Recipe: Roasting Ham, Fresh and Smoked - Times and Temperatures

Is the ham smoked, or is it fresh (also called "green")? Is it a whole ham, or part of one? These are considerations to take in account.
My mom roasted green ham each Christmas, and her guideline was a half hour per pound. It was always succulent and completely done.

The table in my basic cookbook says to allow 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours for a whole fresh ham weighing between 10 and 14 pounds. The internal temperature of the meat (the most important consideration, by far) should be 185 degrees F. By their calculations that would be 27-33 minutes per pound.

For smoked pork, they say 3 1/2 to 4 hours for the same size ham, internal temperature of 160 degrees F. That comes to 17 to 21 minutes per pound.

My best advice is to use an instant read thermometer to determine when the meat is done. There will be less undercooking or overcooking when using the precision of this useful cooking tool.