This is the BEST ham recipe and it is very easy to make! The combination of flavors in the honey and sugar spice blend complements the ham perfectly and slow cooking keeps the ham moist and tender.
This Slow Cooker Ham recipe will be your new go-to holiday ham!
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I've always wondered what the hype is over a ham from the Honey Baked Ham company, so I decided to purchase one. To say I experienced sticker shock is an understatement! I could hardly believe how expensive they are! Once It got it home and tried it, I understood why people love them. It was absolutely delicious!
I was quite surprised about the hard sugar coating on the outside of the ham; that is not something I had seen before and I knew it was something I wanted to try making at home. Turns out it isn't hard to replicate and my version, after some trials and errors, turned out even better and will save you quite a bit of money!
What I love most about this recipe is you can use any type of ham that you love and it turns out perfectly. I used a spiral ham without a bone in the final recipe, but also tried it with a whole ham and a bone-in spiral-cut ham and they all worked great! The only difference in the recipe is how you warm it up before putting the sugar crust on.
Suggested Kitchen Tools for Slow Cooker Ham
- Slow Cooker
- Small Saucepan
- Serving Platter
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Wooden Spoon
- Instant Read Thermometer
Ingredients & Substitutions
The great thing about this recipe is you can use whatever type of ham you like and, with minor adjustments in the cooking process, still end up with a delicious and beautiful ham for any special occasion.
Ham
Most hams in the US are fully cooked and only need to be reheated before serving. I do not recommend using a fresh ham (meaning uncooked and not smoked) in this recipe because they are meant to be roasted and have a completely different flavor.
My recommendation is to purchase a fully cooked ham that has been smoked. The ham can be bone-in or boneless, whole and unsliced or spiral cut. All varieties will work with this recipe with very minor changes. You can also use any size ham for this recipe and the only thing that may change is the cooking method and the time it takes to reheat.
You can even buy the kind of ham that has the glaze packet and has already been "honey baked" or any other flavor variety that you like. I still recommend using the spiced honey glaze in this recipe for reheating and you will want to discard the glaze packet that comes with the ham or use it for something else and follow the recipe for the spiced sugar crust in this recipe for the best results.
I used a boneless spiral cut ham that weighed about 4 pounds, which are usually labeled quarter ham, and this worked beautifully in the Ninja Foodi using slow cook and broil (also called grill). The smaller ham fit perfectly in the 6.5 qt without being too close to the upper heating element. If you purchase a half ham which is about 8 pounds, you can still slow cook it in the Foodi, but you may have to use the oven to broil the top after reheating.
If you live in the UK, you can purchase any style of gammon and the only difference will be the cooking time. Gammon is usually smoked, but raw so you will have to fully cook the gammon before applying the sugar crust. There is a bit of discrepancy about the safe internal temperature of gammon between various websites and what the USDA recommends for cooking raw pork (gammon). In the US, the safe internal temperature for pork is 145℉/63℃, however, I read several UK-based websites referencing safe internal temperatures of 165℉/74℃. My recommendation is to cook the gammon joint to the internal temperature you are comfortable with. The ham will be more tender and moist if you cook it to 145℉/63℃.
Spiced Honey Mixture
The spiced honey mixture that I use to cook/reheat the ham is a combination of honey, freshly squeezed orange juice, and warm spices like cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. This mixture is poured in between the slices of spiral-cut ham or can be poured over the ham if yours is not sliced.
You can substitute the honey with maple syrup and adjust any of the seasonings to your liking. If you aren't a fan of orange, use pineapple juice instead. Apple juice is also another option.
Spiced Sugar Crust
This is the magical part of the ham and what gives it that "honey baked ham" texture on the outside. It is made up of sugar, orange zest, and the same warm spices in the honey mixture. I do use twice as many cloves in the sugar crust which balances out the sweetness of the sugar.
I used granulated sugar in this recipe and that is what I recommend using because we cook the spiced sugar to create a syrup that will harden when cooled. While many recipes call for a brown sugar glaze, I think you will be very happy with this one! You can use brown sugar instead of white sugar if you prefer.
