Fresh Ham With Maple-Balsamic Glaze Recipe (2024)

I made this for Easter Sunday this year. I have never made a fresh ham before, it is basically a really giant pork roast. The skin turned out amazingly crisp and delicious. I found I needed more cooking time, though, it was closer to 3 1/2 hours at that temperature. The pan drippings were more fat than anything else, next time I would probably make some type of sauce to accompany it, though a creamy cheesy potato paired very well.

I used this recipe to roast a small shank end fresh ham from a pig raised by my grandson. I most appreciated the recommendation to keep checking the temperature to make sure the roast comes out at 145 degrees. I obeyed, and the result was the best roast pork I've ever eaten. The pecans and candied ginger seemed gilding the lily of home-raised pork, so I skipped them and was glad I did. The flavor of the pork needed no further assistance.

I repeated this recipe with a 15-pound (!) fresh ham from the same home-raised pig (see previous note). The basting liquid infused the fat with sweet and tart as it darkened to a crispy mahogany. I never saw people fighting for their share of pork fat before!

This was wonderful - turned out perfectly. My only recommendation is to double the sauce... so you have plenty to serve on the side (and on leftovers). The sauce was spectacular!

Actually, this is *not* a pork shoulder. It's a fresh ham, which comes from the *rear* leg of the pig. Hams are typically larger than shoulders; a whole ham can easily weigh 10 lbs., although it's frequently cut in half and sold as the butt (upper half) or shank (lower half), and almost always bone-in. It is confusing, though. The *front* leg of the pig is also usually sold halved; the upper half is called a pork shoulder or Boston butt, and the lower half is called a picnic ham.

Merry Christmas to all! Just to make sure... I leave the skin on and score it through the fat, correct? This will make crispy skin pieces with the glaze, correct? Thank you

What did you do about the cook time since the ham was much smaller?

For those of you with a smaller (or larger) ham, I did some research and found a timing suggestion of 20 min/pound @ 300 degrees (the commenter who said the oven should be 350 is incorrect; I checked the accompanying story and it says 300 degrees; it was probably a mistake in the print version). Take into account, also, the first 20 minutes at 450. So take the roast's temperature every time you glaze.

My first time making a fresh ham and it was delicious. Just a supermarket fresh ham; I did not brine it, and it was only partially covered with fat, but still it came out great. Excellent on sandwiches afterward too.

I made this for Canadian Thanksgiving with a 4kg ham and it was incredibly good and will definitely become an annual dish! Some notes: I used a smoked free range ham, good quality aged balsamic vinegar, halved the ingredients in the basting liquid (still more than enough) and basted every 30 minutes instead of once an hour.

Made this for easter dinner. Did not brine. Actually did a much smaller ham, more like 4 lbs but saw in the comments to double the sauce so I made the sides as directed in the recipe. We also used sugar free maple syrup bc my mama is diabetic. This came out fantastic! Even better as leftovers. (I’ve snacked already and my dogs are eyeing my mama and I constantly. Can’t wait to make a sandwich in the am. Yum! See photo at @tediously_brief on instagram

Made this for Easter dinner this year! It was a hit. Lots of fat in the drippings so make sure you have time to separate the fat.

I prepared a 6 pound bone-in smoked ham at 200 degrees F for four hours. I missed the part about putting the candied ginger and pecan on in the last part of cooking. The ham was delicious but dry, and I thought the gravy was a bit sweet to be gravy.I struggle with ham.

I'll take this over a cured ham any day! It was so delicious that honestly it didn't need all the nuts and ginger at the end, the maple syrup provided all the sweetness it could have wanted. A big pot of braised greens, a big pan of biscuits ... a perfect Sunday roast.

I just made this for dinner. We buy our pig from the farmer and don’t always care to have as much smoked ham as we end up with so I ordered it fresh and cut into 2# roasts. This recipe was a lovely way to eat pork. I served it on brown rice with sauce drizzled over both. The nuts and ginger added a surprising contrast to the sweet of the rest of sauce and a nice break for my palette. Roasted asparagus with pepper and salt rounded out our plate. I was told I could make this again.

