4 Delicious Ways to Prepare Ham (Without an Oven)

When you think of the Christmas season or a get-together with friends, fowl is the first protein that comes to mind. Although turkey and chicken have traditionally been popular gathering foods, many individuals prefer ham.

Ham offers more glaze and marinade possibilities, and it is frequently more adaptable as a leftover. You may use the ham pieces to create ham sandwiches, ham salad, or soup stock.

If you want to get on the Ham Bandwagon, you may assume you need an oven to make a meal using ham. That is not correct. When you don’t have an oven, there are many options for cooking a ham.

If you’re the chef for a family gathering, chances are you have an oven, but it’s already full with side dishes like dressing or candied yams. Don’t be concerned. You may cook your ham using different home equipment.

1 – Slow Cooker

Crock pots are another name for tabletop slow cookers. Crock pots cook food in the same manner as a pot on the stove does. Heat is transferred to the edges of the cooking container as the vessel is heated from below.

When set to low heat, a slow cooker may reach temperatures of up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Slow cooking is what gives these fantastic pieces of kitchen equipment their name.

How do you cook ham in the slow cooker? Since the crockpot has limited room, choose a ham that weighs less than 10 pounds. If you’re really concerned about it fitting, write down the measurements of your crockpot and bring measuring tape to the grocery shop.

If the ham you bought is too big for the slow cooker, just cut it and use the trimmings elsewhere.

A sweet yet sticky glaze is used in this recipe. If you want to save time cleaning up after dinner, you may buy crockpot liners or coat the inside of the cooker with your favorite cooking spray.

Put the ham in the crockpot, sliced side down. 1 cup brown sugar should be rubbed all over the ham.

Then add 1 cup of pure maple syrup. If you use chemically flavored pancake syrup, the maple flavour will evaporate, leaving you with a sticky solution that tastes nothing like maple.

Following that, add one cup of pineapple juice. You may buy pineapple juice separately or use the liquid from a can of pineapple rings.

Turn the heat to low and cover your slow cooker. Cook the ham in the slow cooker for three to four hours. After three hours, remove the cover and check the ham with a meat thermometer to determine whether it is fully cooked. Pork products should be kept at a temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

After the ham has reached 145°F, you can either dissect it in the crockpot or remove it and set it on a serving tray to be cut.

You may keep the remaining glaze and drizzle it over the sliced ham for extra flavor, or you can use it in another dish.

2 – Barbecue Pit

Some folks prefer their BBQ pits over their ovens. This is particularly true in rural regions in the Southern United States, where barbecue is more than just a style of cooking; it is a way of life.

The heat convection of a grill is comparable to that of a crockpot. Heat is generated at the bottom of the vessel and circulates around the remainder of it, creating a pleasant warm blanket for whatever food is put inside it. Barbecues may be fueled by gas or charcoal.

Barbecued ham is best made using a butt or a ham shank. The butt comes from the area of flesh right behind the head, just before the ribs, not the back of the pig.

The shank ham is a ham that still has a piece of the leg flesh attached. Most spiral sliced hams skip the leg, however it provides for simpler manipulation once the pork is on a hot grill.

To prepare your ham for grilling, score it in a diamond hatch pattern. Essentially, you’ll be making small crisscross slices on the ham’s surface. The rub will be able to permeate the fat layer and enter the meat via these incisions.

After your ham has been roughed up, smear half a cup of yellow mustard all over it. Some people like to measure their mustard for this piece, but you may just spray it all over the ham and massage it in.

If you want to give your glazing a little kick, use Dijon mustard. Check that the mustard is going into the fat troughs where you put the scoring markings.

Repeat the rubbing procedure with the remaining half cup of brown sugar. Again, you may skip the measurement and simply sprinkle brown sugar all over the ham, but you must massage it into the nooks and crannies.

After coating the ham with brown sugar and mustard, wrap it before putting it on the grill, which should be heated to 300 degrees. Close the cover and place the ham on the grill. The ham will be grilled for two hours.

After the two-hour mark has passed, remove the ham from the grill and raise the temperature of the flames to 400 degrees.

Unwrap your ham and grab a basting brush and your favorite barbecue sauce.

When the pit reaches 400 degrees, lay the ham on the grill, fat side down. Apply barbecue sauce to the ham’s other three sides. Shut the pit and set the ham aside for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, flip the ham and reapply the barbecue sauce on the ham’s visible three sides. This method should be repeated for an hour.

