperature for baking ham
Ham is a popular meat to be served as a holiday dish, making its way onto plates for Christmas, Easter, and many times in between. But it's also an easy meat to bake, freeze, serve on sandwiches, or use year round. Knowing the right temparature to bake ham, as well as how long to cook ham, is important.
With ham, like every meat, there are preparation steps that need to take place. One of the most important first steps is to read the label of the ham. Unlike chicken or turkey, some ham may already be partially cooked, or fully cooked. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish the difference, but knowing if the ham is already partially cooked is crucial to making a good ham.
How Do I Cook Ham?
Baking uncooked ham is easy. To start, remove any skin and trim the fat to 1/4-inch. Then, let the ham come to room temperature for about 2 hours before cooking. If you are using any seasonings, you can add them at this time, allowing them to penetrate deeply into the ham.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (300 degrees if you are using a convection oven). With the fat side up, or the cut side down, place the ham on a rack and place the rack in a roasting pan. Bake until a meat thermometer reads 160 degreed Fahrenheit.
A whole ham, about 10 - 15 pounds, will need about 15 - 20 minutes baking time per pound of ham to fully cook. A half ham, which is about 5 - 8 pounds, will need about 20 minutes per pound to be thorougly baked.
Always allow the ham to rest, loosely tented with foil, 20 minutes prior to carving. This allows the juices inside the ham to settle, ensuring a moist, tender, flavorful end result. Begin carving my trimming any leftover outer fat first.
Ready-to-eat, or fully cooked hams will need to only reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees before serving, but will require about the same amount of time to bake.
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