Roasting a ham is basically simple, but yes, even that can go wrong.
How to bake Christmas ham? Once a year we ask this question – and now is the time again.
HKScan Finland’s marketing director rushes to the rescue Mikko Järvinen. He has decades of experience with various meats and roasting ham.
Traditionally, the ham is baked the night before the eve. Of course, the baking time depends on your own time, Järvinen reminds.
If you plan to put the thawed ham in the oven the night before, it should be brought to room temperature in the morning of the same day.
– I do not recommend frying ham without a frying thermometer. You can also check the internal temperature with it before putting it in the oven. It should be 10 degrees with thawed and freshly salted hams.
It is not recommended to roast Christmas ham without a roasting thermometer. Henry Rantaniemi
Do not delete the network
If you have a party ham with a kick, you have to push the measuring tape from the boneless end to the thickest part of the ham. And so that the meter is easy to read when the ham is roasting in the oven.
Before frying, the ham is taken out of its packaging. And now carefully, the net around the kicking ham is left. This ham is otherwise boneless, but it has a kick as decoration. The ham has the same amount of food as a traditional whole Christmas ham.
Christmas hams are traditionally put in the oven on the eve. Roni Lehti
The ham is in a net because the bones have been removed and the net holds it together. So, under no circumstances should you remove the netting before the oven, but only remove it from around the cooked and slightly cooled ham.
Succulent, tender or very tender?
If you wish, you can wipe the surface of the raw ham with a paper towel. The ham is placed in the oven as is.
– The ham is baked at 100–120 degrees. It’s a gentle frying temperature. An even mild temperature ensures a good final result.
The baking time of large hams can be calculated from the fact that the ham is in the oven for about 1.5 hours per kilo. However, the cooking meter tells you most definitely when to take the ham out of the oven.
When the internal temperature of the ham is 75 degrees, the ham is juicy, but not overcooked. Ham over 80 degrees is tender. Above 85 degrees is very tender.
When the ham is ready, it is taken out of the oven and allowed to cool for a while, after which the mesh is cut off. If you want, you can remove some of the fat at the same time.
Järvinen’s roast chicken
Järvinen gives a tip for a juicy result.
Take a deep baking tray, fill it with water and put it on the lowest level of the oven. The ham is fried on a grid, so that the fat drains onto the baking sheet. The water trap keeps the oven moist and makes the ham juicy.
It is important to remember to monitor and add water so that there is water on the tray throughout the baking process. It is also easier to clean the oven when the liquids drain into the water container and the grate can be rinsed at the end.
Remember that you should not pour the cooking fat from Christmas food down the drain. Through the ham trick, you can recycle the fat, making renewable diesel from it.
The story was originally published on 22 December 2021.