Slow-Roasted Fresh Ham
The leg before it becomes ham: an uncured, bone-in fresh ham salted overnight with brown sugar, rosemary and thyme, roasted slowly in an oven bag and finished with a maple, molasses and mustard glaze.
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
Ham, to USDA, means the cured leg of pork. The same cut uncured is "fresh ham", and the label must say "fresh": raw it has the pale pink color of a pork roast, and cooked it turns grayish white, tasting like a pork loin roast rather than pink deli ham (FSIS, Ham and Food Safety, glossary). Every recipe in this hub starts from this leg; curing with salt, and often sugar, nitrite and smoke, is what turns it into "ham". America's Test Kitchen calls fresh ham an uncured roast from the hind leg and roasts the shank end because it is easier to carve. It is the version to show anyone who thinks ham has to be pink.
📖 Origin story: Why Do We Eat Ham at Christmas and Easter? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Salt overnight, in a pocket
ATK found 12 hours of salting seasons deep into the meat and keeps it moist, and the pocket carries the salt into the thickest part.
An oven bag
The bag keeps the roast in moist heat for even cooking at 325°F, then comes off so the glaze can set at 450°F.
🧰 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
Cut away the skin, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fat. Score the fat in a 1-inch diagonal crosshatch without cutting the meat. In the center of the flat side, cut a pocket about 4 inches wide and 2 inches deep.
- Step 2
Mix the brown sugar, salt, rosemary and thyme. Rub half into the pocket, tie twine tightly around the base, rub the rest over the outside, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours.
- Step 3
Set a rack in the lowest position and heat the oven to 325°F. Unwrap the ham, put it flat side down in the oven bag, tie the bag shut and cut a 1/2-inch slit in the top. Set it flat side down on a V-rack in a large roasting pan.
- Step 4
Roast 3 1/2 to 5 hours, until the center, near but not touching the bone, reads 160°F (at least 145°F).
✓ What it should look like - Step 5
Let the ham rest in the bag on the rack 1 hour. Meanwhile raise the oven to 450°F and whisk the maple syrup, molasses, soy sauce, mustard and pepper.
- Step 6
Cut open the top of the bag, press the ham gently with tongs so the juices run into the pan, and discard the bag. Brush on half the glaze and roast 10 minutes.
- Step 7
Brush on the rest, rotate the pan and roast about 10 minutes more, until deep amber. Rest 20 minutes on a board, skim the fat from the pan juices, and carve into 1/4-inch slices, moistening them with the juices.
Slow-Roasted Fresh Ham
Serves 14 · one 9 lb roast, about 14 servings · 6 hr 50 min total
Ham
- 1 bone-in, skin-on fresh ham, shank end (8 to 10 lb)
- 1 turkey-size oven bag
- Kitchen twine
Salt rub
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
- 3 tbsp minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tbsp minced fresh thyme
Glaze
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp molasses
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp black pepper
Equipment: Oven, Roasting pan, Instant-read thermometer, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Whisk, Tongs, Pastry brush, Kitchen twine
Method
- Cut away the skin, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fat. Score the fat in a 1-inch diagonal crosshatch without cutting the meat. In the center of the flat side, cut a pocket about 4 inches wide and 2 inches deep.
- Mix the brown sugar, salt, rosemary and thyme. Rub half into the pocket, tie twine tightly around the base, rub the rest over the outside, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours.
- Set a rack in the lowest position and heat the oven to 325°F. Unwrap the ham, put it flat side down in the oven bag, tie the bag shut and cut a 1/2-inch slit in the top. Set it flat side down on a V-rack in a large roasting pan.
- Roast 3 1/2 to 5 hours, until the center, near but not touching the bone, reads 160°F (at least 145°F).
- Let the ham rest in the bag on the rack 1 hour. Meanwhile raise the oven to 450°F and whisk the maple syrup, molasses, soy sauce, mustard and pepper.
- Cut open the top of the bag, press the ham gently with tongs so the juices run into the pan, and discard the bag. Brush on half the glaze and roast 10 minutes.
- Brush on the rest, rotate the pan and roast about 10 minutes more, until deep amber. Rest 20 minutes on a board, skim the fat from the pan juices, and carve into 1/4-inch slices, moistening them with the juices.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Slow-Roasted Fresh Ham" by Diane Unger (January 31, 2014), as written (ATK serves 12 to 14; we call it 14). ATK roasts to 160°F; FSIS's minimum for fresh ham is 145°F with a 3-minute rest, so 160°F is a texture choice, not a safety rule. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- Order a fresh ham from the butcher a week ahead; ask for the shank end and say "fresh, not cured".
- Do not salt longer than 24 hours.
- Leftovers are pork roast, not cured ham: refrigerate within a few hours and use within 3 to 4 days.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Ham is always cured. Documented as USDA labeling: "ham" alone means the cured leg; the uncured leg must be called fresh ham (FSIS glossary).
- Cook fresh ham to 160°F. Disputed: ATK uses 160°F for texture; USDA FSIS's minimum is 145°F with a 3-minute rest. Both are safe.
- The shank end is better. Folklore: ATK chose it for easier carving; the sirloin end is just as good to eat.
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