Reheating Ham
Michelle
02/18/09 		We are serving ham for a church dinner. We have approximately 200 lbs that will be cooked the day before and we will reheat in roasters the next day. How long will it take to reheat a roaster of ham from refrigerated temp.? Also, planning for 300 people will this be enough ham? Thanks!
ellen
02/19/09 		First, this is plenty of ham even if bone in. I assume you will be slicing it and storing it refrigerated in flat pans. Keep depth of meat to NO MORE THAN 2 inches when refrigerating, or it will not chill faster enough. Putting the flat pans in ice baths to chill done before removing them to the refrigerator or walk in is recommended.

Because the meat to be reheated is basically a solid mass and thus quite difficult to reheat through evenly, you should do no more than 25 pounds in one roaster. Yes, that is 8 roasters, and you can blow a lot of electrical fuses that way. You also need some kind of juice, broth or sauce to keep it moist while reheating.

Preheat the roasters for at least 20 minutes at 325-350. Layer in the chilled meat and heated broth or sauce. Clap the lid on and heat for at least 2 hours, keeping covered unless you are adding more pre-heated liquid. Use a quickread thermometer to check that the temp in the middle of each pan reaches at least 165, and as soon as it is, turn roaster down to 185. It will hold several hours.

Michelle
02/19/09 		Thanks so much for the advice!! Your site is a wonderful resource. We had planned on using pineapple juice to keep it moist while reheating. Will that work?
ellen
02/19/09 		Yes, or chicken broth, ginger ale or Coke/Pepsi!

You will see some places where it says to reheat to 135. This ONLY applies to hams purchased fully cooked that you are heating for the first time at home!!! If you cook it yourself and reheat, you must go to 165.