The Ham Plan

Here is my “Ham Plan”. I am finding it easier and more economical to have bulk cooking plans for when meats and veggies are on sale or in season. I do a big cooking that lasts a few months (Hopefully! I am still new at this) so I don’t have to cook that particular meat again for a while. I am hoping my chicken will last a while so I can focus on other meats. Here are some of the recipes I made around Easter (next time I will make a big ham or a few medium ones, last time the 20 pound ham was a bit hard to turn every half hour!)

If you try these recipes, please let me know how they turn out! I don’t cook ham as often as I cook chicken and hamburger, so this plan isn’t as “polished” as the Hamburger Plan and the Chicken Plan. Feel free to send your recipes, comments and suggestions; I will be happy to post them in the readers’ hints and tips section! Happy cooking!

Day one

Cook the ” Master Recipe,” which in this case would be Honey Baked Ham or your favorite baked ham recipe. While the ham is cooking (this one takes a few hours!) chop the veggies and prepare doughs for tomorrow’s assembly. Or, clean the house!

The Master Recipe

Adapted from Andie’s Original Recipe for WPOPFHBH* Ham (Why Pay Outrageous Prices For Honey Baked Ham)

Andie’s recipe for Honey Baked Ham is based on slow roasting in low heat. You cannot substitute high heat and shorter cooking time to get the same results. This recipe works well with inexpensive store-bought hams (although Andie developed it for the hams that his family dry-cured on their farm in Kentucky). You can purchase the cheapest bone-in ham available, but do not buy the shank end. The recipe is for a 12 to 15 pound ham.

(Kim’s note: I bought a “country ham” which is more like a roast, and it was wonderful. Cub Foods had them on sale for 99 cents a pound; we got more than 20 meals out of 20 pounds.)

You will need:

A deep roasting pan or other baking dish large enough to fit the ham with room to turn it over periodically
An ice pick
Maple syrup
Dry mustard (about 2 tablespoons)

Trim all skin and most of the fat off of the ham (leave some – less than 1/4″ thickness – of the fat). Score the fat down to the meat in a diamond pattern. Take the ice pick and stab the ham all over, making many deep punctures. Massage the dry mustard into the ham. Put the ham in the pot and pour in enough maple syrup until at least 1/2 of the ham is submerged. Place the ham in a COLD oven and turn the temp control to 300°F. After 30 minutes reduce the temperature to 250°F and turn the ham over, being careful not to splash the syrup. Continue cooking for 3 hours for a 12 pound ham (add 30 minutes for each additional 2 pounds). Turn the ham over every 30 minutes. At the end of the baking time, remove the ham from pot and allow it to drain on a rack for 20 minutes before slicing.

If your ham was salt-cured, most of the salt in the ham will have been extracted through the punctures and the meat will have absorbed some of the maple flavor from the syrup. Cool the liquid left in the pot, strain it, and freeze it. It can be used in place of maple syrup to bake two more hams, after which it should be discarded.

Kim’s notes: This recipe is incredible! The ham just falls apart, appears more like a roast than those water-added hams at the store. Even the pickiest eaters in my family eat this and beg for more! They ask for it just about every night! There was a ton left over (I baked a 20 pounder! A little hard to turn every half hour, but well worth it!) This is better made on a day when you are not once a month cooking but are around the house, perhaps on a cleaning day or a once a month baking day.

When the ham cools, you need to divide it into the following:

slices (cut the biggest parts into this)
shredded (the outer part is best for this, whatever is falling apart)
cubed (chop up the small and weird shaped pieces)
ham bone for soup

I throw out the fat, can’t think of a way to use it yet, any suggestions are welcome (see reader hint at bottom)! Package everything in Ziploc bags (double bag it!) or big containers with lids, put in fridge (or freezer if you can’t get to it right away) and GO TO BED! You will be tired! (I got several Ziploc gallon bags FULL of meat!)

Day 2

Assembly day! Depending on how much you have, you can use the honey baked ham in any of the following. To reduce the workload, double or triple the recipes. If you run out of ham, try the others next time! If you run out of time, freeze the ham and assemble on the day you plan to cook it. (I keep an eye out for “quick and easy” dishes that are made with cooked meat and I try to always keep a few containers of cooked meat in the freezer for this purpose. I try to write the results on the recipe and whether it would be worth cooking on oamc day. Some recipes are so easy and good, they are better left as “emergency” recipes, when you have to get something on the table fast and want it fresh-cooked.)

Honey Baked Ham, to use in:

BBQ Pork
Baked Eggs
Ham and Cheese “Hot Pockets”
Split Pea Soup (haven’t tried yet)
Creamed Ham on Cornbread Cakes (haven’t tried but sounds good)
Sliced ham for sandwiches/dinner
Ham and Bean soup (haven’t tried yet)
Scalloped Ham and Potatoes
Crustless Ham Quiche(haven’t tried yet, picture looks delish!)
Impossible Ham Pie (all the impossible pies are great)
Linguine ala Anne
Mac-n-Cheese with Ham (looks good, haven’t tried)
Hoppin’ John Soup(haven’t tried yet)
Radiatore Carbonara (haven’t tried)
Grits Souffle’ (haven’t tried)
Healthy ways to use honey baked ham
Hints and tips from readers (you!)

Yes, there are quite few new recipes here; thought I would try a bunch this time, I will let you know how they turn out! Find the recipes on pages 2 and 3 linked below. [ED- Also check out the ultimate recipe for leftover ham, Ham and Swiss Sliders.]

Ham Plan page 1 | 2 | 3

Originally published by Kim Tilley, a tightwad at heart. Kim is a wife, a mother of three active boys and the founding editor of Frugal-Moms.com. Frugal by force and later by choice, Kim cut her income by 60% to stay at with her children and discovered that anyone can live better for less. Her work has appeared in print publications such as The Tightwad Gazette. In her free time, she entertains herself by chasing kids and finding ways to create something from nothing!