Crackly Honey-Glazed Spiral Ham (Copycat)
A spiral ham heated under foil with honey, then coated in a spiced sugar and melted with a kitchen torch or the broiler into a thin, crackly shell. Inspired by the HoneyBaked Ham Company's famous store ham; not official.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Inspired by a store ham; not official. The famous crackly-crusted spiral ham comes from a Detroit company that Wikipedia says Harry J. Hoenselaar founded in 1957 and that moved its headquarters to Alpharetta, Georgia, in 2015 (Wikipedia's article on the company is listed in Source). Wikipedia, citing Kim Severson in The New York Times (2019), calls him the father of spiral-cut ham and says he built his first slicer from a tire jack, a pie tin, a washing machine motor and a knife. His patents are on record: US Patent 2,470,078, "Apparatus for slicing ham on the bone", filed September 7, 1944 and granted May 10, 1949, and US Patent 2,599,328, for the spiral-sliced ham itself, granted June 3, 1952. When the slicer was "invented" is DISPUTED: 1924 (Wikipedia), the 1930s (Taste of Home) or 1957 (USDA FSIS's ham fact sheet). The company's glaze recipe is secret; this is a home version.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A spiral ham heated under foil with honey, then coated in a spiced sugar and melted with a kitchen torch or the broiler into a thin, crackly shell. Inspired by the HoneyBaked Ham Company's famous store ham; not official.
🇺🇸 The original
The old American ham is the salt-cured country ham: soaked, simmered and sliced thin, a Virginia tradition older than the country. See the Virginia Country Ham, Soaked and Simmered recipe.
📖 Myth check: Is Hawaiian Pineapple Ham From Hawaii? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Honey under the sugar
The sticky layer of honey holds the dry sugar in place and melts with it into a thin, glassy shell instead of a syrup that runs off.
Heat, then crust
The ham is fully heated before any sugar goes on, so the torch or broiler only has to melt the surface and the crust stays crisp.
🧰 You'll need 9 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
Pans and pots
Tools
Supplies
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 325°F. Set the ham cut side down in a large roasting pan, pour the water around it and brush the ham with 1/2 cup of the honey. Cover the pan tightly with heavy foil.
- Step 2
Heat about 10 minutes per pound (about 90 minutes for 9 lb), until the center reads 140°F.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, stir the sugar and all the spices together in a bowl.
- Step 4
Move the ham, cut side down, to a rack set in a shallow broiler-safe pan. Brush it with the remaining 1/4 cup honey, then sprinkle the spiced sugar over the top and sides, pressing it on so it sticks.
- Step 5
Torch the sugar: hold the flame 1 to 2 inches from the surface and move it in small circles until the sugar melts, bubbles and turns amber, working in sections and adding a second thin layer of sugar where it looks bare. No torch? Broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat 3 to 5 minutes, turning the pan, until the sugar melts and lightly browns.
✓ What it should look like - Step 6
Cover loosely with foil and let stand about 30 minutes, until the glaze hardens into a crust. Carve along the bone.
Crackly Honey-Glazed Spiral Ham (Copycat)
Serves 16 · one 9 lb ham, about 16 servings · 2 hr 35 min total
Ham
- 1 fully cooked, bone-in spiral-sliced ham (8 to 10 lb)
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup honey, divided
Spiced sugar
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground mustard
- 1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Equipment
- A kitchen torch (or your broiler)
Equipment: Oven, Roasting pan, Instant-read thermometer, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls, Pastry brush, Kitchen torch, Aluminum foil
Method
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Set the ham cut side down in a large roasting pan, pour the water around it and brush the ham with 1/2 cup of the honey. Cover the pan tightly with heavy foil.
- Heat about 10 minutes per pound (about 90 minutes for 9 lb), until the center reads 140°F.
- Meanwhile, stir the sugar and all the spices together in a bowl.
- Move the ham, cut side down, to a rack set in a shallow broiler-safe pan. Brush it with the remaining 1/4 cup honey, then sprinkle the spiced sugar over the top and sides, pressing it on so it sticks.
- Torch the sugar: hold the flame 1 to 2 inches from the surface and move it in small circles until the sugar melts, bubbles and turns amber, working in sections and adding a second thin layer of sugar where it looks bare. No torch? Broil 6 to 8 inches from the heat 3 to 5 minutes, turning the pan, until the sugar melts and lightly browns.
- Cover loosely with foil and let stand about 30 minutes, until the glaze hardens into a crust. Carve along the bone.
Adapted from Taste of Home's copycat spiral ham recipe (recipe by Donna Gribbins of Shelbyville, Kentucky; tested by Alicia Rooker, RDN; updated July 1, 2024), for 16 as written. Taste of Home heats the ham in a slow cooker; we use the oven, following FSIS's spiral-ham method (covered with foil at 325°F, about 10 minutes per pound, to 140°F). The torch is the option Taste of Home gives from the recipe's creator. Company history. Inspired by, not official. Taste of Home. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Make the spiced sugar ahead and keep it airtight (Taste of Home).
- Do not glaze ahead; the crust is best fresh (Taste of Home).
- Torch away from paper towels and the foil; scorched spots taste bitter.
- Darker honey, such as buckwheat, gives a deeper flavor (Taste of Home).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The spiral slicer was invented in 1957. Disputed: USDA FSIS's ham fact sheet says the slicing method was "invented in 1957", the year Wikipedia gives for the company; Wikipedia says Hoenselaar created the slicer in 1924; Taste of Home says the 1930s; his first patent was filed in 1944 and granted in 1949.
- Hoenselaar invented spiral-cut ham. Documented for the patents (1949 and 1952); the "father of spiral-cut ham" title is The New York Times's, via Wikipedia.
- The idea came to him in a dream. Folklore: his own story, as told in The New York Times (via Wikipedia).
- The store crust is torched by hand. Disputed: widely repeated by copycat writers; we found no company source describing how the glaze is applied.
- This is the real recipe. Folklore: it is a copycat, inspired by, not official.
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