How long to cook a ham, by weight and cut
2 hr 30 min to 3 hr
In the oven at 2:00 pm to serve at 5:00 pm: 3 hr.
Pounds, with decimals or fractions — 14.5 or 14 1/2. Kilograms work too.
A 10 lb fully cooked bone-in whole ham needs 2 hr 30 min to 3 hr at 325 °F, to 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant).
Source: USDA FSIS, Hams and Food Safety, read Oct 1, 2026.
Minutes per pound from the USDA FSIS timetable for cooking ham, by what the label says: a fully cooked ham is only reheated, while cook-before-eating and fresh hams are cooked through. Dinner at 5:00 pm with a 10 lb fully cooked bone-in whole ham means the oven at 2:00 pm, counting the top of the range and the rest.
How the time is worked out
- Oven at 325 °F for every cut on the chart.
- Cook-before-eating and fresh hams: 145 °F on a food thermometer before leaving the oven, then at least 3 minutes of rest, counted into the oven time.
- Fully cooked hams: reheat to 140 °F if packaged in a USDA-inspected plant, and to 165 °F for any other.
- Minutes per pound times the weight, rounded to 5 minutes; the oven time uses the top of the range.
- Each row's weight band is the one FSIS lists for that cut; outside it the same minutes per pound apply and the calculator says so.
- Country ham is soaked and boiled, not roasted: it is on the chart and not in the calculator.
USDA FSIS chart: timetable for cooking ham
Oven at 325 °F. Minutes per pound by cut, with the weight band each row covers and the temperature to reach.
| Cut | Weight | Minutes per lb | Done at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoked ham, cook-before-eating | |||
| Whole, bone in | 10 to 14 lb | 18 to 20 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Half, bone in | 5 to 7 lb | 22 to 25 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Shank or butt portion, bone in | 3 to 4 lb | 35 to 40 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Arm picnic shoulder, boneless | 5 to 8 lb | 30 to 35 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Shoulder roll (butt), boneless | 2 to 4 lb | 35 to 40 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Smoked ham, cooked | |||
| Whole, bone in | 10 to 14 lb | 15 to 18 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Half, bone in | 5 to 7 lb | 18 to 24 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Arm picnic shoulder, boneless | 5 to 8 lb | 25 to 30 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Canned ham, boneless | 3 to 10 lb | 15 to 20 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Vacuum packed, boneless | 6 to 12 lb | 10 to 15 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Spiral cut, whole or half | 7 to 9 lb | 10 to 18 | 140 °F (165 °F if not packaged in a USDA-inspected plant) |
| Fresh ham, uncooked | |||
| Whole leg, bone in | 12 to 16 lb | 22 to 26 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Whole leg, boneless | 10 to 14 lb | 24 to 28 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Half, bone in | 5 to 8 lb | 35 to 40 | 145 °F, rest 3 min |
| Country ham | |||
| Soaked and boiled | Whole or half | Soak 4 to 12 hours in refrigerator. Cover with water and boil 20 to 25 minutes per pound. Drain, glaze and brown at 400°F for 15 minutes. | Boiled, then browned 15 minutes at 400 °F |
Ham cooking time by weight, for the common cuts
325 °F oven. Each column is one row of the FSIS chart; the band it was written for is in the chart above.
| Weight | Cooked | Spiral-cut | Cook-before-eating | Fresh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 lb | 1¼–1½ hr | 50 min–1½ hr | 1½ hr–1 hr 40 min | 1 hr 50 min–2 hr 10 min |
| 6 lb | 1½ hr–1 hr 50 min | 1 hr–1 hr 50 min | 1 hr 50 min–2 hr | 2 hr 10 min–2 hr 35 min |
| 7 lb | 1¾ hr–2 hr 5 min | 1 hr 10 min–2 hr 5 min | 2 hr 5 min–2 hr 20 min | 2 hr 35 min–3 hr |
| 8 lb | 2 hr–2 hr 25 min | 1 hr 20 min–2 hr 25 min | 2 hr 25 min–2 hr 40 min | 2 hr 55 min–3½ hr |
| 9 lb | 2¼ hr–2 hr 40 min | 1½ hr–2 hr 40 min | 2 hr 40 min–3 hr | 3 hr 20 min–3 hr 55 min |
| 10 lb | 2½–3 hr | 1 hr 40 min–3 hr | 3 hr–3 hr 20 min | 3 hr 40 min–4 hr 20 min |
| 12 lb | 3 hr–3 hr 35 min | 2 hr–3 hr 35 min | 3 hr 35 min–4 hr | 4 hr 25 min–5 hr 10 min |
| 14 lb | 3½ hr–4 hr 10 min | 2 hr 20 min–4 hr 10 min | 4 hr 10 min–4 hr 40 min | 5 hr 10 min–6 hr 5 min |
Where these numbers come from
The chart is USDA FSIS, Hams and Food Safety (fsis.usda.gov), read on October 1, 2026; FSIS last updated that page on January 15, 2025. What this page takes from it: Timetable for cooking ham: minutes per pound at 325 °F by cut (cook-before-eating, cooked, fresh, country), with 145 °F plus 3 minutes of rest, or 140 °F and 165 °F for reheating. The figures are copied as printed; the calculator multiplies by your weight, rounds to 5 minutes and counts back from your serving time.
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