HAM COOKING TEMPERATURE CHART

Ham cooking temperature chart

Whether it be for Thanksgiving day, Christmas, a regular lunch, or just a snack, the delicate flavor of ham goes well with any setup. Ham can be enjoyed in several ways and can be used as a main dish or to enhance your dinner table. The term ham is used to identify as a leg cut of pork that can either be cured and cooked or sold as fresh ham. In cooking this type of pork cut, you may need to use different cooking temperatures to hit the right cooking spot. To make sure that you cook your ham correctly and perfect your ham cooking game, use a ham cooking temperature chart.

Ham can come from any portion of the pig's leg and can be sold bone-in or boneless, cut or whole, fresh or cured, and can come from different portions of the leg. These types of ham can vary the cooking temperature and time combination to achieve a fully cooked ham and their maximum flavor. Each meal served with ham must also be safe in addition to being delicious. As such, the correct internal temperature must be precisely met at all times using a clean food thermometer and ham cooking temperature chart.

Learn how to properly cook different types of ham in this article and get your own ham cooking temperature chart for free.

What is a ham cooking temperature chart?

A ham cooking temperature chart is a document used as a visual aid for cooking ham. It contains information on the correct internal temperature, approximate cooking time, and type of pork cut the ham is. This Different parts of a pork leg require different cooking times. For example, a picnic shoulder ham will require a longer ham cooking time than a cut from the butt portion. This is because the should part of a pig has more muscle and less fat, making it a tougher part. A ham cooking temperature has this information sorted out for you. It also contains information on the recommended cooking weight for oven cooking. 

Additionally, a ham cooking temperature chart provides information on the proper cooking temperature and time combination for smoked uncooked ham, smoked cooked ham, fresh ham, and country ham. Cooking ham thoroughly from the surface to its innermost portion at the correct internal temperature is required to inactivate the potentially present harmful bacteria. Most hams are associated with the pathogens Trichinella spiralis, Staphylococcus aureus, and mold contamination. These pathogens are associated with foodborne illnesses caused by consuming undercooked ham. In fact, the standards established by the United States Department of Agriculture on what temperature is pork done are based on the minimum requirements to kill the parasite T.spiralis.

Who needs a ham cooking temperature chart? 

A ham cooking temperature chart can be used by restaurants serving ham. It can also be used by butcher shops offering different types of ham as well as deli meat shops. Stores can use this cooking temperature chart to serve as a cooking guide for interested consumers. Through a ham cooking temperature chart, food handlers will have an idea on how to answer questions about how long to cook a ham and the appropriate hame cooking time.

What are the benefits of a ham cooking temperature chart?

Properly cooking ham, even if it has been preserved and precooked, ensures that your consumers are safe from any gastrointestinal illness. Since ham can be bought whole, this means that a thick piece of ham would require a bit of time to thoroughly cook. As such, you would need your trusty digital thermometer, and your ham cooking temperature chart.

Using a ham cooking temperature chart also gives you the following benefits:

• Reminder. There are many types of ham available in the market. When buying ham from a supplier, you need to know which part of the pork leg it came from. After that, the next thing to identify is at what internal temperature should it be cooked and for how long cook a ham. With all these types of ham, you can use a ham cooking temperature chart as a reminder of the proper cooking parameters of your food. Cook ham correctly based on the origin and weight with accuracy and precision using a meat thermometer and a cooking temperature chart. 
• Ensure food safety. Cooking ham to the right internal temperature also means rendering the food item safe for consumption. Trichinella spiralis, a parasite most commonly associated with raw meat or undercooked pork, is a common problem with ham cooking. This parasite can cause any foodborne illness and can harm public safety. Luckily, it can be killed easily with the correct pork cooking temperature. Use a ham cooking temperature chart to ensure that the ham you serve in a restaurant or your food establishment is safe for consumption.
• Training for food handlers. A ham cooking temperature chart can also serve as a training guide for food handlers. There is absolutely no reason for food handlers to memorize the values for the correct cooking temperature of ham. They can always refer to a ham cooking temperature chart and build their skills in ham cooking. This guide also introduces the importance of properly cooking ham using the correct internal temperature and timing. It can be used to orient food handlers on the difference between boneless ham cooking time from bone-in. Additionally, it also introduced the proper cooking technique for country hams which needs soaking in warm water at least 24 hours before cooking.
• Inform consumers. This chart can be used as a guide for consumers buying ham in butcher shops and deli meat stores. They can use this as a reference on how to properly cook different types of ham and make them safe for consumption. Because can be bought as fresh or cooked, consumers must know how to cook or reheat them at home.

