Scoring May Not Be The Best Move When Prepping Holiday Ham

Fumbling the main dish is one of the biggest errors you can make when hosting a holiday feast — or even a Sunday night dinner, for that matter. Every protein has its eccentricities that you need to consider when serving, and that includes ham (which is actually the other red meat). Turns out that a lot of your notions about what a ham should look like may have been mistaken all along. For one thing, if you buy a precooked spiral ham, it should be served at room temperature or just slightly warmed. Here's another revelation that is going to surprise you: you shouldn't score your holiday ham before serving. Scoring refers to the act of making shallow cuts in the ham's surface, sometimes in a lattice pattern that you may think is characteristic of a classic ham dish.

Tim Ziga, Culinary Expert for The Honey Baked Ham Company, explains why a scored ham may look pretty on a platter, but is ultimately not the right decision. "We don't recommend scoring — we provide [your ham] to you exactly as it should be," he insists. Scoring is meant more for raw ham, which is a less-likely entrant on your holiday menu.

Scoring does have its place with hams, just not those that are precooked and glazed. With a raw ham, scoring before putting it in the oven allows the luscious glaze to seep into the meat. As long as you don't score too deep, which can dry out your ham, this step can enhance flavor. But, again, there are big differences between the hams that you have to cook yourself and a premium precooked ham like those served by The Honey Baked Ham Company.

"We've been doing this for over 65 years, and we've perfected the process," Ziga comments. The beauty of ordering a ham like this is that the work has been done for you. All you have to do is sit back, decide what wine to serve with your ham dinner, and make some yummy sides to compliment your main protein. When it comes to serving up an elegant, special dinner, there's enough prep to worry about in other aspects of the meal — don't waste time doing more to your ham than you actually need to!