Does everyone on here boil it first to get rid of the saltiness?

This thread inspired me and I have cooked a yummy ham this week with honey poured over it for last 20 mins - just delish!

@ Wallace

Oops!

An addition to Nice Ham For Dummies:

Once you have mastered the art of cooking the ham, you could go further. Yes.

Mix two big spoons of honey with two big spoons of wholegrain mustard.

Slather over ham.

Place in belting hot oven for 10 mins. (On a tin-foiled tray or you'll never get it off your tray.)

Bingo! Honey and Mustard NICE Ham.

sphil - I really want to know the answer to your question too! We eat a lot of ham and I'm always debating which type to get. Is ham cut off the bone at the deli counter as good as this home made stuff - I'm presuming its better than pre packaged stuff. Please does anyone know???

i prefer the unsmoked.....

served still warm with buttered new potatoes and salad

yummmmmmmmm!

Wow this is exciting

I have not yet tried out my Ham Plans but I am very keen to do so

should it be smoked hamor normal ham? which is better?

Put a gammon joint in a casserole dish and add a large tin of pineapple rings(in natural juice).Add water to bring the level up to 1/2 way up meat) I put 1 pineapple ring on top the gammon and the rest i break up so they lie flat around meat.

Note: The smaller the casserole dish the better...as if too big you need to add more water to get the level right... i have slow cooked it in just juice overnight- and it had fallen apart when i checked it in the morning!!!!)


I personally am very wasteful....and throw away most of the pineapple when cooked...the top ring is lovely...the rest too salty!
(but i buy the cheapest value tin of pineapple ...you don't have to by the luxury ones!)

I just googled "gammon joint to make own ham" and mumsnet was the second thing to come up

Noisy - I have one issue with your ham for dummies instructions.

You forgot "Take out of plastic before cooking"

I MADE NICE HAM!!!!!! And it was amazing!!! I am now a total, total convert and will never buy the pre-packed stuff again. It was so easy! I had a piece which was 1.1 kg, and I boiled it for an hour or so as per packet instructions then roasted it for an hour. I also made a glaze from mixing mustard and honey together and DH pronounced it the nicest thing he had ever eaten. [smug domestic goddess]

Well haven't you all got a lovely
gm free, outdoor reared, organic, drug free, free range, rspca approved rare breed piggy out in your field ready to be sliced !

You could go the whole hog [arf] and slaughter your own pig too.

Nice Ham would be a good topic for a webchat

Some sort of waitrose Pig Expert

It would be interesting both about the cooking / slicing / freezing and animal welfare side of things

I cook a gammon joint for 'nice ham' for sandwiches every week.

I cook it in the slow cooker.

Loobylolly I've been doing this for months. Stick the frozen meat on the bread cut and wrap as usual. It is always fine by lunchtime...DH usually has a sandwich about 10.30 and he says they are alright by then (They are made about 7-8 am).
And no-one has been ill.

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/apr/04/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

just to up the ante....

This sounds brilliant, have been meaning to get round to this for ages and will definitely go for it now.

One question for you guys who are freezing the sliced cooked meat e.g. for sandwiches - i thought meat had to be properly reheated after being frozen, can you really just let it defrost by lunchtime? that would be a genius timesaver...

ItsAllaBitNoisy - nice ham for muppets - that's great, thankyou . Am very tempted to go shopping today . Mmmmm. THis time tomorrow I could be eating my very own nice ham. DH will be dead impressed.

Noisy, that was just what i needed, thank you! Going to make this on Sunday so will report back.

Try your butcher. I got a 1.1kg lump of gammon for £2.99 yesterday. Did 5 of us a ploughmans for tea, butties today and there is some more in the freezer.

To answer WriggleJiggle Any meat works. Even with a bone in if you hand carve it.

And Knpeppa Look at the price of a packet of sliced ham and check the weight. Then find out how much a chunk of gammon costs and work it out.

