Using Cooking Bags - Baked Ham Recipe

Baked Ham Recipe

With ham being a traditional delicacy during Christmas and Easter holidays it is important to spare time to learn how to cook it well for juicy and hot servings. Every year I try out different ham recipes and this year was no different. I tried this and I must say that the results were an excellent dish that my whole family loved. Well here it is and I would recommend this recipe to anyone as it is simple.

The recipe below is for fully cooked ham and we are just warming it by baking and adding flavour to it.

Ingredients
10 pounds whole smoked ham (fully cooked)
4 cups of water
Cooking bag
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup mustard
½ cup whole cloves
11/2 tablespoons of flour

Method

- Remove any excess fat from the ham and make cuts of ¼ inch deep across the rounded skin side of the ham.
- Mix the cinnamon, brown sugar and mustard in a large bowl.
- Coat the flour in the large cooking bag. The flour prevents bursting of the bag during the cooking process.
- Put the ham into the cooking bag and pour the spice mixture into the bag. Distribute the mixture evenly around the bag and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees F.
- Remove the ham from the marinade and layer the cloves on top with intervals of about 11/2 inch.
- Put the ham in a roaster which should be about 2 inches deep.
- Add 4 cups of water to the bag and close tightly with a nylon tie.
- Make sure to trim the ends of the bag to prevent ends from touching the oven.
- Make small slits on top the bag to allow for steam to escape when it builds and prevent the bag from bursting.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 4-5 hours, 20 minutes per pound until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F on a meat thermometer. While cooking make sure the bag is not touching the top or sides of the oven as we do not want our bag to melt and mess the ham.
- If you are using bone-in ham, make sure the thermometer is not touching the bone when taking the temperature.
- Remove the ham from the bag and pour off any excess juice.
- Let the ham rest for 15 minutes and this allows the internal temperature to rise even more.
- Carve and serve.

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Posted in: Baked,Cooking,Recipe,Using

Benefits of Using an Italian Wine Merchant

Businesses that serve wine are always on the hunt for the best Italian wine. Whether you have a restaurant or a café, run a hotel, or have a catering business, there's always the need to find the next great wine that will be able to wow your customers. You want to have the best wine, and sometimes that means that you will have to deal directly with an Italian wine merchant, or a distributor who will be able to contact them on your behalf. Buying from the local discount stores might be able to help you save a little bit of money, but the wine that you find there will often be subpar.

What Does an Italian Wine Merchant Offer?

One of the best things about dealing directly with the merchant selling the wine or a distributor who will be able to contact the wineries in Italy is the fact that you will have access to wines that other people might just not have. When it's possible to order directly from someone who has contact with the vineyard, you will be able to cut out some of the middlemen.

A problem that stems from dealing with local companies rather than the Italian wine merchant is in the realm of inventory. The local stores may not have all of the wine you need, and they might not have the type that you need. With the merchants, you will be able to know how much wine is available, and you can order it directly. Since you are ordering directly, you will also find that you can save money.

How could this help you save money? If you are buying from the local stores, you are paying more for the wine because you have to pay the store for selling it. Even when they have "discount" prices, you are paying for the overhead, shipping, employees, and more, so you really aren't saving as much as you think. When ordering directly through an Italian wine merchant, you will be able to save more. They are able to order in bulk and do not have the same expenses as the stores do. It's even cheaper than buying directly through a winery.

Going through the wine merchant rather than the vineyard also helps to save time. If you don't speak Italian, you may have some trouble when you are trying to order directly from a winery in Italy! With the merchant, he or she will act as an intermediary. You let them know what you need, and they are able to provide it to you for a better price than you might imagine.

The Right Italian Wine Merchant

It's important that you choose the right Italian wine merchant for your business. It's best if you find a company that's been doing this for a number of years, as they will have better relationships with the different wineries. It's also important that you find someone who knows wine and not only business. They need to be able to offer you a wide variety of wines from all of the different areas of Italy.

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Posted in: Benefits,Italian,Merchant,Using