Instructions

1. After removing any packaging, soak the ham in water for about 24 hours, or as your butcher advises. Once soaked remove the ham and place it, fat side up, onto a roasting tray
2. Cover the ham with foil, allowing enough space for air to circulate between the ham and foil.
3. Transfer into a hot oven and bake at 180ᵒC. Like all meat, the basic rule of “twenty minutes per pound of meat and twenty minutes extra” applies. Or, in new money, forty five minutes per kilogram and an extra twenty minutes at the end.
4. Once the meat is cooked, expect to see a puddle of meat juices in the base of the tin. (For me, this is a huge bonus and I use this as the base for a divine pea and ham soup!)
5. Remove the ham onto a meat board and gently remove the outer layer of fat. If you notice that, even in patches, the fat doesn’t come away easily, it is a sign that your meat may not be fully cooked so return it to the oven for a further twenty minutes.
6. Once the outer layer of fat is removed, use a sharp knife to score the inner layer of fat in parallel lines an inch apart, and repeat at a 90 degree angle so as to create a chequer board design on the ham fat.
7. Rub or paint mustard over the fat layer on the ham and follow by sprinkling the brown sugar generously over the mustard layer. Use your hand to press the sugar so it attaches fully to the mustard.
8. Pierce a whole clove into the centre of each of the chequer board squares on the surface and place the ham onto a baking tray to return to the oven for a few minutes until the sugar starts to bubble and caramelise.
9. Remove and rest before carving.