Bacon joint

Little_Pickle

Hi there, I usually boil for about 1/2 hour or so, then score the skin / rind / fat with honey and sugar then place on a baking tray, cover with foil and
place in a preheated oven for about 45 mins or so (on about 160 oC-ish)
then for the last 15 minutes, remove the foil and turn the grill on the skin to make it go really sticky nd sweet and crispy! mmm!

TNG

Little_Pickle wrote: »

Hi there, I usually boil for about 1/2 hour or so, then score the skin / rind / fat with honey and sugar then place on a baking tray, cover with foil and
place in a preheated oven for about 45 mins or so (on about 160 oC-ish)
then for the last 15 minutes, remove the foil and turn the grill on the skin to make it go really sticky nd sweet and crispy! mmm!

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:

I am SO doing this....... Thanks Pickle

errr what's 160 in old money (gas mark)?

redmel1621

Hi

lbt - No I don't have a slow cooker.....yet (mum buying me one for birthday 9th October)

Rikki - I don't have most of those ingredients and we don't like mustard, but looks quite nice.

Little Pickle - I don't really want to add sugar as trying to lose weight and we don't like honey.

I'm realy quite a pain aren't I.......
Which is the best way to cook it plain, Boil Vs Roast

Mel x

Pink.

I do a combination of both........boil it for most of the cooking time as this helps to keep it moist, then take it out of the pan or slow cooker, remove the skin, score the fat, stud with cloves and smother in mustard and brown sugar then pop it into the oven for half an hour to colour.

If you don't like mustard and don't want to use sugar or honey then the only variations I can really think of is to cook it in apple juice or cola (but the cola needs to be full sugar so maybe that wouldn't suit).

Whether or not you boil it or cook it in the oven is really down to personal choice. In my experience, boiling usually means it stays moist but doesn't look the best and roasting makes the joint look nicely coloured but can dry it out.

Pink

redmel1621

Thanks Pink-winged I suppose that is the info I was after drying out etc...

I will boil it i think as i would prefer it to be moist, one meal it will be in bacon and mushroom tagliatelle, that will be tommorow, not sure what to do with it tonight although I have just been reading a thread on bacon beans and cheese pie.......(will have to cut out the cheese, or only use little bit) and putting mash on top....Sounds quite nice.

Mel x

kittyscarlett

I don't have a slow cooker atm and have never cooked a bacon joint in it... 1kg isn't all that big a joint so what I would do personally is boil it ( bring to boil for 10 mins, skimming off the sum that rises ) then keep it at a gentle simmer.. for that weight I would say an hour or so would be enough... it could stay in for about an hour and a half without much harm. Now the tip to moist boiled meat of any kind is to let it go completely cold in the cooking liquid. Then lift it out and drain it dry.

The part cook then roast method works beautifully with larger joints but for a smaller one, it dries it out a bit too much. If its not too salty, you could either use the cooking liquor as a stock base for soups or casseroles, or chuck in a couple of bayleaves, some shrubby type aromatic herbs like thyme/sage/rosemary, with either veg peelings ( ie carrot, onion, parsnip, leek, celery ) or some roughly chopped oddments of veg, to make stock as you cook the joint. If you want a sweeter taste but without loading in sugar - use apple juice/cider/apple peelings/cloves.

I buy a small gammon joint every few weeks. There's only me to feed and it does me grandly for a few days. They are just so bloomin' versatile ! Cold with salad/potatoes/veggies, in sandwiches, omelettes, added to pasta or rice, chopped in with beans, used in stuffings for veggies, and even the last scraps make delicious additions to all kinds of soups, esp ones made with pulses.

kymrob

i always steam mine in electric steamer

janetmw

If I intend to eat the meat cold I boil the joint for a slightly shorter time than indicated for the size of joint. I then leave the meat to cool in the juices. To the cooking water I add some peppercorns, bay leaf, sliced onion and cider. I don't add salt as gammon can be salty. I return leftover meat to the juices to keep it moist. Once the meat has all but disappeared I will turn the juice into soup. My favourite with bacon/gammon stock is leek and potato.

Hope this helps

Janet

jet77

Hi,

I've got a 900g bacon joint and haven't got a clue what to do with it

I obviously want to make as much as I can from it but short of roasting it I haven't got a clue what I can make with it. I can't even see any guidelines on the wrapper of how long to cook it for.

I did a search but couldn't see anything ... please correct me if I'm wrong

Thanks xx

sairy2005

Bring to the boil in fresh water with a bay leaf in it. When boiled throw the water away and boil it again. Boil for about 30 mins.
Take the skin off a thinly as possible leaving the fat. Score the fat in diamond shapes and press a whole clove in each diamond. Put in roasting tin and coat with a dolop of mustard, honey or red currant jelly (or combination). Roast on about 180 deg for about another 30 mins until the coating goes a nice golden brown or darker. Can be eaten hot or left to get cold and sliced for sandwiches etc. My husband says this is delicious. ( I am vegetarian so havent tried it)