I do not recommend using sugar substitutes because they will not cook correctly to create the hard sugar shell on the outside of the ham.
You can skip the orange zest if you don't have an orange or don't like the orange flavor. You do not need to replace it with anything.
You can also adjust the spices to your liking by omitting any of them or using more of one spice than another.
How to Make Honey Spiced Ham with a Hard Sugar Crust
Mise En Place (Prep)
I like to unwrap the ham and place it on a roasting rack in the fridge for 12-24 hours before cooking. This dries the ham on the outside and allows the honey mixture to stick better. The other option is to pat dry the outside of the ham using a paper towel. This also allows the honey to stick better.
If your ham came with a glaze packet you can discard it or use it for something else because you definitely want to use my glaze recipe.
When you are ready to start cooking/reheating your ham, you want to make up both the honey glaze and the spiced sugar coating.
Spiced Sugar
I start with the spiced sugar because it uses the zest of the orange. Zest your orange right over the bowl of sugar so the orange oils get into the sugar.
Add the spice blend and stir to combine. The mixture will clump at first. Go in with your fingers and break up the clumps and then set the mixture to the side for later use.
Spiced Honey
Combine the honey, freshly squeezed juice from the orange, and the spice blend in a small bowl. Stir until mixed well.
Preparing your Ham
If you have an unsliced boneless ham and want to slice it before reheating it, you can take a sharp knife and make slices about ¼" apart or you can leave it unsliced, whichever you prefer.
You want to make the slices in the shape of a half moon leaving the center of the slice and the bottom of the ham uncut so the ham stays in one piece and not individual slices which may dry out when you reheat it.
Depending on how you are going to reheat or cook the ham, you may need something to help get it out of the pot. I used the Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper for this recipe and the pot is deep so it is much easer to handle the ham if it is on a (affiliate link)sling or a rack.
Since I use the broil function after the ham is heated, I like to keep the ham as low in the pot as possible and I opted to use a foil sling.
To make the sling with foil, take two large pieces and fold them into strips. I like to fold them 4 times so the foil can handle the weight of the ham. Crisscross the strips and put the ham in the middle.
If you are going to bake the ham in the oven, put it on a tray with a lip to collect the juices or into a large baking dish.
Once the outside of the ham is dry, spoon the spiced honey mixture over the ham and separate the slices to get it down into each one. Reserve about 2 Tablespoons of the honey and pour it over top of the ham.
I recommend doing this while the ham is in the slow cooker to avoid a mess. I did it on my cutting board because I was filming a video.
If your ham is spiral-sliced, you may want to secure that last slice with a toothpick. As the ham heats up, the slices separate more and I like to keep them as close together as possible so they don't dry out.
It also makes it easier to get a nice sugar crust on the ham.
Cooking/Reheating Ham
The cooking process will depend on what type of ham you have and if it is already fully cooked or not. The first thing to decide is what type of appliance you are going to use for cooking the ham.
You can use a slow cooker which frees up oven space and keeps the ham tender and juicy with minimal effort or you can use the oven which requires the ham to be wrapped in foil to avoid drying it out, especially for spiral sliced hams.
You can also pressure cook the ham which may be a time-saving cooking method especially if you have an uncooked gammon joint. Unfortunately, I cannot find smoked, but uncooked gammon here in the US so you will have to use your judgment on how long to pressure cook the gammon.
If you want to pressure cook a fully cooked ham, please read this article before doing so. Pressure Cooked Ham
Slow Cooker Ham Directions
I love slow-cooking ham, especially when it's spiral-sliced! Other cooking methods tend to dry out the ham too much.
Except for the honey I put on the ham, I don't use any liquid to reheat my ham in a slow cooker and the results have been great. You can always add about ½ of liquid if you want.
Once your ham is in the slow cooker, you can use these suggested times for reheating it. These times are for a fully cooked ham and will need to be increased for an uncooked gammon joint.
When reheating a fully cooked ham, you want the internal temperature to reach about 145℉/63℃. This will result in a nice serving temperature.
