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?

Do you roast it covered in foil? Or naked?

Tempted to try the coke one this year, after 8 hours in the slow cooker, do you just transfer it to oven for 30 mins?

I did slow cooked gammon in cola yesterday and 3 cans of coke were enough to cover mine. I just turned the joint part way through cooking. Slow cooked it on high for around 6 and a half hours and then the plan was to coat it in honey and wholegrain mustard and bake it for around 25 mins. However it literally fell apart whilst removing it from the slow cooker so in the end I just halved it and did a pulled gammon with honey and mustard with one half and the other half I'll shove in the freezer for after Xmas. I never let mine rest in tinfoil but that's only because I didn't have any and by the time I realised I'd already had a few drinks so couldn't drive to the shop

I was wondering that myself,, the recipe I was looking at says a 'foil-lined' tray. Suppose the idea is that it should crisp up and bubble a bit, so no foil on top.

I do a different gammon every year for Boxing Day, my husband's family only ever eat it here, and my FIL usually takes a chunk back home with him! I'm vegetarian, so have never even eaten any of it!

General rules:

Take off the plastic film AND the greaseproof papery collar around the outside.

I use a slow cooker, so ideally fill it so that it is at least two thirds of the way up the joint.

Cook for 4 hours on high/8 hours on low. Then the joint over, halfway through.

I usually do this the day before, and have left the joint in the liquid.

Then,

Drain.

Put into an roasting dish, and cover with something sticky.

Roast at GM5 for up to an hour. A couple of times, baste with the sticky juices. You want it to be caramelised and sticky.

The flavour combos I've used:

Coke/star anis to boil, dark brown sugar, honey and mustard to roast.

Orange juice and ginger wine to boil, orange marmalade and ginger to roast.

Apple juice and peppercorns to boil, apple sauce, honey and sage to roast

Orange and cranberry juice to boil, cranberry sauce, orange zest and honey to roast.

Good luck!

Definitely line your roasting tin. It's like trying to remove concrete, when the pan cools down, with the sticky sugars.

I cover in foil for about 15-20 mins, so that everything melts and gets hot, then when basting, take it off for the second half of the cooking.

You do not have to, but it is definitely the way to get the most succulent meat.

I soak mine in cold water changing regularly for as long as possible as it helps to reduce the saltiness gammon can have.

Those who do the gammon in the slow cooker with coke, does it have to be coke a cola or will a cheap cola work the same?

Cheap cola works. It is marginally better with real coke, but not significantly in my humble opinion.

Followed the tips on this thread (Coke in slower cooker, then finished in oven with honey) and worked a treat, thank you!