My father in-law is not a big fan of turkey and makes his love of ham at the holidays well-known. Honestly, I can relate. After spending much of the summer and fall testing turkey recipes, I'm ready for something different come November. So we started adding a ham to the family Thanksgiving menu about five years ago, but as the host (and cook), I ran into a problem: How can I season and heat a ham while the turkey is hogging all the oven time? Slow cooker ham is the solution!

Since most holiday hams come fully baked, all I have to do is load it into the slow cooker in the morning to have ham in time for lunch. As another bonus? The slow cooker can be set to warm, so the ham stays moist while we wait for that one sister-in-law who is always late.

Why a Slow Cooker Honey Ham Is the Best Ham for Thanksgiving

Spiral-cut ham isn't something I've always loved. The glaze can be overly sweet, and the texture of the meat can be unpleasantly chewy. This recipe avoids both pitfalls with a custom not-too-sweet glaze and a slow cooker method. The low, slow heat of the slow cooker gently braises the ham, making it the most tender you'll ever eat.

Beyond how much better a slow cooker ham is than an oven-baked ham, cooking the ham in the slow cooker eliminates some of the challenges of serving a ham alongside your Thanksgiving turkey or holiday roast.

3 Reasons Why a Slow Cooker Ham Is Better

1. No need for oven space.
2. No need to baste or brush; you can set it and forget it.
3. Makes a more tender ham.

Buying the Right Ham for the Slow Cooker

Whole spiral-cut hams are most famously known from the Honey Baked Hams brand, but this type of ham can also be found in almost every major grocery store or at your local butcher. City hams, as they are also known, are a leg of pork that's cured and sometimes smoked before being cooked and spiral-cut.

Look for a spiral-cut ham that is fully cooked (it must be labeled as such) and has the bone in. Butt-end hams tend to fit into slow cookers more readily, but their bone is a little trickier to slice around. Consider the size of your slow cooker when shopping for your ham. A 10-pound ham is as big as you can go for a six-quart slow cooker.

Learn more: A Complete Guide to Buying Holiday Ham

Making a Glaze for the Slow Cooker Ham

The glaze is an opportunity to add considerable flavor and texture to the ham, so we suggest making your own. I find a mixture of brown sugar, honey, mustard, and cloves hits all the sweet, warm, and tangy flavors that are familiar and comforting on ham. Plus, these ingredients thicken as they cook, making a sticky-sweet sauce to spoon over the slices when serving.

Want to try something different? 5 Easy, 3-Ingredient Glazes for Ham

Slow Cooker Honey-Glazed Ham: Watch the Video