Easy Instructions for Cooking Ham

Hams are commercially available in fresh, cured, as well as cured and smoked forms. Fresh hams appear pale pink, while cured hams are pink or deep rose color. Whatever be the type, cooking is not as difficult as it sounds. You can prepare some awesome recipes with simple culinary tips. Some brief instructions you can follow to make a delicious ham dish.

While speaking about cooking ham, the tips vary on the ham type you purchased. Like, pre-cooked hams do not need cooking, as it taste good after heating internally at a controlled temperature of 150^oF for 25 - 30 min. If you purchase frozen hams, then you can prepare the meat by thawing them prior to cooking. Here are popular and tasty ways to cook ham.

Roasting hams is mostly preferred for cooking large cuts. You need to trim the skin and a portion of the fats from the edges. Make sure that you retain some fats, so that the meat remains moist and tender during roasting. Then place the ham with the cut side down or the fat side up over a roasting pan.

Pour water in the roasting pan and cover the ham with a baking foil. Place the ham in a preheated oven and bake it until the internal meat temperature raises to about 135 - 140^oF. Rest the cooked ham for about 15 min before serving.

Frying is the simplest and fastest way to cook ham slices. If available, use a thick and deep skillet for this purpose. Similar to other methods of cooking, remove the skin and fats from the edges. For better and uniform cooking, make the slices to about ¼ - ⅜ inch thickness.

In case there is enough fats on the ham slices, you can fry them without using oil. Nevertheless, if there is no fat part in the slices, you can fry them in cooking oil. Fry the ham over medium heat and turn occasionally until both the sides of the slice turn lightly brown. After the frying is done, trim the remaining fats (if any) and serve.

If you are planning to cook ham slices, then broiling them over a broiler will taste better. First of all, remove the skin and make slits from the edges at regular intervals. Following this, lightly brush the slices with vegetable oil or glaze from both sides. Preheat the broiler before placing the slices.

Based on the thickness, place the slices at least 3 - 5 inches away from the heat source. For ½ to 1-inch thick slices, place them 5 inches away from the unit. You can turn the slices occasionally. Usually it takes about 8-10 minutes to cook a ½ to 1-inch thick ham slice. Once the fat on the edges turns brown, you can confirm that the hams are cooked.

These were cooking instructions for ham in brief. Other cooking methods are boiling, baking, and grilling. For cooking county hams, ensure that you soak them in water for about 1-2 hours before cooking, to remove any excess salts. Also, avoid overcooking as it turns the meat dry, hard, and tough. Maintain the cooking temperature to keep its tenderness.