Cherry Pineapple Slow Cooker Ham

 It seems to be all about ham when is comes to traditional Easter dinners. Ham is a cured, smoked cut of pork that can be served warm or cold. And many recipes have been invented around this cut of meat. The most popular is the ‘glazed’ ham many meat markets and grocery stores offer.  Heating an already glazed ham should be done at a low temperature so as not to cook or dry out the ham.( There is no need to ‘cook’ a ham as it is basically ready to eat once smoked).  Heating the ham, covered, at 300f for about 10-15 min per pound, is the usual recommendation.

 Of course you can always add other flavors to enhance this meat as well. Many stud their hams with whole cloves (which are removed and thrown out after cooking/heating.); or there is the ever popular ginger ale method: where one pours ginger ale ( has to be Vernors here in Mich.) over the ham, and then covers and heats ham in the ginger ale, which provides a moist flavorful environment for the ham.

But lets take it beyond the usual. Here is a recipe I recently tried because we wanted something different, and I wanted to test out using a crock pot to heat the ham. You can also use this recipe in a regular oven though.  It is a combination of recipes and does provide a rather sweet taste to the ham. Our taste testers (aka staff) gave it a thumbs up. Note: When we put the slices back into the juices it gave the ham a very pink hue…which we thought gave it a very ‘Eastery’ look.

 Cherry Pineapple Slow Cooker Ham.

4-5# Boneless ham (can also use a bone in ham)

1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries undrained

1 ( 14 oz.) can crushed pineapple undrained (*we used heavy syrup style)

1/3 C. brown sugar

¼ C. maple syrup

½ C. 7-Up ( or gingerale & more can be added)

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tps. Ground cloves

Place all of the marinade/sauce ingredients in a medium size bowl and mix together. Place ham in crock pot and pour sauce over all. Cover and cook on low for approximately 4-5 hours. Baste with juices every 15-30 min. to keep ham moist and help imbibe the flavors in it. By using the cherries AND juice a pink color happens to the ham. Crock pots differ in amount of heat so you need to check to be sure ham is heated through. Slice ham and place back in juices to add even more flavorto the ham. 

We all enjoyed this ‘fruity’ flavored ham, especially the kids who found the pink hue fun.  Some suggestions we had: slice ham before placing in crock pot being sure to rotate ham slices to it does not dry out. We think this will really add to flavoring of ham (and probably make it even more pink!). One person thought the fruit sauce could be made into a chutney, others liked it warmed up and served over the ham. We even reheated the ham the next day and it still tasted great.

 This is a recipe for those who like their ham on the sweet side If you use a glazed ham, we suggest you cut down the brown sugar. Enjoy!!

 If you are looking for a ham, Nitsches Meats & Deli www.gomeat.net  has several kinds of hams: boneless with or without glaze, or Semi-boneless with or without glaze. At holiday times we suggest you call and place an order.