Instant Pot Baked Ham (Tutorial)

 

This is my brother-in-law Dan about to tuck into his delicious Instant Pot Baked Ham Dinner!  I had been wanting to cook a baked ham in my instant pot for Christmas/New Years, but as you know there is only myself in my little home. 

I also wanted to try it ahead of time to make sure it worked alright. Sort of a test run. So, I asked my family (Cindy, Dan and Dad) if they wanted to be my Guinea pigs. Dad was going out to Chinese food with a friend of his, but Cindy and Dan were quite happy to step up to the plate (no pun intended.)

I had heard that "Baking" a ham in the Instant Pot was really easy and gave magnificent results, no such thing as a dry ham.  I have eaten enough dry hams in my life that this aspect of it was really appealing, and then of course the quick "cook" time was also very appealing.

In reality you are not really cooking this ham but heating it through. Ham is already cooked and needs only to be heated through. It would be perfectly safe to eat it as it is.

WHAT IS AN INSTANT POT

You may not be familiar with them, but an Instant Pot is a multi-use type of electrical appliance. It operates as a pressure-cooker, rice-cooker, slow-cooker and yogurt-maker all in one. Another name for it is a multi-cooker.

I have a 6-quart model of this one shown here. I had a very similar one in the U.K.  I am only really just learning to use mine, being inspired by my sister's use of hers.  I did a beef stew in mine a couple of weeks ago and it was lovely.

What I really love about this way of cooking is the ease and speed at which you can cook something which normally can take quite a long time. My sister has gotten very good at doing Beef Dip and Pot Roasts in hers.

I am still a bit of a novice, although I did do a tasty Bolognese Sauce in my pot in the U.K. that turned out beautiful in a fraction of the normal time it takes to cook one from scratch.

If you are looking for an appliance that can help speed things up for you in the Kitchen, I highly recommend. My experience, thus far, has been quite a good one!  They are relatively very easy to use, and quick, quick, quick.  For instance, this Ham I baked in it today took only 18 minutes of cook time plus a 15-minute natural pressure release time, but more about that later.

Let me begin by telling you the type of ham I purchased. This is a boneless spiral-cut hickory-smoked ham. It weighed 1.718 kilos, which is approximately 3.788 pounds in weight.

I had found a recipe online on a blog called A Mindful Mom. She also has a video on YouTube that you can watch.

There are several things you want to take into consideration when purchasing a ham for cooking in the Instant Pot. Most importantly, the size. You want it to be as small or as large as your Instant Pot will hold. (on the trivet)

  Also, a spiral-cut ham will cook quicker than a solid ham.  The ham I purchased fit just right in my 6-quart Instant Pot. 

Begin by inserting the trivet into your instant pot. You will also want to add 1 cup (240ml) of cold water to the pot. For an 8 Quart pot you will need 1 1/2 cups (360ml) of cold water.

You will need to make a foil sling to lift your ham in and out of the Instant pot.  It is recommended that you use heavy-duty foil for this purpose. 

Take a length of foil roughly twice the height and width of your Instant pot.  Fold it in half lengthwise and then in half again. Place it into the pot on top of the trivet so that it is flat and comes up the sides.

You will also be wrapping the ham in foil for cooking.

Take your ham out of the store wrapping and place it in the center of a large sheet of the heavy-duty foil. You want it to be large enough to come up over the ham and enclose it completely. (Discard any glaze that comes with the ham, or save it for another purpose.

 Place the ham in the foil into the Instant pot.

You will be making your own glaze/sauce to pour over the ham. Whisk together 1/2 cup (120ml) pineapple, orange, or apple juice, 1/3 cup (80ml) of liquid honey or maple syrup, and 2 TBS of soft light brown sugar until well combined.

Separate the slices of ham gently and pour this sauce over and around the ham in the foil and then when done, pull the foil up around the ham, twisting it shut, to enclose it completely.

