Moist Juicy Slow Cooker Ham Recipe

Mar 16, 2013 · 106 Comments

This slow cooker ham recipe is moist and fork tender!

Slices of slow cooker baked ham on plates with mashed potatoes, pieapple slices, and green beans.

This Slow Cooker Ham recipe is my "go-to" recipe when cooking a ham dinner. It is so much better than the traditional oven "baked ham" because it consistently produces a delicious, tender, moist ham that will be an easy focal point for your ham dinner. This ham recipe is delicious and can be adjusted for cooking uncooked hams, precooked hams, smoked or dry cured hams and brine cured hams. You can use this recipe to cook ham shoulders, butts, and shanks. The ham will be visually beautiful (perfect for a holiday ham dinner) and everyone who tries thisrecipe has great success with it.

I use this recipe for Easter dinner every year. We like to eat Easter dinner about 1:30 PM after we get home from church so I time the ham so that it is done for 1 PM. That gives me time to get my side dishes cooked and the table set. I do a lot of my Easter dinner preparation the night before. On Easter, it's just a matter of putting things to heat in the oven and on the stove top during that last hour before dinner. And this ham recipe frees up oven space for more Easter side dishes to cook like my Bacon Wrapped Asparagus or my Twice Baked Potatoes. Having free stove top and oven space allows me to make a complete holiday menu timed perfectly to arrive at the dinner table with the Slow Cooker Ham as the centerpiece. This ham dinner is great in the summer to as using a slow cooker doesn't heat up the kitchen the way the oven does. I do heat my pre-cooked potatoes in the microwave and foil packs of vegetable on the grill.

A beautiful mahogany glazed baked ham cooked in the slow cooker. The crockpot makes this ham moist & tender.

A few things to remember when cooking your slow cooker ham.....

There are a few things that are important to remember in cooking a ham in a slow cooker, no matter which slow cooker ham recipe you use. Be sure to follow your slow cooker ham recipe carefully.

Choose the right size ham that will fit in your crock pot for your slow cooker ham recipe. If you are not good at judging size and have to take a small measuring tape with you to the store, do it. It is very important with any roast cooked in a slow cooker that the lid be able to seat itself tightly on the lip of the crock. I have heard of people who were unhappy with the results of a slow cooker ham recipe and usually find the reason is that the ham was too large preventing the lid from fitting properly so moisture escaped. Some people try to put foil around the lid in hopes of keeping the heat and moisture in. That isn't a foolproof solution, and often ends in culinary disaster. Take the time to get the right size ham and trim it a little to fit the slow cooker if necessary.

Buy the right type of ham for the slow cooker ham recipe you are cooking. There are many types of ham - precooked and uncooked, smoked, dry cured and brine cured, shoulder, butts and shanks, spiral cut. So pay attention to what the recipe calls for. Using a recipe meant for a bone-in butt to cook a spiral ham can leave you with a dry, overcooked mess worthy of the dog dish. This recipe can be adjusted to accommodate a different ham, bone In Butt or Shank, but you can use other ham types if you adjust the time and temperature setting.

Pay attention to cooking time. If your slow cooker ham recipe calls for a 7 pound ham in a 7 quart slow cooker to cook for 8 hours, and you have a 3 pound ham in your 4 quart slow cooker, you need to reduce the cooking time. As a rule, 1 hour of cooking time (on low) per pound will work well. If you are making changes to a recipe, be aware that overcooked ham will be dry and tough so you should keep an eye on the ham.

Be careful of your internal temperatures. Use a meat thermometer to check your ham to be sure it is cooked. Not all hams are the same. If you are cooking an uncooked ham, you want an internal temperature of 140F. The internal temperature of a precooked ham should least 120F.

Not all slow cookers are the same. The temperature for each setting can vary from brand to brand. The age of your crockpot can make a difference in cooking time as the ham will cook quicker in a newer crockpot as the temperatures of newer crockpots are higher. This change was instituted because of food safety issues and concerns that the lower temperatures of older crock-pots cooking on low could enhance the growth of harmful bacteria.
As with any recipe, try it out the first time at a family meal rather than cooking the recipe for a big holiday meal with guests. All recipes need a little tweaking, especially ones like this. Timing is everything when putting on a holiday celebration meal so work the bugs out of a recipe rather then have an embarrassing failure in front of your guests.

A slow cooker ham recipe can result in a delicious succulent dinner loaded with flavor but like anything else you have to follow the directions. For more facts and information on ham check out the USDA website. I hope you enjoy this slowcooker ham recipe.

Slow Cooker Ham Recipe - Moist and Fork Tender

Slow Cooker Ham Recipe, Crock Pot Ham Recipe, Baked Ham Recipe, Easter Ham Recipe, Easter dinner, How to cook a ham

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★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

This slow cooker ham recipe will result in a fork tender baked ham and the liquid left in the pot can be made into a delicious sauce to be served with the ham. This ham recipe is meant to be prepared in a large slow cooker/ crock pot - 7 qt. or larger.

Author: The Wilderness Wife
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 5-7 hours
Total Time: 7 hours 15 mins
Yield: 10 1x
Category: Meat
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

6 - 7 lb. ham Bone-in Butt or Shank are my personal favorites.
¾ c. gingerale
prepared yellow mustard
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. orange zest
Optional ingredients -
20 whole cloves (optional) Makes for a pretty presentation, adds flavor, and smells heavenly while cooking.
Corn starch for thickening is making sauce from drippings.

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Instructions

Spray inside of crock pot with non stick cooking spray.
If you are going to use the cloves, score the ham in a crosshatch pattern making 1 inch squares with cuts ¼" deep. Insert whole cloves at intersecting points.
Pour gingerale over ham.
Coat ham with mustard.
Sprinkle orange zest over ham.
Sprinkle brown sugar over ham.
Set slow cooker on low. Cook an uncooked ham for 5 - 7 hrs on high for the first 2 hours then reduce to low, dependent on your ham size. Be sure to check internal temp - 120F-140F is what you want. Cook precooked ham for 3 hrs. and check internal temp. When ham is done remove from slow cooker and place on platter tenting it with foil. Let rest while you prepare optional sauce.
Sauce -
Strain liquid left in slow cooker into a saucepan. Taste to see if it needs any seasoning. Most likely it won't need salt.
Take 2 tbsp. of corn starch and mix with ¼ cup water to make a slurry.
Over medium heat, add the cornstarch slurry to the hot liquid while stirring gently with a whisk. It should only take a minute to thicken. Don't over stir as it may break down. Serve the sauce over the ham.

Keywords: slow cooker ham recipe, ham recipe

This slow cooker ham recipe is perfect for Easter Dinner. For more Easter Ideas from the Wilderness Wife check out these pages -

Do you love slow cooker dishes? We have lots of them here at The Wilderness Wife so check out these tasty ones –

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