Daddy's Hoisin Slow Cooked Ham

By Daddy

With an exotic sweet and mildly spicy taste, this recipe is a easy way to cook a spiral cut ham using a 6 quart slow cooker. It's also an easy way to create ham stock which makes a good base for several recipes including "split pea" and "ham and bean" soups. Since I use a slow cooker it doesn't heat up the kitchen near as nearly as much and frees up the oven for other things.

Every year just about the Holiday season I find "Spiral Cut Half Hams" at an irresistible price after Thanksgiving and Christmas. I end up with enough meat to last a week or two for multiple dishes. This year I cooked my Ham using my slow cooker which proved to be really simple.

Shopping

The shopping list is really easy and inexpensive:

• Bottle of Hoisin Sauce
• Spiral Cut Half Ham

• Two Carrots
• Two Stalks of Celery
• Large Onion
• Bulb of Garlic

The hams arrive at the store frozen, so I let mine thaw out in the bottom of the refrigerator for about a week. I leave the onion and garlic out on the counter, and put the carrots and celery in the vegetable drawer for the making the stock.

Cooking The Ham

I start by taking the Ham out of its wrapping over the sink to release the excess water. I put it on the cutting board with the flat side down. Using a cooking brush I coat the ham with the Hoisin Sauce.

I put the ham flat side down in the crock pot with just enough water to cover the bottom of the crock pot. I set the crock pot on low and check it a couple times an hour. This year the ham was too tall to put the cover on so I made an aluminum foil hat on the crock pot and put the lid on that.

I use a meat thermometer and wait for the internal temperature to reach 145° which should take 2-3 hours. once it's heated, I put it on a cutting board on it's side and let it rest for about 5 minutes. I set the crock pot to "Warm" to keep the drippings liquid.

Storing

To refridgerate the ham I use several Ziploc Gallon Bags. I cut as close to the bone to free the ham in as big of pieces as I can, these go into the first bag. The spiral cut doesn't go to the end of the ham so the that end isn't cut, those chunks go into a second bag. The third bag get the scraps that didn't go into either of the other bags. The ham bone goes back into the crock pot.

Cooking The Stock

First I add enough water (usually about 2-3 quarts) to the crock pot to just cover the ham bone. Then I cut the vegetables into about 1 inch chucks and smash four or so of the cloves of garlic. I add the vegetables to the crock pot, cover and cook on the low setting overnight.

I use a colander and bowl to remove the now used up vegetables, meat bits, and ham bones from the stock which will have turned into a beautiful dark brown. I then use a strainer to strain out the leftover little bits from the stock into Ziplock quart containers and put in the refrigerator.

After a few hours a layer of congealed fat will have formed at the top of the stock. I use the strainer again to remove the fat layer and once again store into the quart containers. If I plan to use the stock within the week, I leave the stock in the refrigerator. Otherwise I store it in the back of the freezer where it'll be good for six months.