The Kirkland Signature Spiral Sliced Ham is a well-known Costco staple and is consistently one of the most popular reviews on this site. When I saw the Costco Kirkland Signature Applewood Smoked Master Carve Ham, I wondered how it would compare to its famous sibling. Is it as good as the Kirkland Signature Spiral Sliced Ham?
Today I’m reviewing the Costco Kirkland Signature Applewood Smoked Master Carve Ham. My husband actually pointed out this product to me and suggested we try it. We’ve had the spiral sliced ham from Costco and enjoy it so we don’t explore other ham options from Costco, until now.
Other meat products from Costco are the Costco Schwartz’s Smoked Meat, Costco Olympic Craft Meats Garlic Sausage, Costco Kirkland Signature Italian Style Beef Meatballs, Costco Kirkland Signature All Beef Wieners and the Costco 44th Street Beef Pot Roast.
Location in Store
You can find this in the refrigerated deli section at Costco, near the cold cuts and cheese. The item number is 16020.
Taste
The ham smells great! As soon as I opened the package, I noticed a strong, smoky smell that I really enjoy. The ham has minimal fat on it. There’s barely any in the dish after baking it! Even though there isn’t much fat on the ham, I don’t find it dry at all. It’s not super moist though. Nearly the entire ham is good-quality edible meat. The amount of gristle and fat is negligible.
The flavor of the ham is excellent. I love the rich smokiness of the ham. It reminds me a bit of tasty bacon, but much less greasy. Even though I just baked my ham in the oven, you could have convinced me that it was cooked in a smoker or on a barbecue. It’s super flavorful.
I’d have to do side-by-side taste test, but I think I like this ham better than the classic Kirkland Signature Spiral Sliced Ham. It’s more flavorful and possibly less fatty than that ham, which I find delicious and not too fatty in the first place! I said this about that ham too, but I’m not normally a fan of ham and I think the Kirkland Signature Master Carve Ham is wonderful!
Cost
The cost is dependent on the weight of the ham you’re buying, the ham I purchased is $16.60 Canadian.
Convenience
This is extremely easy to bake! I used a glass baking dish and cooked the ham covered with aluminum foil for about an hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I used my thermometer to check the internal temperature to ensure my ham was done!
The ham comes fully cooked and is boneless as well is easy to slice! After baking the ham in the oven I was shocked at how little fat/grease was in the bottom of the baking dish.
The Costco Kirkland Signature Applewood Smoked Master Carve ham is smaller than the spiral sliced ham but you still get a ton of ham! Enough for four adults to have dinner and lots of leftovers to make things like frittata, split pea soup, ham ala king. The ham pairs well with scalloped or mashed potatoes, a side of vegetables and a salad!
Once the ham is cooked, it needs to be used within three to five days including leftovers you may have. If you’re not going to be able to finish it before five days I recommend freezing it.
The best before date on the ham is about two months from the date we purchased the ham and of course it needs to be kept refrigerated. If you’re not going to use it by the best before date I would suggest freezing it.
Nutrition
Calories
A 100 gram serving of ham is 150 calories, six grams of fat, 680 mg of sodium, three grams of carbohydrates, zero grams of fibre, three grams of sugar and 21 grams of protein. That’s quite a bit of sodium is a small serving size so if you’re watching your sodium intake you might want to eat just a small amount of ham!
Ingredients
The ingredients are ham, simple sugar and preservatives used in cooked or cured meat. Ham itself is not the healthiest meat you can eat but it does have quite a bit of protein! This ham is also gluten-free which is great for any celiac Costco shoppers.
Scoring
Taste: 9.5/10
Cost: 9/10
Convenience: 9/10 (so easy to bake)
Nutrition: 4.5/10
Overall
Must buy!
I’d definitely buy it again, though it’s much smaller than the Kirkland Signature Spiral Sliced Ham, so that’s probably still the best bet for a larger gathering (more than about six people).
Have you tried this ham from Costco? What did you think of it?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. This product was purchased by Costcuisine for the purpose of producing this review. The opinions in this review are strictly those of Costcuisine. Costcuisine is not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. In the event that Costcuisine receives compensation for a post from the manufacturer of a product or some other third party, the arrangement will be clearly disclosed (including where the manufacturer of a product provides Costcuisine with a free sample of the product).
