Special Occasion Baked Ham {Granny's Recipe}

Baked Ham was a tradition in our house on Thanksgiving when I was a child. This recipe has become a tradition at our house at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Occasionally, we have been known to have it at a special gathering in the summer as it is the perfect accompaniment to potato salad and baked beans. We do reserve it for special occasions because we know that ham, especially the cut used in this recipe, is not a lean meat. Mother's recipe for baked ham was fairly easy and yielded an absolutely delicious result. This is because she baked her ham alone without adding any sweetening or coke, etc., and the end result was melt in your mouth Deliciousness!

Special Occasion Baked Ham

6-7 lbs. smoked picnic shoulder ham

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13 by 9 inch roaster pan with foil and put in a small rack. Remove the wrapper from the ham. Rinse the ham in cold water to remove any salted water.

Cut away the tough rind on the ham leaving at least 1/4 inch of the fat which helps keep the meat from drying out as it cooks. Score the top and the sides in a diamond pattern.

Place ham in roaster with the decorated side up. Bring up the sides of the foil to cover ham.

Bake for 1 hour. Uncover ham and bake 30 minutes or until the thermometer registers 140 degrees.

 Place ham on a cutting board or serving platter and allow 20 minutes before carving.