Sous Vide Easter Ham

I just got a brainstorm…Since ham is precooked and all you are doing is heating it up; why not use sous vide to maintain moisture. And since the ham I’m buying (Neuske’s) comes vacuum sealed, why not just throw it in the bath? It’s heavier plastic than I usually use, and I’m only going to maybe 120-130. Then glaze and broil to get a crust. Et Voila!

Thoughts? Has anybody tried this?

it works perfectly…and you’re spot on. sure makes timing the event easier too.

As long as the packaging allows freezing you should be safe, especially at those temperatures.

No brainer.

I wouldn’t trust that package is suitable for heating so just to be sure I would repack it to a suitable bag. Not that it would leak but the plastic may release some chemicals when heated.

I use my SV all the time to heat foods up that I don’t want or need to cook further.

How long do you think it would need to heat through as that’s a pretty large hunk of meat?

I’m going 4ish hours

What would be the danger of going longer?

How much longer? That temp is a breeding ground for bacteria, so if the outside of the ham isn’t sterile there’s increased risk. But that’s always the case with almost anything cooked souvide.

The other concern is textural changes. Four hours seems fine but longer times can do very strange and unpleasent things to other forms of protein.

I’m just looking to go the minimum time to get the center heated up. I don’t like what long sous vide does to texture so I’m a bit gun shy.

We’ve experienced same with long sous vide cook times. Haven’t experimented enough to dial it in

I’ve read up to 8 hours, so 4-5 hours would not be a problem, depending on size of Ham too.

Yeah, there’s really no point to going longer. At least from a cooking standpoint. I can’t imagine anyone would be going for the texture change. Can get it from a logistics standpoint - i.e. you’re too busy to get it in/out in a 4 hour window. But I wouldn’t think you’d go wildly over then.

Best ham I’ve ever had. It was an uncured local Berkshire. Sous vide 140 for 5.5 hours due to timing of dinner. Then rubbed with seeded mustard and brown sugar for a short glazing under the broiler. Juicy and delicious.
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Nice

Ham and egg sandwich for breakfast!

definitely would like to try this…looks great

Bump…

The ham is in the fridge. Same butcher, same technique planned.