A ham cooking temperature chart can be used in several ways. It does not only ensure that delicious and well-cooked ham is served to your customers, but it also protects public health. Meat from any origin requires a particular cooking time and temperature to make them safe for consumption. For meats such as beef, lamb, venison, poultry, and seafood, try using a cooking temperature chart to guide you when cooking. Some meats can be enjoyed undercooked safely such as beef which can be consumed as rare doneness. In such cases, provide a consumer advisory for the awareness of your consumers.

How to create a ham cooking temperature chart?

Aside from information such as the correct temperature for cooking ham and the average of minutes per pound (or hours per pound) required, there are other factors that need to be considered when making a ham cooking temperature chart. To ensure that adequate food safety is applied, your ham cooking temperature chart must have the following characteristics:

• Accurate. Your ham cooking temperature chart is used to guide food handlers in your restaurant. As such, all information in your cooking chart must be accurate and factual. Use information from scientific articles and food safety agency reports. This information will ensure that the products you will be producing will be safe for consumption and will not cause harm to public health. Make sure that the information is complete as well. Include conditions for cooking smoked cooked hams, fresh hams, uncooked country hams, and cooked country hams.
• Updated. Food agencies base the information that they release for ham cooking temperature guidelines based on established time-temperature combinations to inactivate dangerous bacteria and parasites. There are several combinations to choose from. As such, food agencies regularly standardize this information to make it easier for food businesses to comply. Make sure to check for any updates on the cooking process for ham released by your local food agency.
• Clear. The parameters for cooking ham depend on the product's weight, origin, and if it has a bone in it. As such, you could expect that your ham cooking temperature chart will be a bit crowded. Make sure that the values are not mixed up nor are hard to read. Insert grids between the values and the type of ham to help your food workers identify the proper cooking temperature and time for your ham.
• Easily understood. In addition to being clear, a ham cooking temperature chart must be easy to understand. This tool can be used by deli meat shops and butcher shops to help guide consumers. As such, you cannot put very technical terms which can be easily misunderstood by others. Use pork cut names that are common to consumers, and make sure that the values you use are in the proper format based on your location.

Making a ham cooking temperature chart requires extensive information about how to cook different types of ham. All key elements in making an effective ham cooking temperature chart must be considered. Luckily, we provide a ready-made and free ham cooking chart template. Ensure the safety of your ham cooking operations by using our free template and a digital cooking thermometer. At FoodDocs, we have compiled some of the most important cooking charts, checklists, and posters for posters at our HACCP plan template hub. The best part about these templates is that they are completely free!

People also ask:

What temperature should ham be when cooked?

• Hams must be cooked to an internal cooking temperature of 145 °F and allowed to rest for three minutes for carryover cooking from the residual heat.

How long and what temperature do you cook a fully cooked ham?

• Reheat fully cooked ham at 140 °F for products bought from USDA-inspected plants and 165°F. The cooking time will depend on the type of ham and the weight of your product. Refer to a ham cooking temperature chart for information.

Do you cook ham at 325 °F or 350 °F?

• Hams should be thoroughly cooked with a heat source and a temperature heat setting of 325 °F.

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A restaurant may specialize in a certain type of dish but it is most likely to serve an array of selections. Each dish will require a different cooking temperature and must be closely monitored to ensure food safety. As such, you will be required to create several monitoring forms, charts, and checklists to ensure that all parameters and cooking procedures are followed. Your office will be stacked with tons of monitoring forms in no time!

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