Roasted Fresh Ham with Maple-Spice Glaze

Instructions

Fire the oven up to 325°F (160°C). You want at least 3 inches of space between the top of your ham and the element at the top of your oven.

Put the Dickensian joint in a large sturdy roasting pan, preferably one that’s shiny enough to reflect lots of ambient heat.

Mix the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.

Smooth the spice mixture all over the ham’s external surface, working it down into some of the crevices but being careful to avoid any deep-tissue massage.

Cover the whole kit and caboodle with aluminum foil, slide it in the oven, and leave it alone for 3 1/2 hours while you go do whatever it is you do when a big, sweating hunk of meat is roasting in your oven.

Peel off the aluminum foil. Baste the ham with about half the maple syrup using a basting brush.

Continue roasting the ham, uncovered this time, basting every 15 minutes or so with more maple syrup as well as any pan drippings, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat without touching bone registers 170°F (77°C), about 1 1/4 hours more.☞ TESTER TIP: If the ham starts to singe or turn too dark, tent it loosely with foil, uncovering it at the end to get it back to crunchy-crisp.

Move the ham to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 15 minutes before carving it into slices.

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