Why a Slow Cooker Honey Ham Is the Best Ham

Spiral-cut ham isn't something we always loved. The glaze can be overly sweet, and the texture of the meat can be unpleasantly chewy. This recipe avoids both pitfalls with a custom not-too-sweet glaze and a slow cooker method. The low, slow heat of the slow cooker gently braises the ham, making it the most tender you'll ever eat.

Beyond how much better a slow cooker ham is than an oven-baked ham, cooking the ham in the slow cooker eliminates some of the challenges of serving a ham alongside your Thanksgiving turkey or holiday roast.

3 Reasons Why a Slow Cooker Ham Is Better

1. No need for oven space.

2. No need to baste or brush; you can set it and forget it.

3. Makes a more tender ham.

For Your Information

• This recipe calls for a 8- to 10-pound spiral cut ham.
• Cook that ham on LOW for 4 to 5 hours, basting with glaze whenever you remember to.

Buying the Right Ham for the Slow Cooker

Whole spiral-cut hams are most famously known from the Honey Baked Hams brand, but this type of ham can also be found in almost every major grocery store or at your local butcher. City hams, as they are also known, are a leg of pork that's cured and sometimes smoked before being cooked and spiral-cut.
Look for a spiral-cut ham that is fully cooked (it must be labeled as such) and has the bone in. Butt-end hams tend to fit into slow cookers more readily, but their bone is a little trickier to slice around. Consider the size of your slow cooker when shopping for your ham. A 10-pound ham is as big as you can go for a six-quart slow cooker.

Ingredients