How to cook a gammon joint??

[AInightingale]

Briefly, two of my kids are meat eaters, I'm not, and not great with joints of meat obviously. They want a gammon joint on Christmas Day - just need some advice about how to prepare/cook it as there seem to be a million different recipes online. Son, who is going to help, mentioned honey, this sounds okay, I definitely don't want to cook it in Coca Cola or treacle or any of the weird stuff Nigella suggests. It weighs just under 1 kilo and is unsalted. Any tips gladly received - to keep it simple too.

Oh and also, can I cook it Christmas Eve and reheat the next day, or will it turn leathery?

I soak it in a pan of cold water overnight. Then refresh the water and boil it for an hour.

Then wrap it in foil and roast it for half an hour.

i woukd do the first stages on Christmas Eve and roast on Christmas Day.

I always use this recipe https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/dec/05/how-cook-perfect-christmas-ham
It does include molasses/ treacle, but I think that's pretty standard for cooking a ham!

I did one last year and just boiled it in the slow cooker which was great as it didn’t need oven space within all the other million things that did.

That actually sounds okay, @Flockameanie, minus the mustard which is loathed here - and I do have ginger wine and a tin of treacle in the cupboard.

We cook ours in slow cooker with orange juice (or Cola but you already made your feelings clear on that!).

Slow cooker. I do them all the time as it’s cheaper than buying ham etc.

i just put water in it! Or sometimes a tin of pineapple and juice

You can't taste the mustard in the final dish. I have successfully fed this to my incredibly fussy children every year!

I cook a gammon every year at Christmas, and I've tried some inventive glazes! I agree with the part boil/part oven bake - it keeps the meat moist and succulent. The easiest glaze I've ever done is by spreading pineapple jam over it when roasting. The high sugar content makes a good glaze and the pineapple goes naturally well with gammon. No need to soak an unsalted joint, the boiling first will get rid of a lot of the salt. When boiling (gently!), I chuck in some raw onion and dried bay leaves. If you want to make it look impressive, you can put some pineapple rings on it half an hour before finish, hold them in place with cocktail sticks whilst roasting.

I looked this up yesterday! 20 mins per 450g plus another 20 mins. Half the time simmering in a pan of water + whatever flavourings you have (I used a carrot, thyme, bay leaf, star anise, peppercorns). The other half in an oven at 160. For the last 20 mins, glaze with something sugary, I used honey and Dijon mustard. Very good!

Boil it for an hour and a half, add a can of cider to the water. Leave it to cool in the water overnight. Then take the rind off, add Demerara and dry mustard powder and roast for 30 minutes. My gran’s recipe, absolutely lovely 😊

A simple way would be to boil it with celery, carrot, onion and bay leaf in water. Then slather on a bit of honey and roast to glaze.

I do this one for Christmas every year - us and the kids love it

Honey-glazed ham recipe | BBC Good Food

@EverySporkIsSacred I think I am going to try doing mine in the slow cooker with Coke this year. Can I ask how much cola you add? And do you let it rest in foil once finished?

Most of the recipes I've seen tend to be for a right whopper for feeding the 5000, and yours won't need anything like as much faffing about as that. Like a pp says, boil it for an hour, roast for an hour (covered) and you can baste it with honey or whatever. I usually boil ours in half water, half fruit juice - apple, pineapple or mango. And yes, you can boil it the day before, then wrap it in foil and keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook it.

Anyone know, What is the longest you can keep it in the fridge for once boiled and roasted?

No idea officially, but we’re always eating up the big piece of gammon I cooked on 🎄Eve, well past NYE. Always fine.

@Glitterandtinsel1 DH says it needs to be at least a third covered (I'm no cook, sadly). We use one can in ours for one of those small unsmoked gammons from Asda.

That's our Boxing Day meal - love it!

F

I usually boil it until 65 and then cover in honey and bake it until it’s at 80. Usually around an hour gas mark 5. Basting regularly. Comes out super juicy and tastes amazing

@Firecarrier DP is a chef and he said about 3 days. Ours is usually gone by then so not an issue here….

Plus one for this 👆. I know you don't want the choke thing, but if you're objection is health grounds, most of the sugar breaks down into glucose and fructose which isn't ideal, but is much more readily digested by the body.

Those who use the slow cooker, on what setting and for how long please?

I was hoping to put on Christmas Day night overnight into Boxing Day then roast off in the morning but will it be in too long overnight even on low?

I also bought salted, which I’ve never done before. How long shall I soak it for?

4 hours on high, 8 hours on low is my general MO.

These all look lovely - thanks all. I bought a ham joint yesterday but didn't know I had to boil and bake. Feeling hungry already.