Best Honey for Glazed Ham
Find the right honey for a holiday glazed ham. Learn when to apply the glaze, how to keep it from burning, and which varieties pair with mustard, brown sugar, and spice.
Quick Answer
Clover honey is the classic base for a holiday ham glaze — affordable and mild enough to combine with mustard and brown sugar without competing. Orange blossom honey cuts through a ham's saltiness with citrus brightness, buckwheat honey adds bold depth to a smoky, bone-in ham, and bourbon barrel aged honey makes a festive bourbon-honey glaze for a centerpiece holiday roast.
What to Look For
Liquid honey brushes on evenly over a scored ham and blends smoothly with mustard, brown sugar, or spices in a glaze. Honey caramelizes around 265°F but can scorch above roughly 350°F, so timing the glaze for the last stretch of a ham's oven time — rather than the whole cook — prevents burning. Because a glaze is diluted with mustard, brown sugar, or spices, a mid-range honey works just as well as an expensive specialty one; save delicate, pricier honeys for drizzling where their flavor isn't diluted.
Relevant Honey Varieties
The classic, affordable base for a holiday ham glaze — mild sweetness that blends smoothly with mustard, brown sugar, and warm spices without competing for attention.
View honey varietySimilar glazing properties to clover with a bit more floral depth, giving a holiday ham slightly more character in the glaze.
View honey varietyCitrus brightness cuts through a ham's natural saltiness, especially in a glaze that also includes orange juice or zest, cloves, and mustard.
View honey varietyBold, malty depth stands up to a smoky, bone-in ham where a lighter honey would be overpowered by the ham's own richness and any smoke flavor.
View honey varietyBourbon Barrel Aged Honey
Barrel-aged oak and vanilla notes make a natural bourbon-honey glaze for a festive, centerpiece holiday ham — pairs well with brown sugar and a splash of actual bourbon in the glaze.
How to Use
Score the ham's fat cap in a diamond pattern so the glaze can penetrate and caramelize evenly. Mix honey with Dijon mustard, brown sugar, and a pinch of ground cloves or cinnamon for a classic glaze — roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup total glaze for an 8-10 lb ham. Apply the glaze in the last 20-30 minutes of baking, basting every 10 minutes, so the honey caramelizes without burning. Keep the ham tented with foil for the earlier part of cooking and remove the foil only for the glazing stage.
What to Avoid
Don't apply a honey glaze at the very start of a long ham roast — it will blacken and turn bitter well before the ham itself is heated through. Save it for the final 20-30 minutes. Don't skip basting; glaze can slide off a smooth, unscored ham surface instead of building up a caramelized coating. Save your most delicate, expensive specialty honey for drizzling at the table rather than glazing — mustard, brown sugar, and spices dilute its distinct flavor anyway.