| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 5 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 5 hr |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 5 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 5 hr |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 7 1/2 pounds gammon (ham)
- 8 cups cranberry juice
- 8 cups apple juice
- 2 cinnamon sticks, halved
- 2 onions, halved but not peeled
- 1 tablespoon allspice berries
- Approximately 30 cloves
- 4 tablespoons cranberry jelly, or 6 tablespoons cranberry sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon English mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Put the ham into a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then immediately drain and rinse it in a colander, to remove any excess saltiness. Alternatively, leave the ham soaking in cold water overnight.
- Rinse the saucepan and put the ham back in, and add all remaining ingredients. If the fruit juices do not cover the ham then add some water; it really depends on how snugly your ham fits into the saucepan.
- Bring the pan to a boil and then cook at a fast simmer for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Partially cover the ham with a lid if the liquid is boiling away too much and the top of the ham is getting dry.
- Once the ham is cooked, remove it from the hot and now salty juice, and sit it on a board. If you want, you can actually cook this far ahead of schedule and then let it get entirely cold before glazing and roasting it. If that’s the case, then cook it for about 1/2 hour less and then just let it get cold in the cooking liquid.
- On the day of cooking, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- When the ham is cool enough to touch then cut and peel the rind off the cooked ham, making sure to leave a thin coating of the white fat on the ham. Score the fat into a diamond pattern with a sharp knife, and stud the points of each diamond with a clove.
- Heat the remaining glaze ingredients together in a saucepan until the jelly or sauce melts into the honey, mustard, and cinnamon to make a smooth but syrupy glaze; it needs to be thick enough not to run off the ham completely as it cooks in the oven.
- Sit the ham on a piece of foil in a roasting tin, which will give you an easier time later washing up, as the sugary glaze will burn as bits of it do inevitably dribble down the ham. Pour the glaze over the clove studded ham so that all of the scored fat is covered. Cook the ham for 15 minutes or until the fat is colored and burnished by the sugary glaze.
- If the ham is completely cold prior to glazing, then cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F, and turn up the heat to 425 degrees F for another 15 minutes. These timings are based on the ham being cold at room temperature, not refrigerator cold.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 688 |
| Total Fat | 20 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 61 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 50 g |
| Protein | 64 g |
| Cholesterol | 159 mg |
| Sodium | 6122 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 688 |
| Total Fat | 20 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 61 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 50 g |
| Protein | 64 g |
| Cholesterol | 159 mg |
| Sodium | 6122 mg |
Reviews
Great recipe. I suggest the complainants should educate themselves on what gammon actually is..
You can use a modern style, precooked ham, just drop the long boiling (cold soak in the juice works well) and don’t roast as long. (Just difficult to caramelise the glaze and render some fat)
tasty,yummy!!!
In answer to adele, it is not difficult to find a cured, uncooked ham through the wonders of the internet. I have just ordered and recieved a 13 lb Smithfield Ham, delivered in 2 days for the total price of,wait for it, $69.00.
In Virginia, I know you can walk into a grocery store and buy the same ham for $45 -$50 but I live in Albany,NY
This recipe looks great! I will adjust for size and probable soak it for 48 – 60 hours. My wife hates salty, but each to their own.
I will post a review, after I’m done with my spring cooking project.
Unfortunately unless you ARE a Southern cook it is very difficult to find a cured, but uncooked ham north of Virginia. It can be done but not easily. This is one recipe that Nigella might consider being much more specific about the differences between UK and US. Cooks, pay attention. Most US hams are already cooked and don’t need to be boiled unless you are lucky enough to have access to Country Ham as it’s sometimes called, which are cured but not cooked. Those can follow Nigella’s directions. Otherwise, SKIP the boiling.
Miss Lawson does a wonderful justice to All Southern cooks. This is a sweet tangy and salty floured Ham. Enjoy with Southern Silver Dollar Biscuits. Yum!
Hi there, I have been looking at a different recipe for our christmas ham to accompany our turkey for christmas (ham is also a boxing day tradition in the UK) I live in the England but use this site quite often for different recipes. I just want to confirm to all who have mentioned using partially cooked hams in the US and it going wrong that british gammon is always slightly salty to very salty (which is why it is often soaked) and is always bought completely uncooked, smoked bacon is also raw and needs cooking here thought I would mention in case you ever see that in a UK recipe (i am guessing this may also be another area of confusion). We always have a christmas ham and it does take hours of prep and cooking but is always well recieved and looks beautiful, it is often studded with star annise too which gives a beautiful aniseed flavor and looks very christmassy too, there are some other fab recipes to look out for including one that uses cooking in cherry coke, we used that one year and it went down a storm. Hope all your hams go well and will let you know how this fares but looks pretty fool proof and I always add and adapt to make it my own, Merry Christmas to all !
I’ve researched hams and very quickly found that Gammon is a CURED ham but is NOT cooked. Those using smoked and partially cooked hams will end up with a mess. Brand of ham in the USA will have different results. Smithfield is going to be one of the best as they do not ‘vacuum tumble’ to cure their hams. They do it the old-fashioned way…TIME.
Be aware of the ham you are buying to make this recipe, otherwise be prepared to be unhappy with your results.
Be aware of the ham you are buying to make this recipe, otherwise be prepared to be unhappy with your results.
I just finished boiling the ham….it looks terrible and the taste is okay, but the texture is like chewy..it reminds me of corned beef. I like my ham firm. I can only hope the glaze makes it alright. Either way I will review it again on my guests comments after dinner, my mom in law is coming, wish me luck.
This recipe looks amazing, and I’m making it this Christmas! ^.^ I want everything to turn out awesome and not to mess up. After I read your post, Wendy, I did alot of research, and from what I read gammon in the United Kingdom is basically the same as a fresh ham in the U.S. (except it’s probably not as salty). Fresh ham is uncured, unsmoked pork shoulder or hind leg, rind and fat intact! I THINK it’ll come out really lovely using the fresh ham. I know what a couple of you guys mean by the ham turning out like pulled pork, it’s happened to me before. Won’t happen this time! Good luck and merry Christmas!
This was my first attempt at a full ham; it was EXTREMELY easy and (dare I say?) fool-proof. A wonderful Sunday evening dinner–simple, elegant, and very very tasty. And it left me enough time to make a few sides as well, without significant stress. WONDERFUL!