Gammon joints

[yellowflowers]

Want one we can cut slices from over Christmas. What do I do to it? What size is good for, say, a meal for 4 adults then leftovers for a bit?

I need to know this too. The're half price in Sainsburys atm, I nearly bought one this morning but I don't know if it'll freeze well before I cook it? I have been flicking through Nigella the last few days and in Feast it has lots of ideas for cooking (in coke) then using leftovers. But can I freeze and defrost safely before I do all of that?

Erm, my shopping list just has "lump of gammon" written on it, that's not overly helpful is it really?!
I always buy one of the bigger joints, without the bone, that's been rolled and tied. Make sure it's a joint and not reformed.

I soak mine for a couple of hours and then put in the ginormous slow cooker with 3 glasses of apple juice and 3 glasses of water and cook for most of xmas eve. Once it's done, I remove it from the pan (keep the water, it's great for cooking cabbage in), skin it and score the fat. Spread with english mustard and liberally cover with brown sugar and pop in the oven for half an hour on 180.

Sorry to be unspecific but I do it by sight and texture.

Yes fuckity you can. I'm getting mine tomorrow on the same Sainsbo's offer. Just defrost it in the fridge, it'll take about 48 hours.

Squishy, will it shrink much? The ones they had for about a tenner seemed a very good size, but I wondered how much size it will lose when it's cooked? DOn't have to worry about Christmas dinner this year (yay!) so want to make sure we have enough 'leftover' type food for the rest of the holidays when I can';t be arsed to cook properly.

It lasts for ages, is great in so many left-over type dishes, delish in sandwiches, so I reckon the bigger the better! Pigs, what wonderful beasts thou art!

The 'stock' that results from cooking (I do mine with the usual bay leaf, onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns and a wee half a star anise) is a great base for soups of all kinds.

Not if you do it in a slow cooker, or how Nigella does and boil it in coke (which actually works really well for the gammon but not very well to use the liquid again afterwards).
I think the bit I was looking at the other day was about £25/28 so will be half that now. That'll do 4 adults and 3 kids for a proper meal, then cold on boxing day and for sarnies. I'll probably end up chopping some up and making soup with the stock and red lentils too.

I love xmas ham and we often have it throughout the year too, although it's still called xmas ham even by the kids that don't live here :)