Timing for a boneless spiral sliced ham
- 3-4 pounds: Slow cook on high for 2 hours or low for 3-4 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: Slow cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: Slow cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
Quick Tip
Always cook to temperature and not time. When the ham reaches 145℉ it is done no matter how short of a time it has been reheating. Slow cookers and crock pots can vary quite a bit so use a thermometer.
Timing for a Bone-in Spiral Ham
- 3-4 pounds: Slow cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: Slow cook on high for 4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: Slow cook on high for 5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
Timing for a Boneless Unsliced Ham
I recommend using the low setting only for this type of ham so the outer part doesn't dry out before the inside reaches your desired temperature.
- 3-4 pounds: Slow cook on low for 3 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: Slow cook on low for 4 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: Slow cook on low for 5 hours.
Timing for Bone-in Unsliced Ham
- 3-4 pounds: Slow cook on low for 4 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: Slow cook on low for 5 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: Slow cook on low for 6 hours.
Oven Ham Directions
When reheating a ham in the oven it can dry out pretty quickly, so you are going to want it covered for part of the cooking process. Because I put the honey mixture on the ham, I like to start with the ham uncovered to set the honey and then cover it.
I also think hams do best at low temperatures in the oven, so I don't recommend cooking/reheating any higher than 275℉/130℃. Keep in mind this is for fully cooked ham, if you are cooking a gammon joint you can increase the oven temp.
Timing for a boneless spiral sliced ham
- 3-4 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 1-2 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 2-3 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 3-4 hours
- 8 plus pounds: 350℉ for 20 minutes uncovered, then cover with foil and decrease oven temp to 275℉ for about 15 minutes per pound or until the internal temp reaches at least 140℉.
Timing for a Bone-in Spiral Ham
- 3-4 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 2-3 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 3-4 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 4-5 hours.
- 8 plus pounds: 350℉ for 20 minutes uncovered, then cover with foil and decrease oven temp to 275℉ for about 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temp reaches at least 140℉.
Timing for a Boneless Unsliced Ham
- 3-4 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 2-3 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 3-4 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 4-5 hours.
- 8 plus pounds: 350℉ for 20 minutes uncovered, then cover with foil and decrease oven temp to 275℉ for about 15 minutes per pound or until the internal temp reaches at least 140℉.
Quick Tip
US ham is almost always fully cooked and you are only reheating it so the recommendation to bring it to an internal temperature of 145℉ is so you serve the ham warm.
Timing for Bone-in Unsliced Ham
- 3-4 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 2-3 hours.
- 5-6 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 3-4 hours.
- 6-8 pounds: 275℉ for 20 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil and bake another 4-5 hours.
- 8 plus pounds: 350℉ for 20 minutes uncovered, then cover with foil and decrease oven temp to 275℉ for about 15 minutes per pound or until the internal temp reaches at least 140℉.
Broiling the Ham
After the ham is warmed through, brush some of the juices on the top and sprinkle 2-4 Tablespoons (depending on the size of your ham) of the spiced sugar mixture over the top.
Broil in the Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot Duo/Pro Crisp for about 10 minutes or Broil in the oven until the top is nicely brown and the sugar is bubbling.
When I use the Foodi, I do remove the juices before broiling but only because they can dry up and make the pot harder to clean.
You can make deeper slices in the ham before pouring over the glaze if you want, this does make it easier to slice and serve.
Creating the Sugar Crust
While the ham is broiling you want to start boiling your spiced sugar and water mixture. Use a small saucepan and combine the sugar with ½ cup of water.
Stir several times until the sugar melts and the mixture comes to a boil. Once it starts boiling, do not stir or sugar crystals can form.
Cook on medium heat until the sugar mixture reaches between 275℉/135℃ and 280℉/138℃ and then turn the stove off.
Once the syrup is done, you want to work fairly quickly. The ham should be out on a tray and I like to have it elevated slightly with a rack so the extra syrup will drip off of the ham and be collected.
