Sunday, April 17, 2011

Maple Brown Sugar Ham - in the Crock Pot!




Easter's coming! And that means lots of family time - great church meetings, dying eggs together, the Easter egg hunts that follow, family dinners... I'm looking forward to it! Do you have a menu planned out yet? You should REALLY consider putting THIS ham on the list! Usually, when we cook up a spiral ham it comes out on the dry side. My *old way* was to just cook it according to the package directions & mix up that glaze packet to top it off. If I was feeling frisky I might stud it with cloves & pineapple rings. Well - notice that I called it my *old way*!!? That's because this recipe will now be my go-to ham. It's moist, flavorful & just perfect! And an added bonus? It's made in the crock pot which means your oven will be available for all the wonderful side dishes! Woo hoo for oven space!

So what do you need? It's totally simple:


A spiral sliced ham, pineapple juice (100%), dark brown sugar, REAL maple syrup (not pancake syrup).

That's it!

Put the ham in your crock pot, flat side down. Then rub down the sides with your brown sugar, Pour the syrup down over the top.


Then pour the pineapple juice down the sides - but not onto the ham. You don't want to wash off all the sugar & syrup you just rubbed on!


Now just cover it & cook on low for 4 or 5 hours. If your ham stick up so far that the crock pot lid will not fit on securely just triple layer some tinfoil together & wrap it down the edges.

When it's got about 1 hour to go baste it generously with the juices.


Look how much the juices rose! Lots of yumminess to soak in!

Once it's done just pull it out onto a board & let it rest for about 10 minutes before you serve it up.


It is SO good! Moist, juicy, sweet & wonderful. You really ought to give this one a try!


Maple Brown Sugar Ham:

7-8 pound bone-in spiral-cut ham
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup REAL natural maple syrup
2 cups pineapple juice

Use a 6-7 quart slow cooker. Unwrap the ham and discard flavor packet. Place the ham into the slow cooker stoneware, flat-side down. Rub brown sugar on all sides. Pour on maple syrup and pineapple juice. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. An hour before serving, baste ham with the collected juices from the bottom of the slow cooker. When cooking is done, remove carefully and let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before carving.

Source: A Year of Slow Cooking


14 comments:

  1. This recipe rocks! I never would have thought of cooking ham this way. My only problem now is I need a bigger crock pot!

    ReplyDelete
  2. this looks so good :) one question though, since I do not have 4-5 hours when I come home from work to wait for food to cook, would this cook right if I put it on med/high for only about 2-3 hours? Please let me know what you think

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, a ham is technically already cooked - so if it's shorted on time it won't hurt anything. I say go for it! Just be careful not to dry it out, because dry ham is not awesome! LOL

      Good luck!

      Delete
  3. Being lazy, I put a can of Vernors Ginger ale (sweet) in the crock pot, then add the spiral sliced ham. Add enough Vernors to cover the ham, and put on low overnight. Try not to get into it for a night time snack or two.... For those that work, this can be done before you leave in the morning and done for your evening meal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I decided the other day that I would try your recipe for Thanksgiving. I just took the ham out of the crock pot and it is DELICIOUS!!! I'll never cook a ham another way again. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe with the WWW.

    Hope you are having a wonderful Thankgiving with your family and friends!

    Doris
    Rock Hill, SC

    ReplyDelete
  5. I made this for Thanksgiving and I've never had so many compliments! It was delicious!! Every morsel was eaten, and everyone wanted to know "my secret". :D Thank you for sharing, this will be on our table for many years to come. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ok, I had an 11 lb. ham and it wouldn't fit in my crock pot. A huge part of the ham stuck out, so. . .I baked it in the oven; low and slow. I did everything the same except for the oven temp. which I put down to 275. I then proceeded to roast it most of yesterday afternoon. By 5 o'clock last night, it was so tender it actually fell off the bone. My husband and 18 year old daughter LOVED it! I will definitely make this again! Thank you so much for passing this on to us.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Will this work for a boneless smoked ham?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I tried this last year for Xmas and I will never cook another ham in the oven again. It was so simple and left my oven open to make other things and not feel rushed at dinner time. Thanks so much for this recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Do you use a pre-cooked or uncooked spiral ham? I can't find uncooked.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You deserve 5 stars for this post. An amazing post for me like a newbie person About carving on wood and carving furniture for home. I am using some cheap tools for carving on furniture and my team enjoying a lot these tools. For my Customers these tools are very fast to do a new job so you will try your recommendation soon. My carved wooden furniture website always usable for new furniture ideas my customers getting occasionally. Thanks for sharing such a good post. Will try your tips and recommendation.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Could apple juice be used to replace the pineapple juice?

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am having 9 people over, what size ham should I get?

    ReplyDelete

Counter