Christmas Ham
This is a Finnish Christmas ham, boneless and lightly salted, cooked very slowly until it is tender and finished with a mustard and breadcrumb crust. The long, low roast is the point: at about an hour per kilo, a thermometer pulled at 77 °C leaves the meat juicier than the traditional 80 °C. The recipe feeds a household for a week, and the leftovers freeze well.
Instructions
If the ham is frozen, thaw it in its plastic package in the refrigerator, allowing 3 days for a 7 kg ham and 5 days for a 10 kg one. On the day of roasting, take it out of the refrigerator early so it warms to about 10 °C (50 °F) by the time it goes into the oven. If it will roast in the evening, take it out in the early morning.
Wipe the ham with a damp paper towel, then dry it. Set it on a baking tray with a little water in the bottom, or use a large roasting bag and skip the water. If you use a rack, put a tray underneath to catch the drips, and line the tray with aluminum foil to protect it.
Preheat the oven to 200 °C (390 °F) and roast the ham for half an hour. You can skip this step if you are not concerned about bacteria on the surface of the meat.
Lower the oven to 100-125 °C (210-260 °F) and cook for about 1 hour per kg, so a 7 kg ham takes 7 hours or more. Push a meat thermometer into the center of the ham, keeping it away from the oven walls. The ham is done at 75-80 °C (158-176 °F). Traditionally it is taken to 80 °C, but many cooks pull it at about 77 °C because it keeps more moisture.
Remove the ham from the oven and let it stand a little before taking out the thermometer. Keep the liquid from the bag or tray out of the drain.
When the ham is cool enough to handle, peel off the rind. Coat the ham all over with mustard, then press breadcrumbs over the mustard.
Bake the glazed ham in a 250 °C (480 °F) oven for 10 minutes. Let it cool a little before serving. If you will not finish it within a week, freeze the rest.
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