How to Cook Country Ham in Air Fryer?

Who can resist a country ham glazed with their favorite sauce? We are here with another easy peasy recipe for you that involves an air fryer. This time, it was country ham in the air fryer. We will share some fantastic ham cooking recipes, glazes, tips to cook a delicious country ham, and much more. I guess it’s time to start the hum party.

What’s a Ham, and what is so Different about Country Ham?

Ham is a word that originates from the German language. It is an ancient practice to preserve meat exercised by the old southern Americans when refrigerators were not even thought to be invented. In this method, the meat was left to dry for weeks or months by wrapping it with soil, spices, and sugars.

Country hams are cured hams that are native to the American South. Unlike city hams, country hams are more widely available and loved in the United States. Country hams are cured through a long and slow process which yields a highly storage-resistant ham with a very complex flavor that is salty and out of the world at the same time. Country hams are usually available through a boutique butcher, or people make special orders. However, some consumers prefer to order them directly through butchers in the American South, which are their original makers and deliver authentic, irresistible taste.

Before Cooking a Country Ham

An unopened country ham does not require to be refrigerated since the curing and aging process of the meat stabilizes it. But wait, it is not edible yet. A country ham directly from a butchers boutique requires consumers to do the following process.

• First, scrape the outer layer off the ham to remove surface salt and mold that arises during the meat’s curing process.
• Next, the ham must be soaked in fresh cold water for up to 30 hours to draw the salt out. Keep changing the water. This is necessary, or the ham will be unpalatable.
• The ham can then be baked, boiled, or air-fried as per choice.
• Many companies produce ready-to-eat country ham for consumers who do not want to or have no time to go through the preparation process of ham.

Points to be Noted

Here are some insightful chunks that might help you before you throw a ham party at your house.

• Do soak the ham slices for up to 30 minutes before cooking. This will help remove some of the salty taste.
• Make sure that ham is extremely dry before you start cooking.
• Do not add salt unless you taste it before adding it.
• Use a spatula to straighten the curved ham and hold it down.
• Start with a large piece because the ham will shrink while it’s cooking.
• Country ham slices are thin in size; you must have several cooked slices to serve per person.

So now comes the part where we are sharing some recipes to air-fry country ham. We will share some easy glaze recipes and a fantastic pineapple resin glaze to be served with ham. So brace yourself and be ready to air fry everybody’s favorite country hams. Let’s work on the ham first.

Preparing the Country Ham

This is a step-by-step guide to prepare ham before air frying and guidelines on air frying the ham.

• Pick the ham according to the size of your air fryer.
• Now cut the ham into ¾ slices. Do not cut halfway down; let the slices remain intact at the bottom to avoid crumbling the slices.
• Mix the melted butter, garlic cloves, honey, garlic powder, black pepper, and whisk all the ingredients well in a bowl. You can use brown sugar too to glaze the ham.
• Spray a small amount of oil on a pan that can fit into the air fryer
• Now place the ham into the pan and pour the prepared honey glaze on top of it and in between the slices. Remember, do not pour all the glaze at once; make two to three portions of prepared glaze to be used in different spells.

Now cover the top of the pan with foil, and the ham is ready to air fry.

Air Frying the Ham

• In the first phase, air fry the ham for 20 minutes at the temperature of 300F.
• Then open the foils, pour the leftover glaze on top, re-cover the ham, and air fry again for twenty minutes.
• If you see smoke coming out of the fryer, quickly stop the air fryer. This can be due to the melting of the fat of the ham that hits the coils near the fan on top because of air circulation. The fryer emits smoke then. To avoid this, always put a piece of bread or some amount of water below the basket.
• Now, remove the top of the foil, set the temperature to 360F, and air fry for 5 minutes to give the ham a crispy exterior.
• Again, pour some glaze and cook for another two minutes
• Once the fryer rings the bell, let the ham inside the basket for 5-10 minutes so that the inner sides can soak the aroma and flavor thoroughly.
• Serve with the glaze floating at the bottom of the dish with each serving.

Pineapple Raisin Sauce

This is a delicious sauce you can serve with country ham. Try this sweet and savory sauce and impress your guests. The best part is, it can be prepared in just fifteen minutes. Note the ingredients.

• Corn starch four teaspoons
• Pineapple juice 2-6ounce
• can crushed pineapple 1-20 ounce
• Brown sugar 1 cup
• Dijon mustard 2 tsp
• Ground garlic cloves ½ teaspoon
• Ground ginger ½ teaspoon
• Raisins 1 cup

In a bowl, mix cornstarch and the amount of pineapple required to make a slurry liquid. Mix all the other ingredients in a pan and bring them to boil on low flame. Now add the slurry mixture and cook until the sauce gets thickened. Remove from heat and serve over air-fried hams.

Bottom line

If you want to have a perfect country ham for dinner or party, follow the guidelines mentioned above and keep impressing the guests with your excellent cooking.