Christmas ham

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Could I ask for your most fail proof cooked ham recipes for Christmas? I would normally buy a cooked ham from the butchers but thought I’d give it a go myself. Is this something I can do a week before or just a few days?

Aldi gammon (other supermarkets are available). Tie twine round the middle then soak in cold water in a deep saucepan for 24 hours.

Two ways:

1. Slow cook in cola with added herbs. Chuck the cola liquor then finished in a 220 oven for 15 mins, OR

1. Dry off and roast on top of quartered onions in 180 oven for 90 mins, then at 220 for 15 mins. Use onions for gravy

Both delicious. The soaking to desalinate is crucial though

Good luck

DH always cooks our ham on Christmas eve, it's become a bit of a tradition. I don't know exactly what he does but it involves slicing the fat, poking in cloves and brushing on a nice coat of honey. I can't wait!

This recipe is lovely - it's says its a summery recipe, but the flavours are actually very Christmassy:

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/maple-glazed_gammon_with_52545

I second Aldi for gammon. We have had them from most large supermarkets and it's always Aldi we go back to.

Buy a smoked ham/ gammon.

Cover it with water with root veg if you like, in a large pan and simmer for two hours. Keep the water (taste in first for salt) to simmer your butter beans in as they take up the flavour.

Transfer ham to a roasting tray, cover with loose foil and roast at about 190 for an hour.

At this stage I simmer large quantities of tinned butter beans so they are soft.

Take the foil off the ham and cook for a further hour. This is medium to large ham.

The reason you boil a ham first is to remove the salt, otherwise the ham can be very salty and put many people off.

I do mine overnight in cola in a slow cooker on low. I roast the fat separately for crackling.

Most ham joints now aren't that salty so you don't really need to soak it.

Really you should follow this recipe I do it every year but I don't make the glaze as I don't like cloves etc. I actually buy a jar of ham glaze from a local supplier that is more to my taste and use that instead but otherwise the recipe is foolproof and bloody gorgeous

gammon recipe this one is my favourite...

Cook the ham in boiling water for two hours as suggested above. Take out and cool for a bit.

Score the fat at the top into diamond shapes and stuff a cloves into the middle of each diamond. Cover the whole thing in mustard, then add brown sugar over the top so it makes a lovely crust.

Bake in the oven for appropriate time (I cannot remember now, possibly 2 hours).

I have my ham soaking in a bowl of water right now! Tomorrow I will boil in a mixture of coke and stock and onions/seasoning. Then I will slice the top layer of fat off, score it, spike with cloves, brush with English mustard and honey. When it's crusty and glazed it will be finished!

Then I will put the whole ham in the freezer for boxing day. Phew!

I do the Nigella ham in ginger ale, it’s lovely.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I’ll be doing it on Monday so will let you know how I get on

This year I'm doing it in mulled cider.

I hate it in coke, it’s just not special enough for Christmas. I second the mustard one! Yum!

I usually get a big piece of unsmoked gammon from Waitrose - only place locally I can be sure to find one big enough that's UK origin and not factory farmed.
I cook it as per directions but take it out before the final 20 mins, raise the temp to 200/180 fan, strip off the rind, score the fat into diamonds with a sharp knife, cover with this glaze and return to oven for last 20 mins.

2 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp orange marmalade
50 g Demerara sugar
1/4 tsp allspice (not to be confused with mixed spice)
Mix all together and slap over the fat.

Smells delish while cooking, and always very popular.

Nigella ham in cherry coke gorgeous and fool proof as I am a crap cook

I just smother in maple and slow roast.

Boil gammon for about an hour
Put in the over smothered in a whole jar of honey for 20-30 minutes

Enjoy!

If you open the cupboard to get out the honey and find that you haven't got any (yes, I know I should have checked but we always have honey in the cupboard), then mango chutney is a good substitute

Hairy Bikers marmalade ham www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeyandmarmaladegla_93186/amp

Another vote for a) Aldi gammon and b) the coca cola method.

The Christmas ham is DH's responsibility, and he cooks it Christmas Eve. He uses Delia's recipe (easy to find online) and it's easy and always perfect.

Thank you for your suggestions. I used @GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER recipe and it looks and smells great. Yet to try it though so hopefully it will taste as good as it looks.