Alton Brown's City Ham

Total Time: 5 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 5 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 7 -8 lbs city-style brined ham, hock end
• 1/4 cup brown mustard
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 ounce bourbon (poured into a spritz bottle)
• 2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 250 degrees f.
• 2 remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly.
• 3 place ham, cut side down, in a roasting pan.
• 4 using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting, score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut.
• 5 (if you are using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and first few layers of fat).
• 6 rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across.
• 7 once you have made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise.
• 8 the aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham.
• 9 (don't worry too much about precision here.) tent the ham with heave duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130 degrees f.
• 10 remove and use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat that come off with them.
• 11 heat oven to 350 degrees f.
• 12 dab dry with paper towels, then brush on a liberal coat of mustard, using either a basting brush or a clean point brush (clean--as in never-touched paint).
• 13 sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated.
• 14 spritz this layer lightly with bourbon, then loosely pack on as much of the crushed cookies as you can. note: a small empty spray bottle from the drug store is perfect.
• 15 insert the thermometer (don't use the old hole) and return to the oven (uncovered).
• 16 cook until interior temperature reaches 140 degrees f, approximately 1 hour.
• 17 let the roast rest for 1/2 hour before carving.