Just tossed my christmas ham bone in the soup pot yesterday. I had green peas in my hand but a craving for lentil soup took hold and so lentils it is. I was so hungry for soup I ate almost two quarts between lunch and dinner.... ahh heaven (good thing I was working alone). Last week it was bean soup made with kidney beans and black beans.... with some fresh cayenne peppers. It turns our gray and funny looking because lots of people at work ask me what the hal is that. I don't care it has a hearty smokey peppery taste I like. The slime would probably be bacterial growth. Far as I know it won't hurt you. Beef often has it if stored awhile. Bad bacteria stink like rot... no danger you will accidentally eat it. As noted in a previous post you can just rinse it off. As for my ham... a chunk of lean stuff for sandwiches, the bone in the soup pot yesterday, and fattier chunks went into the freezer for soup later. About 10 pounds of ham in the freezer right now which will be all used up by the end of March. : ) lyra

I am not going to bake it and will sprinkle the sugar mix on each package before wrapping. Mostly, the ham will get cut up into bite sized pieces and fried as a topping for greens or eggs (for Dad). My new love is fried ham and greens, I could eat this everyday. The goodness of the kale, turnip or chard is balancing out the unhealthiness of the ham so I'm even, lol! Love 15 bean soup cooked with a ham bone, the bone is the prize of the ham!

Thanks flwrs! And Cj - Knowing you both had success with using the roaster is reassuring. I use a brown sugar and bourbon glaze and I don�t think anyone will notice the ham isn�t very brown. My biggest worry is that the ham is only 8 pounds and might get too dry. I promise to use my electronic thermometer. Fori, I don�t think I could talk my DH into grilling. Our current forecast is: "Snow beginning around midnight tonight and ending around noon (CST) Friday with 2-4" in most places. Isolated higher amounts are possible near the 5-6" range." He might grill for us if we only get 2 more inches � more than that and you could probably hear him laugh all the way to your house. Beuhl, I am intrigued by the thought of using the slow cooker. I have an older one that has a metal container that sits on a griddle style base. I know the ham would fit nicely in there. I wonder if the glaze would do better in the roaster or the slow cooker. The instruction booklet has been missing for years. As I remember it was only 3 or 4 thin pages with very little real info. Cindy, may I have your apricot, mustard and honey glaze recipe. I promise to wrap that ham in foil before baking. It sounds delicious! I think my brown sugar and bourbon would stick tight to the foil and everyone would be tearing off bits of foil so they could lick the glaze off. I see you are due for a high of 52 degrees tomorrow. I do miss South Carolina winters!! Here in my part of Iowa we are promised a high of 20 tomorrow, which really isn�t too bad. (My southern bones can�t believe I�m saying that.) Northcarolina, I use my roaster to cook 15 to 18 pounds of pork (I also use boston butt) for BBQ all the time. The next time I�m making a smaller amount I will try the slow cooker. Hmmm � New Year�s BBQ. I think I will try your sage and sugar combination with my spices. I have been wanting something with sage lately. I love the aroma of sage cooking. Jakabedy, I like cooking a big turkey in the roaster because it does seem cook up more moist than in the oven. But my old Panasonic convection microwave cooked a very moist turkey in half the time. Thank you all for taking time to reassure me. May all your holiday meals be wonderful!

I looooooooove the clovey bits, they're the best part. I've also used apple juice on a ham when I didn't have pineapple, and it was good. Our hams come with the skin still on. If yours does, cut around the shank and carefully peel off the skin (so the skin is still on the shank end), leaving the fat intact, then score the fat (not all the way through) in a criss-cross pattern.