Our roasted ham is so salty - is there anything we can do to 'rescue' it??

[RememberToPlaywiththeKids]

And we can't find out whether or not you are meant to boil ham before roasting it - does everyone do that? The instructions on the wrapper were to just unwrap and roast. Didn't mention boiling it forst at all.

So now we have a lump of almost inedibly salty ham - is there anything we can do??

Buy the unsalted version if you can. I roast mine and put about a glass of orange or apple juice in the bottom of the pan and then cover it to roast, which seems to draw some of it out. Then just use the juice to make gravy with. If you want the crispy top, then take it out of the juice and put some more mustard and brown sugar on the top and brown it off for 30 mins to get the crust...

you should have soaked it preferably overnight first.

Not sure how to save it- I suppose you could soak it now but that might make it disintegrate.

Maybe use it is some kind of casserole? Pea and ham soup?

Drink lots of extremely cold, dry white wine?

Have melons and grapes and apples with the ham. After all, it is a recognised treat, to have prosciutto (ham) wrapped around a chunk of melon.

love the cold white wine suggestion !!

Can you buy unsalted ones?? I had no idea.
Ok, so soaking in water then just drying it off before roasting? Is this what everyone does? I can't believe I don't know what to do with a ham!

I always soak a ham before cooking it. Then dry it off with a cloth or kitchen roll before roasting.

Am interested to know what suggestions people have got where its already cooked...

Yes, soak it before roasting.

I forgot to once and it was almost inedible.

You could make pea and ham soup with it?

I have always understood that just soaking it before hand is not enough.

I soak it overnight, then bring to the boil, slowly. Once it is boiling, tip out the water and re-fill with fresh cold water and bring to the boil again, and then boil it for about half the time you would roast it for (it is nice if you mix in a jar of marmalade). Then roast it.

It is quite longwinded, but if the joint is big enough, it is worth it as you can have cold to hack at for days afterwards.

I think for cheaper cuts of ham, thats a good idea. Gammon doesn't need to be boiled first though. (not that I'm suggesting you buy cheap cuts :o )

I still do it with Gammon, not because it might be tough, but just for the salt removal.