Trying something new-to-me today — I’m preparing ham and rice slow cooker style!
While I’ve baked plenty of hams, during the past week I thought about how I wanted to prepare the one in my fridge. Lately I’ve been busy up-to-my-ears and I wanted something that would be Low Hassle. Then it occurred to me — I should be able to slow cook a ham (read: DUH!). I posted the idea on my Facebook profile and of course other folks have done this before. Doing it, I’m told, is simple — put the ham in the slow cooker, add about a pint of water, and cook it on low for about 8 hours and then it falls off the bone!
(WARNING – SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION in 3… 2… 1…)
WOW — that’s practically identical to my Slow Cooker Pulled Pork featured in my soon-to-be-published ***FIRST RECIPE BOOK***!
I got started about three hours ago. The ham was big enough I had to cut bits off and fit it between my 2 regular-size cookers. When it’s done I plan to clean the meat — getting rid of the fat, bone, etc. The friend who said she prepares ham this way sounded like she shreds it, too. My original thought was that at this point I would add a glaze for flavour, as I would BBQ sauce to my Pulled Pork, and re-cook it on high for 30-60 minutes — but folks who replied said that wouldn’t be necessary. So I think I’ll keep it simple for this first time around.
As for the rice, I’m doing my mom’s trick in my small cooker — usual 2-1 ratio of water to rice and let it go all day (note that this cooker only cooks on one temp which I believe is high). Believe it or not I think this is the first time I’ve all 3 of my slow cookers going at once!
UPDATE – My mom said she does 1-1 water & rice and cooks for 1 hour. I did 2-1 and cooked for close to 4 hours. It came out sticky but … well, I got lucky. Results may vary, experiment, you’ll find out what works for you.
All that and some french-cut green beans … yeah, I think I’m going to have a nice dinner for the next number of nights — not bad for a single guy! (*Read my follow-up to this experiment here.*)
Lastly, I realized a LOL lately…
Slow Cooker = Easy-Bake Oven for Adults
Life of a bagpiping budding recipe book author — it has a certain quirky romance to it, but in reality it can be a juggle … well, on top of fixing a truck, contributing to finish building a house, and helping to support one’s parents. Since late last year I’ve had to prioritize these things — and shift my priorities depending on the week! 
The last 3 days I’ve been on a St. Patrick’s Day tour playing Celtic-rock both with 
Some Additional Writing and Final Editing – This book has required an extra year due to my hard drive crashing when I was nearly ready to publish in January 2017. Suffice to say, I’ve learned the hard way, 
