What's a holiday without ham? Better yet, what's life without ham? We weighed reviews, cost,
and quality for 13 popular brands of spiral sliced ham. Here's how they stack up, from worst to best.
Market Pantry is one of Target's house brands, and their ham is the cheapest on our list by
far at about $1 per pound. This hickory smoked ham isn't made with heritage pork,
and Target doesn't make any claims about how long it's smoked, but for that price,
you can't expect the ham's whole life story. It might seem like an obvious buy at this low price,
but Market Pantry ham is a classic example of the cheapest option not always being the best value.
A cheap ham is only worthwhile if you can eat it,
and many of the Market Pantry spiral ham's user reviews characterize it as way too
salty. Some people just gave up on their hams entirely and threw them in the trash,
while others reported some success by soaking the ham to leach out some of the salt before cooking.
If you truly can't afford anything else, you might be able to find a way to make Market
Pantry ham taste good, but a couple extra dollars per pound will get you a much better product.
The brand name of this ham is a little bit confusing,
as anyone can make a honey-baked ham, but in this case, we're talking specifically
about hams from the Honey Baked Ham Company. They tout their bone-in,
spiral-cut half-hams as being made with more care than its competitors' products; its hams
are smoked for as long as a full day before being coated in the company's signature sugary glaze.
"It takes us countless hours to achieve the perfect ham."
You certainly can't dismiss how easy these hams are to prepare — the company recommends setting
it out and serving at room temperature. And yet customer reviews for Honey Baked hams vary widely.
On the one hand, plenty of people praise the juiciness and flavor of the company's product.
Many families make Honey Baked a crucial part of their annual holiday celebrations.
On the other hand, some consumers question whether the quality of the
product is worth the price. The brand's reviews on Amazon have
complaints about bad customer service and a perceived recent drop in quality.
Cook's makes a few hickory-smoked hams with different glazes. The brand is actually under the
Smithfield umbrella, so you can expect that its hams will be somewhat similar to Smithfield ones.
Commenters on Houzz forums praised the quality of Cook's hams, pointing out the flavor and
consistency, although one commenter thought their ham had degraded in quality and was
much too salty. Even so, Cook's seems like a decent option for a budget-conscious ham.
Smithfield makes a couple of varieties of spiral-sliced ham: Hickory smoked and brown sugar.
Both are smoked and come with packets of sweet ham glaze. They're also a good value. Depending
on your location and the time of year, you can usually grab them for a bit over $2.00 a pound.
Customers have given them good reviews, with the brown sugar flavor earning more acclaim
than the hickory. Positive reviews focus on the ease of preparation — Smithfield hams simply
have to be heated in the oven and spread with the glaze that comes in the packet. Satisfied
customers also pointed to the high level of quality Smithfield delivers for a low price.
On the other hand, negative reviews of the Smithfield Hickory Smoked ham claimed a variety of
defects. Some said the ham was dry after cooking, while others complained it was too fatty. Still,
others said the ham either lacked flavor or outright tasted bad. If you're unlucky,
you may buy an example that's improperly cut. Overall, it seems like Smithfield has some
problems with consistency, but when the company is on its A-game, it makes a tasty product.
Most of the spiral-cut hams on this list are bone-in. The bone makes the ham look impressive,
and it's great for making soup after you've eaten all the meat.
"Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato, baby you got a stew going."
"Yes, that's fine."
But that big bone right down the center of the ham definitely makes it harder to carve
and serve. Nueske's offers bone-in hams, but the company also has a boneless option,
which is nice. You can also buy smaller quantities of ham from the company, which is
good for when you're only feeding a few people — bone-in hams tend to be at least 8 pounds,
while the smallest boneless Nueske's ham is a more manageable 3 pounds. Nueske's hams are
applewood smoked and come pre-glazed, so they're ready to serve once they reach room temperature.
While Nueske's hams have positive reviews on average, there are some dissatisfied
customers as well. Some people complain that the meat is dry, overly fatty, too sweet,
or lacking in glaze. In contrast, the people who had good experiences really loved Nueske's
product, declaring it to be moist and delicious. Nueske's smokes in batches
using traditional methods, so there are bound to be a few inconsistencies in the final product.
"We actually build our smokehouses from scratch, and we have a very
old-fashioned method. Everything is smoked 24 hours or more over the actual logs."
Boar's Head may be better known for deli meats than for festive meal centerpieces,
but the company's spiral sliced, applewood smoked, uncured ham is a surprisingly decent option for
a small holiday dinner. At just 3 pounds, this boneless ham won't feed a huge crowd,
but it's perfect for feeding a more intimate gathering. The price is right,
too — depending on season and location, it'll cost between $20 and $30.
Reviews are a bit thin on the ground for this ham,
but the ones that are out there are good. As one delighted customer said:
"It's a tasty piece of ham. Delicious. I have tasted many delicious pieces of ham,
and this apple wood smoked ham is the best ham."
"It's flavorful. It's juicy. It's well prepared. It's a universal truth:
That's effin' good ham, dad."
In the battle of warehouse store hams, Member's Mark, the Sam's Club house brand, comes in a close
second to Kirkland. One area where it wins over Costco's generic ham is the price — usually under
$3 a pound, there aren't many cheaper ham brands out there. However, while most people seemed to
enjoy Sam's Club ham as well, the people who didn't like it had very bad things to say.
