Beer and Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

Ingredients

• 500ml good quality, full-bodied beer
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 75ml sherry vinegar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Pasture Fed Free Range Ham

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. To make the glaze, add all the ingredients to a saucepan and place over a medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, and reduce by about half until it starts to thicken slightly. Remove from the heat and reserve.
3. While the glaze reduces, prepare the ham. Remove the skin, and score the remaining layer of fat with a sharp knife in a crisscross pattern. This will help it to render properly and for the glaze to seep down to the meat.
4. Place the ham on a rack in a roasting tray, and pour in a cup or two of water to cover the bottom of the tray. This helps to keep the meat moist, and also stops the glaze from burning to the bottom of the pan.
5. Baste the ham with the glaze. At first, the glaze won’t cover the meat particularly well, but don’t worry – eventually this will build up to a sticky glaze. I use a pastry brush as it makes it easy to paint on the glaze and get a good coverage – but you can also use a spoon.
6. Place the ham in the preheated oven, and set a timer for 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes, remove the ham from the oven and baste well with the glaze.
7. Continue to glaze and bake the ham for 1-1.5 hours, until sticky and warmed through. Leave to rest for half an hour before carving.