City Ham

By Bill Hicks • Pork & Sausage

(0 ratings)
Prep Time

min

Cook Time

min

Servings

10 servings

Difficulty

Created

Jun 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM

Last Updated

Jun 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM

Categories

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Ingredients

1 City style (brined) ham, hock end*
1/4 Cup brown mustard
2 Cups dark brown sugar
1 Ounce bourbon (poured into a spritz bottle)
2 Cups crushed ginger snap cookies

Instructions

Heat oven to 250F. Remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly. Place ham; cut side down, in a roasting pan. Using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting; score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut. (If you're using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and first few layers of fat). Rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across. Once you've made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise. The aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham. (Don't worry too much about precision here.) Tent the ham with heavy duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130F. Remove and use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat that come off with them. Heat oven to 350F. Dab ham dry with paper towels then brush on a liberal coat of mustard, using either a basting brush. Sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated. Spritz this layer lightly with bourbon then loosely pack on as much of the crushed cookies as you can. Insert the thermometer (don't use the old hole) and return to the oven uncovered. Cook until interior temperature reaches 140F, approximately 1 hour. Let the roast ham for 1/2 hour before carving.
*Cook's note: A city ham is basically any brined ham that's packed in a plastic bag, held in a refrigerated case and marked "ready to cook", "partially cooked" or "ready to serve". Better city hams are also labeled "ham in natural juices".
City Ham - Our Family Cookbooks