How to Carve a Ham at the Table
Get the attention of your guests by serving a large bone-in ham standing up in the middle of large serving platter, fully decorated with pineapple rings, maraschino cherries and angel flake coconut. Treating your guests to the visual delight of the whole ham makes it necessary to carve the ham at the table. Carving the ham is also an impressive sight when it is done confidently and quickly by making a few basic cuts that allow you to serve uniformly cut slices to each guest. Accomplish this while harvesting all of the usable meat on the bone without creating a lot of scraps. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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1
Arrange the ham on a large serving platter. Place the platter on the table with the fat side up and the shank end to the right of the carver.
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2
Create a base for the ham to rest upon by stabilizing it with a fork. Carve enough slices from the thin side of the ham for it to sit solidly. Do this by cutting parallel along the length of the ham with a sharp carving knife to create a flat surface. Set the slices aside to serve later.
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3
Set the ham on the flat surface you just created. Insert the fork, holding the ham securely, and slide the knife down the shank bone toward the bulk of the ham, approximately 3 inches.
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4
Remove the knife and make a cut straight down on the ham at the end of the cut just made along the shank bone. Take away this wedge-shaped piece to create a space that makes the ham easier to slice and remove from the bone.
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5
Begin at the small end of the ham where the wedge was just removed and slice straight down to the leg bone. Continue cutting slices down the length of the ham.
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6
Lay the knife on top of the leg bone and slice along the bone releasing the ham slices from it. This system leaves the slices of ham sitting on the bone ready to serve.
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7
Turn the ham on one side and cut at a 45 degree angle to the bone to remove the remainder of the meat. Turn the ham on the other side and repeat the process.
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Tips & Warnings
Save the ham bone to make soup or stock and to season beans.
Trim small pieces of ham from the bone to heat and use as toppings for baked potatoes, salads or other dishes.
Freeze the unused ham for another day's meal or refrigerate it and use within three days.
Do not store a whole ham for longer than four days under refrigeration.
Do not cook a whole ham that is not fully thawed.
Thaw a whole ham to under 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
References
- Photo Credit Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
