How to Carve a Spiral Cut Ham

Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images

Spiral-cut hams make it much faster to get the ham from a baking dish to the plate because much of the slicing is already done for you. You still need to so some carving. Spiral-cut hams are sliced thinly in a spiral pattern, while still remaining attached to the ham shank. Each slice is the size of the ham, which can be much larger than the average dinner plate. Before serving the ham, you must carve the meat from the bone and slice it into smaller pieces.

Step 1

Place the ham on a cutting board with the bone facing toward you. The bone is usually in the center of the ham or slightly off-center. If the opposite end of the ham is flat, you can stand the ham up on the cutting board with the bone facing up.

Step 2

Insert a boning knife -- a knife with a long, narrow blade and sharp tip -- in the ham between the bone and the meat. Carve all the way around the bone to separate the meat from the bone.

Step 3

Find the lines of natural separation in the ham. These are usually lines of fat to separate the meat into two to four sections.

Step 4

Insert the boning knife and cut along the separation lines to cut the large, spiral-cut slices into smaller pieces. Place the ham slices on a platter or individual plates.