The Most Common Ham Cooking Mistake Involves A Basic Step

Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or simply Sunday evening dinner with your loved ones, drying out your ham is one of the biggest Thanksgving (or other holiday) hosting fails you can make. Ham, which, by the way, is considered a red meat, is a delectable salty-sweet main dish fit for a feast. That said, it can also be a bit temperamental; cook it too long, and it turns into shoe leather.

Foodie spoke with Tim Ziga, Culinary Expert for The Honey Baked Ham Company, about how to avoid dried-out ham. His advice was simple, yet mind-blowing: "Don't cook it!" When it comes to a pre-cooked ham like those served by The Honey Baked Ham Company, he explains, "[w]e've done the work for you." Not only is cooking the ham further unnecessary, but Ziga says that it's actually best to serve the meat closer to chilled than you may expect. "When serving, we recommend taking your ham out of refrigeration for 30 minutes prior to serving. That's all you need to do!" he insists.

While eating cold ham might sound a bit farfetched, multiple sources insist that, with a precooked spiral ham, this really is the way to go, as heating can dry out the meat and cause that delicious glaze to melt. The Honey Baked Ham Company's products, Ziga tells us, "are fully-cooked, spiral-sliced and ready to enjoy when picked up at your nearest store or shipped directly to your home." You knew these hams tasted good, but they are even easier than you ever imagined because they require no cooking!

Tuck into your ham alongside some classic dinner sides like scalloped potatoes, cheesy twice-baked spuds, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, or broccoli au gratin. Perhaps the best part of splurging on a glazed ham is eating the leftovers: try cubing them in a breakfast casserole the next day, or indulging in a French jambon-beurre sandwich for lunch with a Parisian twist.