Your ham is ready for cutting after about an hour of basting. You may need to remove any charred parts from the ham, but the flesh below should be soft, juicy, and delicious.

3 – Pressure Cooker

The pressure cooker was created in the 1600s, but it did not become widely used until the twenty-first century. Manufacturers spent several years to make this kind of cooking safe for regular usage.

Pressure cookers are hot, sealed vessels. The steam that would ordinarily evaporate from food is retained within by the seal. This boosts pressure in the pot and significantly reduces cooking time.

Stovetop pressure cookers have been available for decades, but a hybrid form of pressure cooker that can act as both a pressure cooker and a slow cooker has just emerged.

Many home cooks have benefited from the ease of pressure cooking because to this combination. You don’t need an oven to roast a ham if you have one of these countertop pressure cookers.

The weight of the ham should be proportional to the capacity of the pressure cooker. Your ham should be six pounds or less for a six-quart pot. Don’t go beyond eight pounds for an eight-quart pot.

Since each pressure cooker is unique, the form of your cooker may also impact your ham selection. While shopping, keep the size and form of the cooker’s vessel in mind.

This ham glaze is made up of three-fourths cup honey, three-fourths cup brown sugar, three-fourths cup pineapple juice, one tablespoon whole cloves, and two teaspoons apple cider vinegar.

In a mixing basin, combine these ingredients and put aside.

Some pressure cookers have a built-in steam rack, while others include removable racks for more cooking options. You’ll need the steam rack for this recipe.

Put the ham on the steam rack and sprinkle with the glaze. You want to fully coat the ham, but don’t worry if some glaze drops off. The glaze’s steam will circulate in the cooker, infusing the ham with even more flavor.

Top your ham with pineapple slices or crushed pineapple, if desired.

Cook for seven minutes on high heat, high pressure in your pressure cooker. After the timer goes off, rapidly depressurize the cooker. After the pressure in your pressure cooker has equalized, remove the lid and enjoy your masterpiece.

If you have an air fryer, drain the liquid from the bottom and air fried the ham for three minutes at 400 degrees. As a consequence, the ham is juicy with crispy edges. After seven minutes, the ham is delicate and succulent, and it will break apart. If you prefer your ham crispy, and you have a combined pressure cooker, this is the recipe for you.

Pour the thickened glaze over your ham and enjoy the results of your minimum effort.

4 – Toaster Oven

Those in smaller homes are more likely to have a toaster oven than a full-sized oven. Toaster ovens are small, yet they can do everything a full oven does, even cooking a ham.

The best ham for this dish is one that is less than six pounds and boneless. Begin heating your toaster oven in preparation. If your toaster oven has many capabilities, set it to Bake and set the temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Begin by slicing your ham into big portions, roughly eight at a time. You may create additional slices if you want thinner ham portions, but the eight slices will provide you and your guests with a substantial quantity of ham that is simple to cut into.

Put the sliced ham in a small baking dish, making sure it will fit in the toaster oven before cooking.

Combine three tablespoons Dijon mustard and two teaspoons whole-grain mustard in a small mixing dish. Add one cup of honey and one-third cup of brown sugar to your mustards. Four tablespoons melted butter will be added to this mixture to thin it down.

After the butter and honey mustard are mixed, add some finely chopped fresh thyme. You may add as much or as little as you wish. Thyme gives meals a lovely earthiness and can make even the most manufactured foods seem handmade.

Spread your homemade honey mustard over the ham, making sure each slice has an equal quantity of sauce. Next, set your baking dish in the hot, preheated toaster oven. Let the ham to bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

After 30 minutes, the ham should be properly roasted and bathed in a delicious, now caramelized, honey mustard sauce.

The toaster oven is also great for reheating leftover ham or roasting ham scraps that would otherwise be wasted.

Cooking a ham in a toaster oven is a great choice for those who don’t have an oven, and this method works in both traditional and convection toaster ovens. Most high-end toaster ovens nowadays are convection ovens, and you can frequently see the convection fan on the side or back of the oven.

Final Thoughts

The fact is that a cooked ham does not need a full-sized oven. Slow cookers, pressure cookers, barbeque pits, and toaster ovens may all take the role of a standard oven.

Some of these techniques need more patience than an oven-based approach, while pressure cookers may get your ham on the table faster than an oven-baked ham.

It’s comforting to know that using any of these options won’t deprive you of taste.

See some of the finest ways to roast veggies without using an oven.