How long will a glazed ham last for?

Question

How long will a glazed ham last for?

I have a ham, which I glazed.

It was in a vac pack, and does not expire for 2 months.

Since I have removed it from the vac pack, glazed and cooked it. How long will it last in the fridge?

Also what is the best way to keep it?

And how should I store the remainder in the freezer? Cut it up into steaks? Cubes? etc?

Answer 1

The official answer is generally only a few days for meat in the fridge ...

Ham can be different, as it's salt cured, so depending on the salt content can last longer without freezing it.

As for freezing it, it really depends on how you plan to use it:

• It's most convenient to cut it up in the same way that you're going to use it, so that you can just pull it and use it easily
• For maximum storage time, the less surface area (larger pieces) the better. Diced ham will get freezer burnt much faster than just bagging a 1lb chunk.
• As with freezing most meats, you want to double wrap it to prevent moisture loss (and freezer burn).

So, I'd go ahead and ask yourself how you envision using it up, and how quickly. For instance, if you think you'll make a pot of ham and black bean soup in the next month or so, go ahead and dice it now and freeze it, and you can just pull and dump it when it's time. If you like ham steaks, slice them up, wrap and freeze those -- you can always chop it up further to fold into a casserole once it's thawed, if you have to. If you have so much that you think you're going to get sick of ham and need a break, freeze it in a large chunk ... but you'll want to give it a day to defrost in the fridge so you can actually cut into it when you want to use it.