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My mom used to always get a ham from the honey baked ham store for Christmas eve and there would never be any leftovers. It's worth it if you only buy it once a year.
I love their stuff but it is so expensive and I can't get the smaller size my small family needs. I've tried to make my own but it's just not the same.
In my opinion, good ham costs money. Cheap hams, on sale at the holidays, often have a chemical taste. They are not good.
I don't think I've ever had a ham from the honey baked store, but Costco sells an excellent ham that they just carry at Christmas time. It is not cheap, but I am sure that it is less expensive than the honey baked.
I don't like the spiral sliced hams. They dry out too easily. I want a ham that I have to slice myself. It will be moister. I also like to serve ham in a thicker slice.
I think the bone-in hams bake up better and taste better. They are harder to carve, though.
The internet is probably full of recipes for a candy glaze for ham. Personally, the idea of a candy coating on my ham doesn't have much appeal for me. It appears that a lot of people like it, though.
There is custom butcher shop here where the butcher does some great smoked meats and uses a real smoke house and not chemicals. I've not bought ham from him, but his bacon is the best ever. Maybe OP can find a custom butcher in his area that smokes? (that's the guy who kills and cuts up whole cows for the local farmers, not a shop that sells commercial meat)
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I have bought similar products from my grocery store, and it has been very good. Around the holidays, you should look into other options. At other times of the year...like I have gotten Honey Baked Ham for a cook out in the summer with the ham for sandwiches as the main event, I was happy to get the Honey Baked for a reliable result.
My sister-in-law gets one every Christmas. To me, the extra expense is not justified in the taste. But SIL's one of those people who never, ever cooks anything herself (and she buys premium name-brand everything) so she gets the HB and serves it at room temp. It never sees the inside of her oven (which I think is mostly used for storage ... I'm not being catty, she's really that way and would happily admit it). She buys most of her side dishes at Honey Baked, too, already prepared. Her mother used to cook some of their meal years ago. Now that she is gone her older children cook a few items. So I guess if you're not into cooking at all, HB is a way to be sure you'll get an acceptable main dish for the holiday table.
I bought a spiral cut ham at Costco a couple of years ago and if you blindfolded me, I couldn't have told the difference between it and my SIL's Honey Baked. But my family always complains when I get a spiral cut ham. For some weird reason most of them like really thin slices; they think the standard spiral is too thick. So now I'm getting our ham at my local supermarket (which is part of the Kroger chain). I let the butcher guide me as to what he thinks is best. I think of all that I've had since I've been in Arizona, the brand the family liked best was Farmer John's. Is that a national item or just regional? I bake it without any sugar coating. I just put some cloves in, baste it with pineapple juice, or apple cider if I have it, and roast it low and slow. I'm into cooking, I just think ham is one of those things that is better left without fancy preparation. I save that for the turkey.
I bought a spiral cut ham at Costco a couple of years ago and if you blindfolded me, I couldn't have told the difference between it and my SIL's Honey Baked. But my family always complains when I get a spiral cut ham. For some weird reason most of them like really thin slices; they think the standard spiral is too thick.
The last time that I bought a spiral cut ham from Costco, it was produced by Honey Baked Ham.
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