Place the lid on top of the Instant Pot and secure as per the instructions for your own particular model. You will need to pressure cook the ham on high for 2 minutes per pound, plus an additional 10 minutes to allow for the ham being wrapped in foil.

My ham was 1.718 kg. in weight, the equivalent of 3.788 pounds.  I cooked my ham for 8 minutes plus 10 minutes for a total of 18 minutes. 

Once the cook time has finished, leave the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, and then do a quick release.  You want the ham to have an internal temperature of 145*F/62.78*C.  

(If your ham has not reached this temperature, cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes on high pressure.)

The end result is a perfectly cooked ham. Not dry in the least. You can lift the ham out and leave to rest covered in the foil while you make a delicious sauce with the drippings/juices.

This is entirely optional.  

To make the sauce, remove the trivet from the instant pot and dump out the water.  Pour the juices from the foil wrapped ham into the pot.  Place the instant pot on the sauté setting. Whisk together 1 TBS of cornstarch/corn flour into 1/4 cup (60ml) of water until smooth. Pour this into the juices in the Instant pot and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes until thickened and reduced.

We were all really pleased with how this turned out. The ham was tender and moist.  The sauce was delicious. I would highly recommend cooking in this manner!  You cannot beat the speed and ease with which you end up with a perfectly cooked and delicious baked ham.  The sauce is also delicious.

You can make it even more delicious by whisking some orange marmalade or apricot jam into the sauce and allowing it to melt.

We enjoyed our ham with scalloped potatoes, baked beans, mashed turnips and roasted Brussels sprouts.  It was delicious!

Yield: variable

Author: Marie Rayner

Instant Pot Baked Ham

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 18 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 43 Min

Cooking a ham in the instant pot has to be one of the simplest, quickest and most delicious ways to cook a ham ever! Timings are for the size of ham I cooked and will vary according to your own ham.

Ingredients

• 3-to-5-pound spiral cut baked ham
• 1 cup (240ml) to 1 1/2 cup (360ml) cold water
• Heavy duty foil

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup (120ml) pineapple, orange or apple juice
• 1/4 cup (60ml) liquid honey or maple syrup
• 2 TBS soft light brown sugar
• 1 TBS cornstarch/corn flour whisked together with 1/4 cup (60ml) water

Instructions

1. Place the trivet inside the inner pot of your pressure cooker. Pour in 1 cup (6 QT pot) to1 and ½ cups cold water (8QT pot). Place a foil sling on trivet in the pot. This makes for ease in removing the ham when done.
2. Prepare your glaze by whisking together all of the glaze ingredients, excluding the cornstarch/water slurry.
3. Place your ham on large sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Fold up sides of foil, to encase around the ham. Pop into the Instant pot on top of the sling and the trivet.
4. Using your fingers, gently separate slices of the ham so glaze can penetrate the ham slices. Pour glaze over ham and securely wrap foil around ham. Secure the foil sling around ham.
5. Place the lid on top of the Instant pot and secure/lock in place.
6. Pressure Cook on High for 2 minutes per pound plus 10 minutes to account for the foil. (If you are using thin foil, you need only add 5 minutes.)
7. Once cook time has elapsed, leave to rest for at least 15 minutes before releasing the pressure. Check the internal temperature to be sure the ham is warmed to 145*F/62.78*C. If not, cook for an additional 3-5 minutes on high pressure.
8. To make the optional glaze, remove your ham from the Instant Pot and place on a large platter, still sealed in the foil. Remove trivet from inside pressure cooker. Pour out and discard the water used to cook ham. Return the inner pot to the pressure cooker and turn the pressure cooker to the sauté function.
9. Peel back the foil slightly from the cooked Ham. Remove the Ham from the foil, set aside and keep warm, leaving the liquid inside the foil packet. Pour the cooking liquid into the pressure cooker.
10. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into cooking liquid. Cook whisking constantly until thickened and reduced. Pour over sliced ham to serve.

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