When it comes to holiday cooking, a spiral ham can be the pièce de résistance of any dinner spread … if it’s done well.
As a seasoned chef with more than 15 years of experience, here are a few of my tips for buying and cooking the best ham possible.
Choose your type of ham wisely
Technically speaking, ham refers to meat from the back leg of a pig, including everything from the shank to the butt. The legs are cut into sections and can be prepared with different cooking processes.
There are two types of ham commonly found in US stores: city and country hams.
Both are preserved through curing, typically with salt, sugar, and curing agents like nitrites. City hams are often smoked, while country hams may be smoked or just aged.
Country ham is typically dry-cured and aged for months. City hams are often wet-cured (in a saltwater brine or injected with it) and include the spiral-cut and deli-style hams most commonly found in the US.
For the purposes of that holiday table, a prepared, pre-sliced city ham is usually your best bet.
When buying ham, look for labels that list only “ham” and “natural juices.”
Try to avoid labels that say “water product” or “water added,” since this often means the ham has been injected with extra brine to bulk it up. This can dilute the ham’s flavor or even create an off-putting spongy texture.
Then, you must decide to go boneless or bone-in.
A bone-in ham has a great structure, tastes better, and looks good gracing any table. A boneless ham may seem like a better option, but it’s usually been formed into a perfect tubular shape and may contain added fillers.
During this step, you’ll also need to determine how much meat you’ll need. Typically, the recommended serving size for meat is between ½ and ¾ of a pound per person.
If you go for bone-in, which you definitely should, lean toward a larger amount since the bone is included in the weight.
Cook your ham cut-side down and covered
Many people aren’t purchasing an entire leg of ham at the grocery store, so it’s likely yours has a side that’s been cut down.
When preparing your ham, ensure the meat stays juicy by placing it onto your cooking surface with that cut-side down.
Cover the ham well with foil. Follow the directions in your recipe of choice and monitor your cooking time — if you bake it too long, your ham will be dry and overly salty.
Glaze and score your ham at the end of the cooking process
Glaze is crucial for preparing a tasty ham.
Traditional glazes can be a mixture of brown sugar, cloves, honey, and orange juice, but you can experiment with adding different types of citrus, mustards, jams, or preserves.
Some additional scoring, or creating a light grid pattern on the outside of a ham, creates a great texture and plenty of nooks and crannies for your glaze to sink into.
Ham should be glazed toward the end of the cooking process. Usually, I’ll glaze it then put it back into the oven, uncovered, for another 15 to 20 minutes for the best results.
Crank the heat for the last few minutes of cooking or broil to caramelize and crisp any glaze on your ham.
Lastly, be sure to let your ham rest
After taking your ham out of the oven, let it sit for several minutes before cutting into it.
A little rest can do a ham a world of good since this lets the juices redistribute and helps the meat retain its moisture.
This story was most recently updated on March 31, 2026.
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