How Long To Cook A Ham In A Bag

Honey Baked Ham made at home for a fraction of the price you'd pay at a store with a flavor that's just as delicious! The salty, hickory smoke flavor of the ham is perfectly balanced with a sweet and sticky honey and brown sugar glaze which also has delicious hints of warm spices to compliment it.

Honey Baked Ham

Honey Baked Ham Recipe

This will be my new go-to method for a spiral sliced ham. In the past I've hated how I'd always ended up with some dry slices, but not here.

I like Cook's Illustrated's method for spiral sliced ham so I used the same method here and just added different glaze rather than the orange maple one they used.

So many ham recipes (at the same weight) are cooked at 375 degrees for up to 3 hours but why? The ham is already fully cooked, it just needs to be warmed through for serving.

Here the ham is first brought up to room temperature in warm water so it heats more evenly in the oven. From there it's wrapped in an oven bag for faster cooking, and moister end result.

And then finally at the end it's unwrapped and coated with the glaze and heated at a higher temperature to help brown and caramelize it a bit.

Brushing glaze over honey baked ham in roasting pan

Ingredients for This Recipe

Fully cooked spiral sliced ham
Unsalted butter
Honey
Light brown sugar
Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground cinnamon
Ground ginger
Ground cloves
Fresh orange zest (optional)
And you'll also need 1 oven bag

Scroll below for full printable recipe.

How to Make Honey Baked Ham

Let covered ham rest in warm water for 90 minutes, changing water halfway through.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Unwrap ham then transfer to oven bag.
Bake ham in roasting pan in oven until center registers 100 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 1 – 1 1/2 hours (about 10 minutes per pound).
Meanwhile prepare glaze and let cool slightly.
Remove ham from oven. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Cut oven bag and roll down to expose ham. Brush all over with 1/2 of the glaze.
Bake in oven 5 minutes then remove and brush with remaining glaze. Bake 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before carving and serving.

Honey Baked Ham after baking in oven

The Perfect Holiday Ham

It's such a delicious holiday ham, trust me! Chances are everyone will be heading back for a second slice, and luckily there's plenty.

If you don't like a hint of orange then I do suggest omitting the orange zest because it does add a noticeable orange zip, other than that though I definitely recommend leaving everything else the same.

Honey Baked Ham on a serving platter garnished with a wreath of fresh rosemary, bay leaves and cranberries.

What If I Don't Own a Roasting Pan?

And if you don't own a roasting pan (I know they are such a pain to store) you could just use one of the disposable ones the grocery stores sell this time of year. They are very flimsy though so transfer carefully.

It may be tempting to just use a large pot but I wouldn't recommend it because the ham won't be able to brown very well at the end.

Close up image of honey baked ham slices

What Should I Serve with This Ham?

Duchess Potatoes
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
White Cheddar Cauliflower Gratin
Rosemary Dinner Rolls (or my all time favorite rolls)
Lemon Butter Green Beans with Cranberries Walnuts and Feta
Winter Fruit Salad
Christmas Punch

And then why not finish with Vanilla Bean Cheesecake or Peppermint Bark Cheesecake?

Honey baked ham slices on white serving platter garnished with fresh herbs and cranberries

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends!

Honey Glazed Ham

Honey Baked Ham

An amazingly delicious holiday ham! Baked in an oven bag and cooked at a low temperature so you don't end up with dry slices. And that sweet honey glaze is the perfect finish to the salty hickory smoked ham.

Servings: 16

Prep 15 minutes

Cook 1 hour 50 minutes

Ready in: 3 hours 45 minutes

1 (8 - 10 lb) fully cooked spiral sliced ham*
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp fresh orange zest (optional)
1 oven bag

Leave ham's plastic or foil covering intact and place ham in a large container (or a clean sink that plugs up well) and cover with hot tap water. Let rest 45 minutes.
Drain water then cover with hot tap water again and let rest 45 minutes longer. Near the end adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Unwrap ham and remove plastic disk below ham bone. Place ham in oven bag and wrap bag so it fits snugly around ham. Tie bag and cut away excess plastic on top. Cut 4 small slits in top of bag.
Set ham cut-side down in a large roasting pan and bake in preheated oven until center registers 100 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours (about 10 minutes per pound).
Near the end of baking, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add in brown sugar, honey, mustard, pepper, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and cook, whisking constantly, just until sugar dissolves, about 2 - 3 minutes. Stir in orange zest and let cool just until it's about the consistency of honey, about 10 minutes (when ready to glaze ham rewarm glaze as needed if it has thickened too much).
Remove ham from oven. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Cut oven bag and roll down to expose ham. Brush all over with 1/2 of the glaze. Bake in oven 5 minutes then remove and brush with remaining glaze. Bake 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before carving and serving.
Recipe source: cooking method adapted from Cooks Illustrated

*Buy a ham that doesn't have water added.

Recipe originally published titled "Honey Glazed Ham".