Step 1

First start off by choosing a really high quality ham. I love to use a bone-in spiral ham; the bone provides tons of flavor that a boneless ham just can't compete with. You want a ham that is fully cooked and labeled as smoked.

Step 2

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and place the oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven.

Step 3

Unwrap your beautiful ham and remove all the netting and shrink wrap. Often they have a little ham glaze packet sealed inside. Toss it in the trash with gusto, we have bigger plans for this ham. Sometimes there is a little plastic cap over the bone, take it off.

Step 4

Place your ham flat-side down on the roasting rack in your roasting pan. (If you don’t have a roasting pan, set a metal cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet.) You don’t want your ham getting all soggy sitting in those juices.

Step 5

Make the honey glaze. In a small bowl, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 1 tablespoon dijon mustard. Add in 1/3 cup honey. Stir it together until it's deliciously syrupy.

Step 6

Use your hands to massage the honey mixture into the ham all over, top to bottom, side to side. Work it in between the spiral cuts. It's okay if some of the mixture drips into the bottom of your pan. Scoop it up and slap it back on the ham as best you can.

Step 7

Add about a cup of water to the bottom of your roasting pan. Cover your ham and the pan completely with foil.

Step 8

Bake at 325 for about 2 hours and 20 minutes, or about 20 minutes per pound of ham. (You can also slow cook it! See recipe notes for details.) The internal temperature should be about 140 degrees F. Remember, your ham is already cooked, so this measurement is just to make sure it's heated all the way through.

Step 9

Let your ham cool outside of the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Leave the foil on the ham so it doesn't dry out.

Step 10

Make the dry rub. In a bowl, combine 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar and the spices: 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice.

Step 11

Pour half of the sugar mixture (about 3/4 cup) into a rimmed baking sheet.

Step 12

Add the other half to a small saucepan and set aside.

Step 13

Uncover your ham. If the edges of the ham are not very moist, brush with pan juices. Use hot pads to transfer the ham to the pan with the sugar. Roll the ham (not the flat side) in the sugar, using your hands to pat on more sugar as necessary. Continue rolling and coating the ham until the sugar has created a crunchy exterior all over the ham.

Step 14

Torch. Now it's time to light up the kitchen torch! Place the flame about an inch away from the ham. Keep the torch moving continually. The flame should not stay in the same spot for any period of time. Move in small circles until the area you're working on has transformed from little grains of sugar into bubbly bits of lava. Once it's bubbly, move on to the next area. Within a minute or two, the liquid will harden into a shiny crackly shell. Continue until the entire ham has a beautiful hardened sugar coating.

Step 15

You can serve the ham right away or place it back in the oven on the "keep warm setting" (about 170 degrees F) until you are ready to serve. Cover with foil so it doesn't dry out if it's going to be more than a couple minutes.

Step 16

Meanwhile, make the serving glaze. Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar mixture to a small saucepan. If there are enough drippings in the pan, add it to a fat separator. Once the fat has risen to the top, pour about 1/3 cup ham drippings into the saucepan. (You can use 1/3 cup water if you don't have enough drippings or don't want to deal with separating fat.)

Step 17

Stir together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let the mixture boil for about 2-5 minutes, until it has thickened into a gaze consistency. Remove from heat. Serve with the ham. This mixture will eventually start to harden and caramelize; just stick it in the microwave or heat the pot on low until it has melted again.