To carve a ham, cut the meat away from the bone in large boneless pieces, lay each piece on its flat side, and slice it across the grain. That works for a whole bone-in ham, a shank half, and a butt half. A spiral-sliced ham is already cut, so the job is freeing the slices from the bone: cut around the bone with a paring knife, then cut along it to release the slices.
A whole ham has only three bones to work around, according to Frick's Quality Meats: the shank at one end, the femur through the middle, and the angled aitch bone in the butt. Once you know where they sit, carving is a matter of cutting along them rather than through them.
This guide covers which hams need cooking and which only need warming, the temperatures to check, how to carve each kind of ham, and how long the leftovers keep. The food safety numbers come from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
What You'll Need
- A carving board with a juice groove: A whole ham weighs 10 pounds or more and gives off juice and melted glaze as you cut. A carving board holds the ham and the slices and keeps the liquid in its groove.
- A long, sharp carving knife: Hempler's Foods suggests a sharp knife at least as long as the cuts you plan to make. A long blade takes slices off in smooth strokes.
- A paring knife: For a spiral-sliced ham. Cook's Illustrated uses one to cut around the bone and loosen the attached slices.
- A carving fork and an instant-read thermometer: The fork steadies the ham while you cut. The thermometer tells you the ham has reached the right temperature before you carve.
How to Carve a Ham (Bone-In, Half, and Spiral), Step by Step
Check what kind of ham you have
The label tells you. A fully cooked ham only needs warming, and the USDA says it can also be eaten cold. A cook-before-eating ham, or a fresh (uncured) ham, is raw and has to be cooked. The USDA describes spiral-cut cooked hams as safe to eat cold and notes they are often best served that way, because heating can dry out the slices and make the glaze run off.
Heat it to the right temperature
The USDA's numbers: reheat a cooked ham packaged in a USDA-inspected plant to 140°F, and heat leftover ham or ham repackaged anywhere outside the plant to 165°F. Cook a fresh ham or a cook-before-eating ham to 145°F and let it rest for at least 3 minutes. Use an oven set no lower than 325°F. For a spiral-sliced ham, the USDA says to wrap it in heavy aluminum foil and heat it at 325°F for about 10 minutes per pound.
Make a flat base
Set the ham on the carving board. For a bone-in ham, Hempler's Foods suggests cutting one or two slices off one side, running parallel to the bone, to make a flat spot so the ham sits still instead of rolling. Turn it onto that flat side.
Carve a whole bone-in ham
Frick's Quality Meats starts with the shank end to the carver's right. Find the notch where the aitch bone sits and cut down alongside it until the knife reaches the femur, the center bone. Make a second cut on the other end, just before the shank. Then cut along the femur to lift out the meat between the two cuts in one large piece.
Slice the boneless pieces across the grain
Lay the piece you removed on its flat side and slice it straight across the grain, perpendicular to where it sat against the bone. Then cut along both sides of the center bone to take off more boneless pieces and slice them the same way.
Carve a shank half or butt half
For a shank half, Frick's begins with the thicker section on top: cut along the top of the bone to loosen it, lay it carved side down, and slice across the grain. Turn what remains carved side down and take off the other large boneless sections. For a butt half, set the cut face down, carve along the bone to remove the boneless section, and slice it. To get the rest off the bone, put the fork in next to the bone and make horizontal slices toward it.
Carve a spiral-sliced ham
A spiral ham is not sliced all the way through. Cook's Illustrated lays the ham on its side and cuts around the bone with a paring knife to free the attached slices. Then it switches to a carving knife and slices horizontally above the bone to take off the whole top section. Turn the ham cut side down and slice down along the bone to remove the rest, then separate the slices. Hempler's Foods adds that you can cut along the seams, the natural breaks in the muscle, to release the slices.
Serve it, then refrigerate the leftovers
The USDA says leftovers must be refrigerated within 2 hours of cooking (1 hour if the room is above 90°F), and it advises slicing or cutting whole hams into smaller parts so they cool quickly. Its ham storage chart gives spiral-cut hams and leftovers from a ham you cooked yourself 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator or 1 to 2 months in the freezer. Reheat leftover ham to 165°F.
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ROO is a silicone mat that sits under your cutting board. It grips smooth countertops so the board never slides, and its built-in 7-cup pouch catches peels and trimmings as you cut. The Bundle includes the mat, a rubberwood board, and a reusable storage bag.
Shop the ROO Bundle →Common Mistakes to Avoid
If the knife stops, it has hit bone. Pull back and cut along the bone instead. Taking the meat off in large pieces first is easier than carving thin slices straight off the ham.
Once a boneless piece is off the bone, slice across the grain. Frick's Quality Meats notes that perpendicular slices across the grain give the most tender result.
The slices are already cut, so they dry out faster than a whole ham. The USDA's method is foil-wrapped at 325°F for about 10 minutes per pound, and it is also safe to serve cold.
The USDA's limit for perishable food at room temperature is 2 hours. Cut what is left off the bone into smaller pieces and refrigerate it.
Upgrade Your Prep Workflow: The ROO Bundle
A whole ham belongs on a carving board, which is bigger than an everyday cutting board and bigger than the ROO Mat is made for. The mat is for the prep on either side of the meal. Put it under your regular cutting board, up to 16 inches, while you zest citrus and mince garlic for the glaze and cut potatoes, green beans, and other vegetables for the sides, then again the next day when you dice the leftover ham. The mat grips the counter so the board stays put, and its built-in 7-cup pouch hangs over the edge to catch peels, trimmings, and fat as you go. It rinses clean afterward. The ROO Bundle pairs the mat with a rubberwood cutting board that fits it and a drawstring bag.
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A non-slip base and a scrap pouch for the glaze, the sides, and the leftovers.
Check out the ROO Bundle →Related Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you cut a ham with the bone in?
Make a flat base so the ham sits still, cut the meat away from the bone in large pieces, then lay each piece flat and slice it across the grain. Frick's Quality Meats starts a whole ham by cutting alongside the aitch bone down to the center bone.
How do you carve a spiral ham?
Lay it on its side, cut around the bone with a paring knife to free the slices, then cut horizontally above the bone to remove the top section. Turn the ham cut side down and slice along the bone to free the rest. That is the method Cook's Illustrated describes in its article dated April 10, 2023.
What temperature should ham be heated to?
The USDA says to reheat a cooked ham packaged in a USDA-inspected plant to 140°F, and leftover or repackaged ham to 165°F. A fresh or cook-before-eating ham must reach 145°F with a rest of at least 3 minutes.
Can you eat a spiral ham cold?
Yes. The USDA says spiral-cut cooked hams are safe to eat cold, and notes that heating sliced hams can dry out the meat.
How do you slice a boneless ham?
Hempler's Foods suggests taking a slice or two off the bottom so the ham sits flat, then cutting straight across it into slices of the thickness you want.
How long does leftover ham last?
The USDA's ham storage chart gives spiral-cut hams and leftovers from a ham you cooked yourself 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator or 1 to 2 months in the freezer. Refrigerate it within 2 hours of serving.
Find the bone, cut along it instead of through it, and slice each boneless piece across the grain on its flat side. A spiral ham needs only a paring knife around the bone and a cut along it. Either way, get the leftovers off the bone and into the fridge within 2 hours.