Vermont Country Baked Ham from Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

“The last time I made this, my girlfriend advised me not to remove the ham fat after simmering it in the cider. I did it both ways, and it came out great each time.”

“I did something similar to Laurie Ann D (2 below me). I didn’t boil it for fear it might taste like boiled ham! I baked it with the apple cider and raisins and the brown sugar mixture. I had no problems with the brown sugar mixture because I mixed the dry ingredients together then slowly added the water until it was a thick paste. And I threw a couple whole cloves in with the apple cider because I really like the taste of cloves! It was yummy and moist but didn’t taste boiled!PS- It took about 3 hours to heat to 140 w/o boiling it first.”

“I committed to making a ham for Christmas Eve dinner prior to actually finding a recipe.As I searched, I found this recipe to be the most interesting and I took on the challenge knowing I had a picky crowd to please. Well, it turned out amazing and everyone loved it. My girlfriend even refused to send people home with leftovers it was so good…I did follow the recipe fairly closely, however I did strain out the fat from the cider after smimmering for 2 hours and prior to putting it back in the pan and adding the raisins. I also made two batches of the brown sugar, clove, dry mustard paste and basted the ham about
every 20 mins. The ham literally fell apart, was tender and juicy, and easy to cut and serve. I highly recommend this recipe and I know this will be part of my Holiday Menu going forward.”

“This ham was excellent.Everyone enjoyed it.My paste was thin for some reason.I should have added more brown sugar to make it thicker I think.Thanks for sharing.”

“AWESOME!I used regular brown sugar and skipped the 2-hour simmer.I just poured the apple cider in the roasting pan!When I combined the brown sugar & spices, I didn’t really end up with a “paste,” but more of a liquid.So I added about another cup of sugar and some additional mustard and cloves until it was more “pasty”.My ham was done in 3 hours and 15 minutes.Ham should be cooked to a temp of 160 degrees(3 hrs. to get to 155 degrees, plus 5 more degrees after resting for 15 minutes).This was a simple recipe, but yummy enough to serve at any holiday meal!”

“We made this for Thanksgiving. It was delish!”

“I tried this recipe with a 9 lb black bear ham and it was amazing.This one is defintely going into my “regular” file!”

“I made this a few weeks back & it was great I won’t be baking Ham any other way in the future.Thanks for sharing”

“If you want a moist ham, this is it.The aroma is out of this world and the taste is so incredible!I used apple juice and brown sugar.The perfect Easter ham!Can’t wait for leftovers!”

“I made this for a large gathering at Christmas and our families loved this ham. I had a 20 lb bone in ham and I used apple juice instead of cider and brown sugar instead of maple. I covered with the “paste” after the 2 hours, I did not drain and skin however. The ham was absolutely delicious. Thank you for posting”

“I made this for Christmas and my family loved it.I made it for a hockey party and it was devoured and I had to make multiple copies of the recipe.I served it at my son’s graduation party and have had it at my friends’ parties.It is absolutely the BEST HAM!If you can’t get cider, use apple juice.”

“When we made this for our Easter Dinner, our family inhaled it!There were NO leftovers!It was terrific!”