Just discovered this delicious ham. Love it. Absolutely my ‘go to’ ham.
It’s the only ham that doesn’t make me feel thirsty the next day.
Just baked my first Kirkland ham. The flavor was not just good – it was perfect. The meat was tender and free of fat and connective tissue. The spiral cuts were complete – something I have never before experienced. I will never again buy a ham that isn’t a Kirkland. Well done, Costco!!!
hi, I always bought ham in Mexico, but they haven’t sold it at Costco for 2 years, are they not going to sell it anymore?
thanks
I love the taste of the Mastercarve Half Ham. It tastes a lot better than good deli-sliced ham and at $3.79/lb at Costco his week (5/19/23) it’s cheaper.
It seems to be having more fat than usual lately.
I cut it into 1 lb (17-17.5 oz) portions, freeze 3 in Ziploc bags, put the rest in a bag in the fridge.
To give you an idea of how much meat is actually in the ham, I bought a 5.79 lb ham (5 lb, 12.6 oz.).
I drained the water out of the bag, removed the bag and weighed the ham: 5 lb, 8 oz. Not too much water, that’s good!
I then cut up the ham trimmed the fat – leaving a trace of it rather than trim off any meat, and had to cut along some lines where there was a solid vein of fat running through it.
The resulting four bags were 17.6 oz, 17.6 oz, 17.5 oz, and 23.8 oz. That’s 76.6 oz.
That’s 4 lb 12.6 oz from a 5 lb 12.6 oz package.
So the $3.79/lb becomes $4.58/lb of fat-free, boneless ham. That’s still not bad for the quality.
I was disappointed in the ham as it was so salty that I could not eat it. Does anyone have a recommendation of how to get the saltiness out of the ham?
I purchased the ham several months ago. I froze it 5 days after the expiration. Is it still good?
Yes; these dates are an approximation of the date when a product might not be “fresh” but it doesn’t mean it is spoiled by that date.
Best ham ever, easy breezy to prepare, add a glaze toward end of suggested cooking time delish!!! Just enough ham for 2-4 people. Great price point, froze well. Would recommend to friends an family!!!
I love this ham. It’s just my husband and I so it’s the perfect size for us. It’s great for holiday meals because there’s enough for the main meal, left overs and then a myriad of soups and dishes. If it’s non-holiday I portion it out and freeze it for soups and such.
Sorry for an error spell check. This is a correction
If you compare the chopped and formed hams that are pressed…it is a far far better price…and this is the real deal!
This has to be the best ham on the market. The taste is what ham used to be like many years ago. The price is second to none! If you compare the chopped and formed hams great are pressed…it is a far far better price…and this is the real deal! Slicing it as is, is my favourite way to eat it. It would be awesome with scalloped potatoes!
These days quality goes out the window and the price goes up!
Thank you Costco for a great product.
Best ham ever! I initially warm it up on a gas grill with wood chips for extra flavor and leftovers are warmed up in the oven or pan fried for breakfast. When I pan fry it it gets the gorgeous caramelization on it. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it for over a month. Have they discontinued it?
It’s so good!
Costco is no longer selling this ham!!! I miss it!!!!! why!!!! will it return to Austin???? Was told it is no longer being ordered……
Oh no! Hopefully for Christmas or Easter!
I bought this exact ham for xmas 2022 and am eating it right now
I bought it, the 4 lb. “Half Ham” version, in Dec. ’22 or Jan. ’23 in a Costco south of Baltimore, MD.
It’s incredibly good – great taste and not salty.
We use this ham all the time. I do not cook it just slice it for sandwiches. If it is large I cut it in half and freeze the other half. It keeps longer than 5 days in the fridge, even if sliced.
The ham to me…looks too lean, especially if it requires heating up again to 350 degrees. The high sodium content would be a problem for me. But a good/complete review just the same.
No offence but how can Ham be to lean! If you wanted to be juicy or just marinated in some thing when you’re cooking it!