Slow Roasted Fresh Ham with Maple Bourbon Glaze

The holiday table often gives the spotlight directly to the cured ham, the shiny, powder-pink showboat whose softness and rosy interior practically demand applause. Whether it’s Christmas, New Year or Easter, the cured ham struts around as if it owned the place. But I’m here to say that a fresh ham, properly seasoned, deeply browned and roasted until juicy, is infinitely better.

It offers all the grandeur and carving table excitement you’d expect from a centerpiece roast, but it’s less expected, more pork-focused, and often much more affordable than cuts like beef tenderloin or prime rib that dominate this time of year. The problem is, it only shines when you season it carefully and cook it with intention. Luckily, it comes down to a few key steps that our colleague Julia Levy from our Birmingham, Alabama test kitchen has perfected in her recipe below.

Choose the right cut

Unlike its savory cousin, fresh ham (sometimes called “green ham” in butcher shops, depending on where you live) is simply a bone-in roast pork from the hind leg. If your butcher looks perplexed, specify fresh, unsalted ham with the skin on. These words matter. You’ll see shank and sirloin options; we favor the shank end because it is easier to cut and offers more predictable cooking. That said, any fresh ham will work as long as you start with enough mass: an 8- to 10-pound roast is ideal for even cooking and a spectacular presentation.

Prepare and season as desired

Fresh ham isn’t rich and fatty like pork shoulder—it’s relatively lean—so how you prepare it has a direct impact on its juiciness. Buy it with the skin on and remove the skin yourself. This ensures a thick layer of fat that you can reduce to a tidy 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of fat yourself. This fat cap is your built-in self-basting mechanism, insulating lean meat. Mincing isn’t just for show: Scoring allows fat to render more effectively, creates crispy, tanned edges, and allows salt to penetrate deeper into the meat.

Seasoning a roast this size is not a rubbish situation. Julia relies on our Serious Eats dry-brining approach, which uses time and diffusion to season the meat throughout. The salt moves slowly but steadily from the outside to the center, dissolving muscle proteins along the way so the ham retains more moisture while cooking. Cutting a small interior pocket additionally gives the seasoning mixture a direct path to the interior; the pocket is not visible once the ham is roasted, but the flavor it delivers is undeniable. In addition to salt and sugar, Julia adds aromatics (garlic, orange zest, thyme, rosemary, fennel) for a bright, festive flavor.

Roast for juiciness, not pulled pork

A common mistake is to treat fresh ham like pork shoulder and heat it until tender. Don’t do it. This cut does not have the same connective tissue to withstand high final temperatures. If you take it to 160°F or higher, it dries quickly. Instead, roast low and slow until the meat reaches about 130°F, then finish with a high-heat glaze step to bring it to about 140°F before resting. As it rests, the residual heat pushes it to a final internal temperature of about 150-155°F – perfectly cooked, still juicy, no longer pink.

Add a sweet glaze, but not too soon

The glaze – maple syrup, bourbon, Dijon, black pepper – is only applied at the end, once the meat is almost cooked. Any sooner, and it would burn; later, and he wouldn’t have time to take it. This two-step glazing creates a lacquered and burnished surface without compromising tenderness.

Serve the ham

Once the ham has rested, cutting is simple. Cut across the grain into neat 1/4-inch pieces and transfer to a dish. Whatever you do, if there is any juice left, don’t throw it away. Roasted oranges under the ham flavor the cooking juices with a subtle citrus heat, and pouring this liquid over the sliced ​​meat just before serving adds moisture and brightness.