Even if you buy the processed stuff (and I'm including beef etc) that is pumped full of water and god knows what else the cost isn't too much more.
In my local asda 2 slices of roast beef cost about £2 on the deli counter. I can get a small joint for about a fiver and get enough for a few days

It might be a bit more effort, but it tastes so much better.
Come on...when did you last find sliced lamb in the supermarket? Lamb butties...bit of mint sauce when you cook it....dribble smiley...and roast pork...try it with a bit of apple sauce. Oh joy!

Everything (beef, ham, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey) has frozen fine.

*Nice Ham For Dummies:*

Go to butcher/supermarket.

Buy a piece of Ham/Gammon.

About a kilo+.

It is round, wrapped in plastic, cost about £5.

Stick 2 inches of water in bottom of slow cooker. Put in Ham overnight on low.

Slice.

Eat a kilo of Ham for breakfast.

1.2kg for 5 plus sandwiches! I was looking at ham in the supermarket (yes I know I know - but the local butcher is all mass produced imported stuff too) and the biggest ones they had cost about £12 and would probably have done for a meal and maybe 2 days of sandwiches (at a push) [ponders]

I think the Nigella ham in cherry coke is really good. We have that lots here.

FAQ - There are five of us and I have a 1.2kg ham this week which will be enough for a meal and lots of sandwiches.

I think I'll start another thread - see if anyone knows

On the subject of slicing it - I suggest an electric knife. They're not expensive.

I got one recently and it's excellent for ham and also roast joints.

I did this, being a good mum <polishes halo> but both DSs refused to eat it more than once. They preferred plastic, thin, definitely-not-nice ham.

And as for Nigella's ham cooked in Coke, I've never tasted or smelt anything so vile in all my life. Hideous.

I'd also like to know that sphil

Isn't the stock bad as it's full of nitrates?

Bump - does anyone know the answer to my question?

Lady - what size ham do you buy? and how many people is that feeding (for lunch and for sandwiches?)

I would like to know the answer to that too. My DS2 loves all processed meat, salami, ham, sausages, etc and I do try to restrict it and buy good quality, but its still processed and still has 'stuff' added.

On the subject of ham - you know how we're always being told to eat less processed meat because of link with bowel cancer? Does nice ham cooked at home count as processed meat? Is it the sodium nitrate or whatever in packet ham that's the baddie?

I also have the same question about Nice Sausages! (ie. from farm shop, no preservatives or fillers).

lol foxy, it's been discussed many times on here, no one has yet reported enjoying that bogging black bean soup.

my mother's old trick with soup or stock that's too salty is to peel a floury potato and bung that in while cooking and it takes up a lot of the salt. but then i steep my hams overnight before cooking so mine actually aren't that salty anyway.

and it's lentil soup every time for me. sluuuurp.

OK ham experts - you've inspired me to give it a go!
But two questions: does it actually work out cheaper cooking your own ham? Or do you do it just because it tastes better?
And, does it freeze OK? I have put packet ham in the freezer and that turns out fine.

Ahh, but Aitch Nigella has a soup which she makes with the coke/stock afterwards <boak>

It is very delicious (the ham cooked in coke, not the coke soup. The very thought of it does not appeal!)

What do you do with ham stock and is it very salty?

So what type of meat are we talking about. I need precise details here. Will any joint type meat work? i.e. leg joint, shoulder joint ... I presume you try and use one that doesn't have a bone in the middle. What about using those rolled up pieces with the stringy stuff around them?

I usually buy the 900g uncooked lumps of gammon and boil for about 1.5 hours.
I also invested in a meat slicer from argos. When the meat is cooled I slice it up then freeze the slices between greaseproof paper.
Make the kids school sandwiches in the morning with the frozen meat and it is defrosted and edible by lunchtime.

I also do beef, lamb, pork and sometimes chicken and turkey if I find some decent rolled joints.

sunday and i try not to eat it hot - am the only one who likes ham anyway. lentil soup with stock.

sharp knife and cut it straight from fridge. waitrose unsmoked doesn't need soaking.

do NOT boil it in coke. waste of good stock.

That's what I thought of Dixons!

No silly, Dixons is our local pork butchers

Thank you everyone, I will attempt this soon.

