The Absolute Best Way To Carve A Bone-In Ham

Carving a bone-in ham can be intimidating, especially when you're the only thing standing between your guests and their dinner, and all eyes are on you. But there's a super simple carving method that takes all the guesswork, stress, and struggle out of the process (and looks pretty impressive, too).

First, look at the wide end of your ham — most of the meat is on one side of the bone, with only a little on the other. Stand your ham up so the thick end is on your cutting board, holding onto the thinner end to keep it steady, and cut a few slices off the not-so-meaty side. This creates a nice flat surface on one side of your ham to keep it stable on the cutting board while carving.

Lay your ham on the cutting board with the cut side down, and you're ready to slice. Hold your knife perpendicular to the ham bone and slice straight down until you reach the bone, then lift the knife and repeat. Start at the wide end and work toward the narrow end, leaving the slices attached to the bone. Finally, hold your knife horizontally and cut along the bone, freeing your ham slices so they're ready to serve.

All you really need to carve your ham is a sharp knife and a cutting board. The cutting board should be at least as big as the ham, so you'll have plenty of room to carve without your slices falling off onto the table. Any large, sharp knife will work, but make sure it's at least as long as your ham is wide to avoid a bunch of sawing back and forth to cut through it all. An electric knife is a little overkill (and hard to clean), but we wouldn't fault you for carving with a mini-chainsaw.

After carving the largest portion of meat, you'll be left with some still on the bone. You can flip the ham over and repeat the process on the other side, or just cut along the bone to get the remaining meat off and slice your now-boneless ham normally. Remember to save the hambone and freeze it for later use in stock, soup, or beans. And, if you have more ham than you need for your gathering (as usual), you can use the leftovers in sandwiches, pastries, casseroles, and more.