How Long To Cook A Fully Cooked Ham (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 15 To 20 Minutes

A ham is sliced pork meat used as a filling in many meals like hamburgers, ham sandwiches, and other such dishes. In the United States, it is also used as a pizza topping. Generally, ham is produced by curating the raw pork by salting it over. This process is also known as dry curing or brining, and wet curing as well. Moreover, the meat is smoked, and then further seasonings may be added.

Specifically, the process of dry curing the ham involves cleaning the raw meat, and then covering it in salt while it is gradually being pressed, which further leads to draining all the blood. Moreover, different herbs and spices are used to add flavor to the ham. After this step, the ham is washed and then hung in a dark, and temperature-regulated place until it is dry. 

How Long To Cook A Fully Cooked Ham?

A fully cooked ham on average takes around 15 to 20 minutes to get completely cooked. However, this is just an average or general time that it might take to cook a ham. There are many factors like the temperature of the stove or oven, type of fully cooked ham, and other such things which either increase the time or decrease the time for a ham to be cooked.

Generally, the major factor is the type of fully cooked ham. A ham can either have bones or can be boneless. Boneless ham is comparatively less good at taste because having bones increases the taste of flesh making it more favorable to enjoy the meat. Moreover, boneless ham has more fat in them, which makes the ham have more fat. This results in a dry texture. Boneless flesh not only degrades the taste but also makes the ham more difficult to cook.

However, ham that has bones takes more time to get cooked as compared to boneless ham. The reason behind that is because bones act as a heat barrier for the heat to get through them. Therefore, it takes more time for ham which has bones to get heated and then get cooked. Whereas, on the other hand, in boneless ham, there is no heat barrier and they can be cooked seamlessly in a shorter duration of time.

On average, boneless ham takes 10 to 15 minutes to get cooked. On the other hand, ham that has bones can take from 15 to 20 minutes to get cooked.

Why Does It Take That Long To Cook A Fully Cooked Ham?

Many factors determine the time and the reason why it takes that long to cook a fully cooked ham. The major factor is what type of ham it is, boneless or not boneless. Boneless ham takes a shorter duration as compared to non-boneless ham to get cooked.

Moreover, another factor is the thickness of the fully cooked ham. Ham is available in many thicknesses like 1 inch, half an inch, and other such measures. The thicker the fully cooked ham is, the longer the time it will take to get cooked. Thus, if you want to reduce the time to cook a fully cooked ham, it is preferable to choose a ham of less thickness.

Moreover, the temperature of the stove or heating pan also determines the time. It is quite obvious that as the temperature of the stove or oven increases, the ham will get cooked faster. However, it is important to make sure not to keep the temperature too high or it will result in burnt ham.

Another key factor is if the pan or the microwave is preheated or not. Preheated pan can decrease the time for a fully cooked ham to get cooked by 3 to 5 minutes.

Keeping an ideal and practical situation for all these factors, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to cook a fully cooked ham.

Conclusion

Apart from the fact that ham is extremely tasty and loved by many people, ham is found to be unhealthy for consumption regularly. Thus, it is important to consider not consuming meat every day.

References

1. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/391724
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/030634572790446118