Flower3545: Dixons? Is the gammon next to the washing machines or the plasma screen TVs?!

I often buy a corner gammon joint from our local Dixons shop.

They are often very salty so it's best to soak overnight in cold water.

Next morning empty out water fill up with clean cold water then bring to the boil.

When it boils I tip out the water fill up with cold water and bring to the boil again before simmering for 20 minutes per lb.

It's a lot of fuss I know but well worth it

Oh, and on a very poncetastic note I have an electric meat slicer

I've no idea how long to roast it for. I just follow the cooking instructions on the label. Really, if I can do it anyone can. And yes, it makes damn fine nice ham for sandwiches which is why I try not to do it too often.

Noooooooo. You don't get it Soupy. It's so lovely to have a big lump of ham that you can carve off.

Oh god, just buy a packet of ham from Waitrose.

I did some on a Monday, put it in an airtight tub in the fridge, and it still smelled fine on the Sunday (that was a very restrained week or perhaps a very large bit of ham).

Can't help with cooking times I'm afraid, I usually boil it as much as it says on the packet and then stick it in a low oven for a bit for good measure.

<buys cheap ham in plastic vacuum packs>

Oooooh, I want to make a Nice Ham to pick at too. DP does not eat the meat of the pig, but I'm sure if I can get a smallish one, I can work my way through it before it goes bad.

Does anyone know how long a ham keeps for once it has been cooked?

How long do you roast it for please fox sake? I quite literally have no idea where to start, I need temperatures and timings, please!

gammon is an uncooked ham (I think that's the right way round).

I just bung it in the over and roast it. Or, you can boil it in coke a la Nigella, which is very, very nice. Did that last Christmas and keep meaning to do it again.

And don't make homemade bread with the intention to make really good sarnies. Like TheFool says, you will stand guard with a knife, and devour it with a block of butter before you know it.

LLAreggub, if you roast, does it still make Nice Ham as you would have in sandwiches?

I do feel a quite irrational need to be able to boil a ham, FF. I think I beleive that if I am able to acquire this skill my transfromation into a domestic goddess will be complete. I just need to start doing housework now...

Yes I got a bit carried away with the questions and didn't say thanks either. Just excited at the prospect of Nice Ham on a daily basis.

I don't boil; I roast. I glaze with honey or sometimes add cloves.

Um, I forgot to say either please or thank you in my post. i am very rude when it comes to matters of ham it seems.

x-post FF!

I would LOVE to know how to boil a ham but I have no idea where to start. Take me back to basics, people- where in the supermarket (Butchers smutchers I live in the middle of nowhere) would I find the ham to be boiled? Is it like a gammon joint?Is it a gammon joint? I am confused.

Then once purchased, do I need to do anything before boilin it? Do I boil it in just water or stock? How long for?

I am scared by the seemingly difficult process involved.

an associated Nice Ham related question - do you buy Gammon or Bacon joints ? and what is the difference ? I got a bacon joint at Chistmas and it wasn't very nice. And what are your tips for cooking ? sorry for hijack morningpaper but these are questions of vital importance !

Nice ham

Are you my MIL??

(TA - I have a book )

Cut chunks to eat with potatoes etc for a meal, make sure that these chinks leave you with at least one flat edge. Stand the ham on the flat edge so you can slice it as thinly as you can.

In theory slicing only as you need it would stop the nibbling of pre-cut slices, but in reality (for us at least) it would just mean that DP would make lots of knives dirty and hack at it.

I do this with cheapy gammon joints - even value ones make 'nice ham' when boiled/roasted (and I do it on whatever day early in the week I remember to do it)

I cook it on a Sunday. We have it hot for Sunday dinner and enough for sandwiches for the week. It is easy to cut thin when cold, stopping the family from eating it all on Sunday is the tricky bit. I am considering investing in a lock for the fridge.

I would be forced to stand with a knife, slice of chunks, glare at anyone who comes near me...

That isn't going to help with sandwiches etc though

If you do this, what is your weekly schedule i.e. what day do you cook it on?

And how do you slice it thin enough?

How do you eke it out and not gobble it all up?