Delicious and so tasty compared to smoked ham. This one was raised on an organic farm by my granddaughter. The only thing I changed was about I basted every 30 minutes, which might explain why my ham was not dry. Sauce is simply outstanding.

In case anyone is interested in cooking times-My ham was a little over 5 lb. I started it at 425 for 30 minutes, then turned down to 350. I took it out of the oven after 2 1/2 hours, with internal temps ranging from 144-147. My basting sauce was whole grain fermented mustard, whiskey barrel aged maple syrup, some generic “balsamic vinegar”, and a big pinch of allspice. Oh also, I dry brined with salt and pepper a couple of hours before it went in the oven. I’ll follow up later

For those of you with a smaller (or larger) ham, I did some research and found a timing suggestion of 20 min/pound @ 300 degrees (the commenter who said the oven should be 350 is incorrect; I checked the accompanying story and it says 300 degrees; it was probably a mistake in the print version). Take into account, also, the first 20 minutes at 450. So take the roast's temperature every time you glaze.

I ran out of maple syrup so I used half maple syrup with a little honey and a half jar of peach preserves, plus the other ingredients and some fennel seeds and chili flakes. Smells good so far!

This was amazing. I did add whole clove pieces in the cuts, but otherwise left the recipe as is. Would make again.

Schweinehaxe, shank about 2kg with the bone on sale was what I can easily find here, and it yielded a beautiful result after brining overnight in 2% salt solution. Cook it for less time as it is smaller, no more than 2 hours in total.

I made this for the 14th birthday of my brother Sam, whose favorite food is ham (I know-- full ham). Magnificent & easy recipe. We bought an 18 lb. ham, which took a while longer to cook. A chef friend recommended that toward the end, turn the temperature up to 400*-450* & baste very frequently to speed things up. Cooked at 300* for about 6 hrs, then the last hr and a half on high heat while basting every 10-15 mins. It turned out splendidly, and I cannot believe most of it is already devoured.

Great recipe! Made this last night for Easter dinner, only had frozen hams available tho. Loved the glaze!!! So delicious, everyone at the dinner table loved it!

Hoping to make this for Easter this weekend but need to know if I can make ahead! I don’t want to skip the regular basting while it cooks but won’t have that much time the day of. Can I make it the night before with the same result?

I make this recipe all the time. We get our pork in bulk, and I never have the hams smoked (just not a fan). This recipe is a fantastic way to cook fresh ham. I love to slice the left overs real thin and make a cuban sandwich the next day.

I made this using a 19 lb leg (leftovers) and it was pretty fantastic. Took 6-1/2 hours to come to 145, not 3 as stated in the recipe, but that was not a surprise. The pan sauce was excellent. The cross hatching was a bit of a problem, though. I have good knives and I keep them sharp, but they could not cut through the skin. I turned to a new single-edged razor blade and that did the trick.

Perfect Christmas dish! I made this using an 8 lb boneless fresh ham (it was a little less than half of a full ham and yes I am talking shank not a Boston butt). It cooked for about 2.5 hours to come up to 145. The only tweak I made was adding a large dollop of dijon mustard to the basting mixture. The sauce was a total winner too. I used the leftover cracklins and ham in a batch of collards last night and they turned out awesome too. I may just make this ham recipe a holiday tradition.

Made this for Christmas dinner using a fresh ham that we got as part of 1/2 pig we buy annually from a local farm. The ham was only 4.5 lbs and even still it took almost 3 hrs to get up to temperature. I basted often and the flavor was incredible. Skipped the pecans since we have a nut allergy in the family. We added the leftovers for NYT farro and roasted squash recipe and then to NYT three cheese cauliflower casserole recipe. Both equally delicious!!