The sugar mixture is VERY HOT so carefully pour it over the ham so you have a thin layer and let the excess drip off.
For smaller hams, you will not use all of the sugar mixture unless you want to repeat the coats to have a thicker sugar coating.
Let the ham sit for about 10-15 minutes to let the sugar harden and then put it on your platter with any garnishes you want.
Serve & Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating Instructions
How to Store Leftover Ham
Refrigeration
Wrap the ham in foil or place slices into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezer
Make sure the ham is completely cool and then package into vacuum sealed bags or another airtight container and freeze for up to 6 months.
How to Reheat Leftover Ham
When reheating the ham, you will not have the same sugar crust because it does soften as it sits in the refrigerator, but it is still delicious.
Oven
Wrap the ham in aluminum foil and warm it on a tray in the oven at 300°F/150℃ until it is warmed through. The time will vary based on how thick your slices are, but 20 minutes is average.
Steam
I love steaming leftover ham in the Ninja Foodi. Wrap it tightly in foil or put it in a pan with a cover on the rack in the low position.
Put in 2 cups of water into the inner pot and steam for about 10 minutes.
Side Dishes that are PERFECT for this Ham!
When serving a candied ham, you want to pick side dishes that will compliment the ham and not be too sweet. Here are my top choices!
Slow Cooker Ham with a Sugar Crust
Ingredients
- 4 pound boneless spiral ham fully cooked
Spiced Honey
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 Tablespoon juice from orange
Spiced Sugar
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½-1 Tablespoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
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Instructions
Prep
- Unwrap the ham and place on a rack in the refrigerator overnight or blot dry with paper towels to remove surface moisture so the honey will stick.4 pound boneless spiral ham
- Zest the orange into the bowl of sugar and add the spices. Stir to combine and then break up clumps with your fingers.1½ cups granulated sugar, ½-1 Tablespoon orange zest, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- Combine honey with the spices and orange juice, stir to combine.½ cup honey, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, 1 Tablespoon juice from orange
Slow Cook
- Place the ham in the bottom of your slow cooker and pour over the honey mixture making sure to get inbetween the slices. If the end slice of ham is separating and falling over, secure it with a toothpick. Slow cook on high for 2 hours or until the ham reaches 145℉.
Broil
- When the ham is heated through, remove the juices from the bottom of the pot if you are broling in the same appliance. Baste the top of the ham with some of the juices and sprinkle on about 2 Tablespoons of the spiced sugar. Broil for 10 minutes or until the top is nicely browned.
Make the Spiced Sugar Syrup
- While the ham is broiling, combine the sugar mixture and ½ cup of water in a small saucepan on the stove. Heat on high while stirring until it comes to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn the. heat down to medium high and do not stir. Cook the mixture until it reaches 275-280℉/135-138℃ and turn the heat off.
Finish the ham
- Working a little quickly so the sugar doesn't harden, cut the ham slices a little deeper to make serving easier. Pour the sugar mixture over the ham to create a light coating. You can repeat this if you want a thicker sugar crust. You won't use all the sugar mixture, but you can pour it in small dots on parchment and make nice spiced candy!
- Let the ham sit for 10-15 minutes so the sugar coating hardens. Serve & Enjoy!
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Karen Crook
My sister had a honey baked him for Christmas dinner and it was delicious. So, i thought I would try your recipe for New Year’s Day since I can’t afford a honey baked baked ham. This recipe was absolutely amazing! 10 plus stars!
Louise
I'm so happy to hear that you loved it, Karen! Those honey baked hams are so pricey I had sticker shock when I bought one to try to make my own version. Mine is definitely different, but personally I like it better!
LaRae Harguess
I have purchased Honey Baked hams for over twenty five years. This recipe was sooooo much better! I will never buy another Honey Baked. I did struggle a bit with the candied sugar part, but I just heated it as much as I could and poured over.
Louise
I'm so thrilled that you liked it! Can you tell me what part of making the sugar topping you struggled with? I also saw that you had trouble making caramel so I'm really wondering what pan you are using and if that could be the issue. Happy Holidays!