Slow Cooking Saturdays Recipe Swap ~ Holiday Ham Recipe

This crock pot ham will rival any ham you could buy premade at any grocery store or specialty store. This is perfect for holiday dinners, family gatherings or potlucks. It frees up precious oven space (which I love) and is absolutely delicious.   There are a couple of things I want to note before I give you the recipe. First, make sure that you cook it on high. This is necessary because you’ll be lifting the lid to baste the ham every 25 – 30 minutes. You also are going to want to keep the glaze warm while the ham is cooking in the crock pot. I also line my crock pot with a Reynold’s Slow Cooker liner or aluminum foil because the glaze is so sticky.   Here is how I do it:

• 4 – 5 pound ham shank or butt (just make sure it’ll fit in your crock pot)
• 2 cups of baby carrots or thick sliced carrot medallions
• 1/4 cup of whole cloves
• 2 cups of honey
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup of unsalted butter

Line a 6 – 7 quart crock pot with a liner or aluminum foil. Stud the ham with the whole cloves, making sure to space them as evenly as possible. In a double boiler (which I make by using a heatproof glass bowl over a simmering pot of water) add honey, brown sugar and butter and melt until it all incorporates well when stirred. Evenly spread carrots on bottom of crock pot. Place ham in crock pot and baste it with glaze. Turn crock pot to high. Do not glaze again until crock pot is good and hot. This is important because you want the crock pot to come up to full temperature before removing the lid for basting the first time. You are now going to cook on high for 7 – 8 hours, basting every 25 – 30 minutes. Baste as quickly as possible and get the lid back on immediately. Also keep the glaze warm in the double boiler  for the first 4 – 5 bastings. Make sure you cook to recommended temperature on packaging. If in doubt whether it’s done or not be sure to use a meat thermometer. When cooking is completed let ham rest for 20 minutes then slice and serve.
Now it’s your turn to share your crock pot ham recipe. It doesn’t matter if you have a precooked ham crock pot recipe or a ham and bean soup recipe, we want to see what it is you do with ham in your crock pot. There are a couple of guidlines to follow when swapping crock pot recipes:

1. Make sure it’s a crock pot recipe. I know you’ve done some great things with ham in the oven and on your stove top, but we want to see what you’ve done with ham in your crock pot.
2. Link directly to your recipe, not your homepage. This will allow people to find your recipe for years to come.
3. Make sure you mention that you shared your crock pot ham recipe here at Slow Cooking Saturdays Recipe Swap and link back to this post (just good blogger etiquette).
4. We are all just trying to meet other crock pot lovers so HAVE FUN!