Multiple customer reviews said that this ham was so bad that they threw it away rather than
eating it. A couple of customers mentioned that the ham they bought seemed spoiled
too. These types of reviews are by far in the minority; however — at the time of this video,
the vast majority of the reviews are five stars. Lots of people remark on how well
this ham is sliced, and consumers love how good it is for the price. If value
is your main concern when shopping for ham, it's hard to beat Member's Mark.
Costco shoppers will be happy to know that the warehouse store's private-label brand makes a
decent, value-friendly ham. The consensus on Reddit is that Kirkland spiral ham is tasty,
though perhaps not as delicious as the more expensive name-brand options. Costco ham is
a pretty good deal, usually a little over $4 a pound. It should be noted, however,
that cost almost is the same as what name brands like Smithfield and Cook's cost in
regular grocery stores, so price-wise, it's not exactly the slam-dunk you might expect.
You can typically find a couple of different spiral hams from Kirkland, including an
applewood-smoked variety with honey glaze and a hickory-smoked one. The hickory ham comes with a
packet of glaze granules that you have to mix with water and cook on the stove, making it slightly
more labor-intensive than some of the other hams on this list. It's well-trimmed, so there's not a
lot of excess fat, but it is quite salty. Overall, it's worth picking up if you're a Costco devotee.
While you're buying a box of pears from Harry & David for someone on your gift list,
you can also pick up a spiral-cut ham. Harry & David sells either a 7.5 to 8.5-pound piece of
ham for $120 or an entire 13 to 18-pound ham for $220. Regardless of what size you buy,
it comes with a glaze you can pour on top if you'd
like — honey for the smaller ham and spiced brown sugar for the big one.
"I'm pretty sure they were invented to make life easier."
As you would expect from the brand, it seems like many people buy these hams as gifts rather than
for themselves, but the reviews from people who did actually purchase their own Harry & David
hams are overwhelmingly positive. People enjoyed the glaze as well as the taste of the meat itself,
which shines through without being overwhelmed by salt or smoke. However, this brand loses some
points for selling at a high price point without sharing much about how the product
is made. Harry & David ham is smoked twice and manufactured without extra water or liquid smoke,
but we don't know what kind of pork it's made out of or how long it's smoked.
Omaha Steaks sells much more than just steaks these days. Its spiral-sliced
ham is a high-caliber item, with solid customer reviews.
Some brands of ham are pumped with extra water to add juice, but Omaha Steaks doesn't resort
to this kind of cheating. Its ham is also smoked over actual wood. Overall,
the product is similar in style to Honey Baked — it comes pre-coated in a crunchy
sugar glaze and can be served simply thawed, with no heating necessary.
One particularly effusive customer wrote:
"This was one of the most delicious hams I've ever had. And it was HUGE!"
A couple of reviews pointed out how useful the leftovers of this ham were for making soup,
sandwiches, and more after the festive meal was done. One area of concern is the price.
At the moment, if you buy another item from Omaha Steaks along with the ham,
the ham is half-off, but at full retail price, an 8-pound ham is $160, more than most other brands.
Carando is another Smithfield-owned ham brand. Like its Smithfield sibling, Cook's,
it produces hickory smoked hams with packets of glaze. Unlike Cook's, it appears that the
glaze stays the same while the ham itself changes depending on what variety you buy;
there's a regular hickory smoked and a hickory smoked honey cured variety;
both come with the brand's signature crunchy glaze, which is primarily composed of sugar,
brown sugar, and water. "You can brush this on the
ham and put it right into the oven and let it get all crispy and caramelized and beautiful."
Carando has the most consistently good reviews of any of the Smithfield family of ham brands.
Both varieties have almost universally positive user reviews. People love Carando ham's tender,
juicy texture and flavor. The plain hickory smoked leans toward smoky, salty,
and savory flavors, while the honey cured is a little sweeter. Like the other Smithfield brands,
Carando ham is on the cheaper side; it costs about $4 a pound. Since Carando
has the least hate online, it's our top pick of the Smithfield options.
Tender Belly advertises its ham as coming from heritage pig breeds raised without the use of
crates, which will appeal to consumers who are concerned about animal welfare.
Tender Belly actually smokes its ham rather than using liquid smoke, and it's packaged
with a delicious-sounding glaze made with sugar, honey powder, pineapple, and spices.
"You're gonna have to marry that ham, you get any more familiar with it."
This ham doesn't have as many user reviews as other hams on this list,
but they make up in quality what they lack in quantity — every single one is
a perfect five out of five. The extra water in the recipe may actually be a good thing,
as juiciness is mentioned over and over again in the reviews.
People also enjoy the moderate amount of salt in this ham. At $90,
this ham's price is comparable to many of the other premium mail-order hams.
D'Artagnan is known for selling high-class pantry items, so it's no surprise that its spiral-cut ham
is on the fancier side. It's made with Berkshire pork, a British heritage breed. In addition to
starting with premium meat, D'Artagnan's ham isn't treated with nitrates and is applewood-smoked.
This attention to detail seems to serve D'Artagnan well, as most of the customer
reviews for this ham are raves. Customers praise the meat's juiciness and flavor,
and several describe it as the best ham ever. And it's not even that expensive — at around
$100 for an 8-pound ham, its price is comparable to many other brands
that aren't made with heritage pork. For that reason, we're picking it as our top choice.