Bone-In Ham for 10 to 100 guests
Standard scenario: adults, average appetites, two or three sides on the table. The "at the counter" column rounds up to pieces you can actually buy.
| Guests | Cooked meat | Raw to buy | At the counter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 3.5 lb | 4.5–5.5 lb | one ~7-lb bone-in half ham (≈7 lb) |
| 20 | 6.5 lb | 9.5–11 lb | one ~11-lb bone-in half ham (≈11 lb) |
| 25 | 8.5 lb | 12–14 lb | two ~7-lb bone-in half hams (≈14 lb) |
| 50 | 16.5 lb | 24–28 lb | three ~9.5-lb bone-in half hams (≈29 lb) |
| 100 | 33 lb | 47–55 lb | five ~11-lb bone-in half hams (≈55 lb) |
The yield: raw pound ≠ served pound
A bone-in half ham loses the bone and a modest reheat shrink: about 65% of label weight ends up on plates. The bone then owes you soup.
Buying bone-in ham: what to look for
Nearly every ham at the store is fully cooked and wet-cured — you’re reheating and glazing, not cooking. Shank-end halves carve prettier; butt-end halves yield a bit more meat. Skip spiral-cut if you’re double-smoking (the slices dry at the edges); buy whole and carve after.
Frequently asked questions
How much bone-in ham per person?
⅓ lb of cooked bone-in ham per adult when two or three sides share the table, ½ lb for hearty appetites or a meat-centered meal; kids about half. Since bone-in ham keeps only 60–70% of its raw weight, that's roughly 0.47–0.55 lb raw per adult.
How much bone-in ham for 20 people?
About 9.5–11 lb raw for 20 adults with a normal spread of sides — at the counter, one ~11-lb bone-in half ham (≈11 lb). Scale with the chart above or the calculator for your exact crowd.
Why buy so much more raw bone-in ham than you serve?
A bone-in half ham loses the bone and a modest reheat shrink: about 65% of label weight ends up on plates. The bone then owes you soup.
What internal temperature is bone-in ham safe at?
A fully cooked ham only needs reheating to 140°F (165°F if the label says "cook before eating" — rare, but check). Doneness details and hour-per-pound charts are on the bone-in ham cook-time page.
What is a "double-smoked" ham?
Store hams are already cured and smoked once at the plant. Running one through your smoker to 140°F with a glaze — the second smoke — adds fresh smoke flavor and a burnished crust, and takes only 2–3 hours for a half ham.