Thanksgiving oven schedule

Christmas ham dinner timeline

Short answer: for dinner at 6 PM, an 8 lb spiral-sliced ham goes into a 325 °F oven at 2:36 PM. A 6 lb bone-in half ham needs the same 144 minutes, so it goes in at 2:36 PM too. Both come out at 5:00 PM, which leaves the oven free for the sides while the ham rests under foil.

A ham labeled fully cooked only needs reheating to 140 °F in the center if it was packaged in a USDA-inspected plant (165 °F for repackaged or leftover ham), so the oven is the timing problem: an 8 lb spiral ham holds it for up to 144 minutes at 325 °F, and the potatoes, the casserole and the rolls want 350 °F. Enter your ham and dinner time, and the checklist counts back from the meal.

How the timeline is built

• Heating time: the USDA "Ham and Food Safety" timetable gives 10 to 18 minutes per pound for a spiral-cut ham (7 to 9 lb) and 18 to 24 for a cooked bone-in half (5 to 7 lb), with the oven at 325 °F. The clock uses the long end; "start checking" uses the short end. The full chart by cut is on ham cooking time per pound.
• Target: 140 °F in the center for a cooked ham packaged in a USDA-inspected plant. The same sheet says 165 °F for leftover ham or a ham repackaged anywhere else.
• Foil: the sheet says to cover a spiral-sliced ham with heavy aluminum foil and heat it at 325 °F for about 10 minutes per pound. For an 8 lb ham that is about 80 minutes, the short end of the chart, which is why the thermometer check starts there.
• Glaze: Spend With Pennies, how to cook a spiral ham brushes the glaze on during the last 20 minutes and leaves the ham uncovered to finish, then rests it at least 15 minutes before cutting. The plan does the same.
• My assumptions: the ham comes out of the fridge when the oven goes on, and it may wait up to 60 minutes between oven and table under foil, so the sides can bake after it. The side times (scalloped potatoes 45 minutes, green bean casserole 35, dinner rolls 20, all at 350 °F) are example recipe times, not sourced.

The FSIS ham page refused my fetch, so the USDA figures were read from the copy of the same sheet hosted by Utah State University Extension.

Ham in, glaze and out by weight, 6 PM dinner

Every ham in this table comes out at 5:00 PM, 60 minutes before dinner, because the 350 °F sides need the oven for that stretch. Only the start moves with the weight. Rows marked with an asterisk are outside the weight band the USDA chart lists for that ham.

What time to put the ham in, by dinner time

For your 8 lb spiral-sliced ham, fully cooked. Moving dinner moves every row by the same amount, and the sides always start 15 minutes after the ham comes out, once the oven has climbed from 325 °F to 350 °F.

Why the ham comes out before the sides go in

The three sides on this menu bake at 350 °F and the ham at 325 °F. The planner gives the oven 15 minutes to change temperature and lets three dishes share it at once, so the cleanest order is ham first, then the sides together while the ham rests and you carve. With your ham, the oven goes to 350 °F at 5:00 PM, the first side goes in at 5:15 PM, and everything lands at 6:00 PM. A rested, foil-covered ham stays warm long enough to slice last.

If your sides can bake at 325 °F with a few extra minutes, or you have a second oven, the ham can come out later. My suggestion: check the ham again before serving, and if it has dropped well below 140 °F (165 °F for repackaged or leftover ham), give the slices a minute in a hot skillet instead of putting the whole ham back.

Spiral-sliced or bone-in half

• A spiral-sliced ham is cut to the bone before you buy it. The USDA sheet says these hams are best served cold, because heating sliced hams can dry out the meat and make the glaze melt and run off. Tight foil and the thermometer matter most here.
• A bone-in half that is not sliced takes more minutes per pound (18 to 24) but holds its moisture better, and you carve it at the table.
• Check the label for "cook before eating". That kind of ham needs 145 °F and a 3 minute rest, and longer times that this page does not plan; the per-pound chart covers it.

More Christmas oven timing

• Ham cooking time per pound: every cut on the USDA chart, fresh and cook-before-eating hams included.
• Turkey and ham in the same oven, if both are on the table.
• Beef Wellington Christmas timeline: the make-ahead days and the bake.
• Christmas prime rib timeline and beef tenderloin timeline for a beef main.
• Roast goose Christmas timeline and the Christmas morning casserole and cinnamon rolls.