Most hams come precooked and can be eaten straight away (check the label), but a glazed ham looks gorgeous and has a lovely touch of extra flavour. And it is so delicious when it comes straight from the oven, warmed through and served as a centrepiece for dinner, or simply with mustard, chutneys and bread.

Glazing your own ham is easy just following a few simple steps. It will take about 30 minutes to glaze the ham or 2 hours to heat through a precooked whole ham (around 9kg) if you want to serve it warm.

You can buy hams with the bone in, which I prefer, or Champagne style – partially boned, but leaving the knuckle as a handle for carving. Or you can buy half hams.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

With a sharp knife, cut through the skin around the bone about 6cm from the end. Do this in a pattern if you can, such as zigzag. Then carefully slice under the rind of the ham at the underside and carefully slide your fingers between the rind and fat layer. The rind will come away easily but can tear so work slowly, gently forcing your fingertips between the layers. You need to retain as much fat as possible for scoring. This can be done with a small knife, but may result in an uneven, cut-up surface.

Using a sharp knife, score the fat in diagonal lines 3cm apart and just down to the flesh. Repeat from the other side of the ham to create a diamond pattern. Place the ham in a large baking dish.

Heating
If you want to serve your precooked ham warm, you need to keep it moist while heating by basting. It will take about 600ml of liquid such as beer (stout is great), orange or apple juice or cider. Reserve a little liquid to use in the glaze. Pour the rest over the ham. Place in the oven and bake for about 2 hours, basting every 20 minutes.

Glazing
For a glaze you need to have a mixture that has the consistency of golden syrup. Sugar is important to give a caramelised finish and taste, so in theory you could just spread on honey or maple syrup, but it’s best to cut the sweetness with other flavours.

I use a basic mixture of 1 cup brown sugar combined with enough liquid (beer, fruit juice, cider) to make a paste, then flavour it with grated ginger, orange zest, mustard or mustard powder and ground spices. You can also decorate the ham at this point. Traditional favourites are a whole clove in the centre of each scored diamond or thin slices of orange or pineapple.

Remove the ham from the oven (if you have been heating it) and carefully smear the scored fat all over with the glaze. Return to the oven and bake for a further 30 minutes or until golden, basting halfway through. Remove the ham from the oven and place on a ham stand on a platter.

Carving
If you have a Champagne ham you can place it on a platter and carve from the base up.

If you have a bone-in ham, cut a triangular wedge out of the top of the ham close to the knuckle and parallel to the platter. Remove the wedge from the ham and begin carving thin slices towards the bone, removing the slices as you go. As you work down the ham make sure you cut all the way around the bone, always slicing parallel to the plate.

Storing
The best way to store leftover ham is refrigerated in a ham bag or under a clean tea towel rinsed out every day or two in warm water and vinegar.