About

A Simple Home Cook

Simple Food. Good Ideas. Great Fun.

You are here: Home / Recipes / Main Dish / Meat, Poultry, and Fish / Yummy Ham Loaf
post

Yummy Ham Loaf

by

Although it is a great way to use leftover ham,  I always made ham loaf from a “ham loaf mix” that I purchased at the meat counter at the grocery or meat store before we moved to our current home.  The mix was simply ground ham and ground pork in the correct proportions to make a ham loaf.

I now grind my own ham and add store bought ground pork in a 1 3/4 to 1 ratio.  The big advantage I have found is that I now control the leanness, etc. of the meat that goes into the loaf.  Thus, basically eliminating the odd or poor ratios sometimes found in the store purchased mixes.

Unlike many of the recipes I share, this is not my mama’s ham loaf.  Her recipe and many others call for milk to be added to the meat mix.   I do not use any milk.   I also make enough glaze that I can serve it as a sauce on top of individual slices (something I had never seen until my dad started ordering ham loaf at a Amish Country restaurant in Ohio).

: Ham Loaf

  1. 1 1/4 lb. ground ham
  2. 3/4 lb. ground pork
  3. 12 saltine crackers, crushed very fine
  4. 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  5. 1/2 tsp. ground mustard
  6. 1/2 tsp. salt
  7. 1 c. apple juice
  8. 1 c. brown sugar
  9. 1 1/2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
  10. *cinnamon, to taste (optional)
  11. *ground cloves, to taste (optional)

  1. Mix ham, pork, crackers, eggs, 1/4 tsp. mustard, salt, and 1/2 c. apple juice by hand in a large bowl.
  2. Form into a loaf and place in a baking dish.
  3. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
  4. During last 5 minutes of this cooking time, combine brown sugar, vinegar, 1/2 c. apple juice, and 1/4 tsp. mustard (and optional cinnamon and cloves, if desired).
  5. Bring mixture to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved and well incorporated.
  6. Remove ham loaf from oven, pour near boiling or boiling sauce over entire loaf using most if not all of sauce.
  7. Return loaf to oven and bake for at least an additional 15 minutes until a thermometer inserted mid-loaf reads at least 165.
  8. Sauce will reduce more in baking dish.
  9. Let rest for a couple of minutes.
  10. Slice to serve.
  11. Add sauce from dish over individual slices, if desired.

After coating entire loaf, remaining sauce may be reserved in pan and reduced on the stove top for use of individual slices instead of reducing in oven.

Quick cook or instant oats may be used instead of crackers (about 1/3 cup +/-).
Yellow processed mustard can be used instead of ground mustard powder.

In order to grind your own meat for this recipe you can use a food processor (especially if you are just grinding ham), a kitchen stand mixer grinder (what I currently use) or a hand-crank grinder (what we always used for grinding meat, etc. at my parents) or an electric version.

The grinders also work well for minced meat, ham salad, and pimento cheese. To me, they give a very different consistency than a food processor.

Here are some different ones available:





Comments

    • Hi Leesa, Although many hams would work, I tend to get a half, shoulder, or shank cut. I usually bake it to eat sliced first and then make ham loaf with what is leftover. Personally, I don’t think spiral sliced work that well because they are not as easy to grind. I never buy canned hams …so I can’t say how they would work. I have used boneless precooked ham before and it worked well. I hope you enjoy it!

  2. I used to get Ham loaf in my hometown, Coshocton, I have been in Cincinnati, a few years and they have never heard of it, Thank you for the recipe,.

Trackbacks