• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Marge Perry's A Sweet and Savory Life

  • Recipes
  • Articles
  • Calendar
  • About
  • Contact

The Surprisingly Simple Secret To Spectacular Roast Ham (with video)

December 21, 2016 By Marge Perry Leave a Comment

Cola and Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

This is a Tale of Two Hams. Both are crazy-delicious and outrageously simple to make– and both use the same simple trick to bring them to glory.

We created the Brown Sugar and Cola Glazed Ham pictured above for Anolon, and they in turn made this great video which shows just how easy it is to prepare. (The video has something like 200,000 views!) Go here for the recipe.

Days later, we made this Ginger Ale and Rum Glazed Ham. It has equally robust, great flavor– and a hit of piquant heat from the ginger.

Ginger Rum Glazed Ham

Have you figured out the “secret” to great ham? It’s soda. It might sound crazy at first*, but Southerners have been baking ham with cola for generations, because they know that caramelized sugary liquid does wonders to the salty, savory meat. All you need to do is pour a little soda– cola or ginger ale, depending on your preference– and another liquid (we used orange juice with the cola and rum with the ginger ale) over the ham at the start. You take more of those same liquids and boil them madly in a saucepan along with two or three other ingredients (mustard, brown sugar, jelly, etc) until they become a thick syrupy glaze, then brush the ham with the glaze as it cooks. It’s really that simple and mistake-proof.

Your dinner is taken care of. Now let’s go rejoice. We all deserve it.

*I don’t even drink the stuff, but I appreciate what a great ingredient it can be.

Print Recipe
Ginger Ale and Rum Glazed Ham
Servings 20 servings
  • 10 pound shank half, bone-in ham (or a spiral cut ham)
  • 36 ounces ginger ale, divided
  • 1 cup rum, divided
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup apple jelly
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Servings 20 servings
  • 10 pound shank half, bone-in ham (or a spiral cut ham)
  • 36 ounces ginger ale, divided
  • 1 cup rum, divided
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup apple jelly
  • 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the excess fat and use the tip of your knife to make 1/4-inch deep scores all over the surface of the ham in a diamond pattern. Place the ham in a large (preferably nonstick) roasting pan and pour 1 ½ cups of the ginger ale and ½ cup of the rum over the meat. Tent loosely with foil and roast 1 hour and 15 minutes.
  2. While the ham roasts, combine the remaining 3 cups ginger ale, remaining ½ cup rum, brown sugar, apple jelly and Dijon in a saucepan; stir until well-combined and bring to a boil. Continue to boil gently until it is thickened to a syrupy consistency, 45-50 minutes.
  3. After the ham has cooked for the initial 1 hour and 15 minutes, remove the foil. Brush the ham with some of the glaze. Return it to the oven and roast for 15 minutes, and again brush with glaze. Continue roasting and brushing every 15 minutes until a meat thermometer inserted in the center registers 145F degrees, about another 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Recipe Notes

399 calories, 26 g protein, 13 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 25 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 1414 mg sodium

Filed Under: A Sweet and Savory Life, Beef, Pork and Lamb, Recipes

Reader Interactions

Get More Updates!

Sign up to get exclusive updates & tips!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

I make my living writing, teaching and speaking about food and travel. In the name of work, I (have to!) eat a lot, meet interesting people (many of whom, like me, are passionate about their work) and travel near and far to see where and how food is made, grown or raised. I am saved from a life of extreme obesity by the fact that I truly love to exercise, but I am always one forkful away from not being able to button my jeans. Mine is a sweet and savory life.

I share it with my husband and co-author, David Bonom. Check out our new book, Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day

To learn more about me, click here →

Subscribe

sign-up here for email updates!

  • Want to see a cool trick for poaching eggs? Check out this video we did for Anolon. The trick comes at :22!

  • Craftsy Blogger Awards - Winner Best Tutorials Badge

    Popular Posts

    How to Cook Tender, Juicy (not dry!) Chicken Breasts

    Grilled or Roasted Spice-Rubbed Chicken Thighs: My Go-To Easy Dinner

    Strawberry Frosted Cupcakes

    Disclosure statement

    Do you have Chicken Anxiety??

    Become a Chicken Master! Make moist, tender, juicy, safe chicken each and every time. My online Craftsy video class, All About Chicken will show you how. Click here to learn more-- and get a special reader discount of half price.

    Footer

    Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day, our latest cookbook, is available wherever books are sold (including on Amazon).

    Want to see more of my work? Click on "Articles" at the top of the page for links to our recipes, articles and videos in magazines, websites, and social media.

    Feel free to connect/follow via any of the social media buttons below or drop me a line here through my contact page. Read More…

    More From the Blog

    Subscribe

    sign-up here for email updates!

    Copyright © 2023 asweetandsavorylife