Mom’s Famous Bone-In Ham Recipe

Today’s post for  how to make ham is sponsored by Country Door. This slow cooker recipe is perfect for a holiday dinner.

For week two of the Holiday Progressive Dinner, my menu item was the main dish. When I think about holiday meals, my mom’s ham always comes to mind so that is the recipe I will be sharing today. I called it Mom’s Famous Bone-In Ham and while it isn’t exactly famous in the traditional sense, my mom’s delicious ham is well known and loved. My mom says that it is her go-to recipe for dinner company because it is so easy to make and always turns out well.

This week’s sponsor is Country Door. I chose a set of Inspirations Mixing Bowls and a set of Confetti Bowls. The Inspirations mixing bowls came with three bowls. One largest bowl says Simplicity, the middle bowl says Excellence and the smallest bowl says Kindness. The confetti bowls has four bowls (one is missing). They are blue, orange, yellow and green. I took these photos before leaving for a blogger event and I didn’t realize that one of the bowls was missing from my photo…the green one!

I’ve been using these bowls from Country Door for some many things since receiving them. My kids even use them (which is probably where my green bowl disappeared to). The confetti bowls are made of recycled melamine and they are sturdy enough to stand up to an electric mixer. The Inspirations Bowls are earthenware and they are dishwasher and microwave safe.

These bowls are not only good for mixing but you can also serve out of them. In the picture above, I used the small bowl for gravy. On Thanksgiving, I filled the largest bowl, that says Simplicity on it, with stuffing!

Holiday Progressive Dinner Week 2 Recipe Links

Appetizer: Crock Pot Meatballs at Flour on My Face
Main Dish: Mom’s Famous Bone-In Ham at The Gunny Sack
Side Dish: Pomegranate Orange Spinach Salad at Daily Dish Recipes
Vegetable: Sweet Potato Casserole at Busy-at-Home
Dessert: Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes at Adventures in All Things Food

Everyone that has ever had my mom’s ham says they love it and want to know how she made it and what brand of ham she used. I’ve heard people exclaim that it is like eating candy. In fact, one of my brothers will eat leftover ham instead of dessert! So, what’s the big secret? Cook the ham slowly over a long period of time. That’s it! My mom buys whatever brand of ham is on sale at the grocery store so I do the same. I look for a ham that is smaller in size and looks like it will fit into my Crock-Pot. This ham is a smoked bone-in half ham that weighed 7.27 lbs.

If the ham is frozen, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator before cooking. I placed my ham, wrapper and all in my Crock-Pot. I do this so that when I remove the wrapper, all of the juice that is in the plastic will drain into the slow cooker. Cut away the plastic wrapper and remove. Also remove the round plastic piece that is covering the bone. Flip the ham over so that the flat part is on the bottom and the fat is on the top. If your ham is too big to fit into your Crock-Pot, cut some of the ham off so that it fits. Tuck the pieces in around the ham. The pieces will cook the same as the rest of the ham.

Put the lid on the Crock-Pot and cook the ham on low for 6-8 hours. Moisture gathers on the top of the slow cooker and drips down on the ham, keeping it moist. If it looks like it is getting dried out, add 1/2 cup of water to the slow cooker. You can also baste the ham every hour while it is cooking.

When you see the ham falling off the bone like in the first image above, you know it is done. Remove the ham, in sections, from the slow cooker and cut away the fat and well cooked edges. I think that this is another part of my mom’s secret. She cleans up the ham so that it is ready to eat straight out of the Crock-Pot.

Slice the ham and put it back into the ham juice in the slow cooker and turn it to warm until you are ready to serve. If there is a longer period of time before serving, give the ham a stir every once in while and baste the ham slices with the juice on the bottom. As you can see, the ham is fork tender and falling apart. At this point, the ham can be stored in the fridge. By doing this you can make the ham the day before the holiday dinner and then warm it in the Crock-Pot on the day of the dinner.

The ham drippings are perfect for homemade gravy and it is easy to make! Melt butter in a pan, stir in flour and then whisk in the ham drippings and milk.

I put the mashed potatoes and homemade gravy into these beautiful inspirations bowls from Country Door, our sponsor for week 7!

We really enjoyed our dinner and I am going to make soup with the leftovers. My teen told me that my ham is just like grandmas. She said that no one else makes ham like we do and that when she has ham at her friend’s houses, it never tastes as good.

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Mom’s Famous Bone-In Ham Recipe

Ingredients

• 7 lb smoked bone-in half ham

Instructions

1. If the ham is frozen, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator before cooking.
2. Place the ham in a slow cooker with the rounded, fat covered side up.
3. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook the ham on low for 6-8 hours. Moisture gathers on the top of the slow cooker and drips down on the ham, keeping it moist.
4. When the ham falling off the bone, you know it is done. Remove the ham, in sections, from the slow cooker and cut away the fat and well cooked edges.
5. Slice the ham and put it back into the ham juice in the slow cooker and turn it to warm until you are ready to serve. If there is a longer period of time before serving, give the ham a stir every once in while and baste the ham slices with the juice on the bottom

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Homemade Ham Gravy Recipe

Course: Side

Author: The Gunny Sack

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup drippings
• 1/2 cup of half n half
• 1/2 cup milk

Instructions

1. Melt butter over medium heat.
2. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon and cook for about two minutes.
3. Whisk in ham drippings, half-n-half and milk.
4. Stir until smooth and heated through.