HELP with a gammon joint please

saverstacey

I have picked up (at a v good price) a huge gammon joint 4.7kg.

I want to cook it to use as sliced ham for sarnies etc and also for ham, egg, chip type teas.

It is too big to use in one go but am unsure whether to cook whole and then slice/ freeze or cut into 4 and freeze joints uncooked?

If whole, should I roast it or slow cook? If cut into smaller pieces I could boil it. What do you suggest?

Thanks for any advice.

adecor

Cut it into pieces that you know will get eaten in a couple of days otherwise you could end up binning it. I like to boil & always soak overnight to get the salt out. I then put a dollop of vinegar in to stop the scum forming, couple of bay leaves & some peppercorns.

Menolly_2

I bought a large gammon joint before Christmas - too big to go in my biggest stockpot, so we cut off a piece large enough for a joint to feed 4 and froze that immediately. We then used the remaining piece, which was still on the bone. We weighed it, then put it in the stockpot, covered it with cold water and brought it to the boil. Then we threw away that water, covered the joint again with fresh cold water and added some peppercorns, bay leaf, a sliced onion, some celery and a chunked up carrot, brought the whole lot to the boil and then let it simmer - it will need 20 minutes per 500g. Once it was done, we drained off the water and let the meat cool until we could easily peel off the skin, leaving the fat in place. Then we scored the fat into diamonds, being careful not to cut through to the meat, glazed it and pushed a clove into the centre of each diamond and put the joint on a rack in a roasting pan with some water in it (helps to stop the glaze burning) and roasted it in a preheated oven at 180 to 200C, (use the lower temp if using a fan oven)basting every 10 ins or so, for 30 minutes until the top was nicely browned.

You can use any number of yummy glazes, there are masses on the internet. We mix together maple syrup, ground allspice and add a splash (or two) of whisky or bourbon (it was, I think, one of Ross Burden's recipes from the BBC Food Magazine a few years ago). There is also a great one using marmalade

We usually cook our Christmas (or Easter) gammon the day before we want it and serve it cold, it keeps for several days in the fridge and you CAN freeze slices to use in sandwiches but we found it wasn't so nice if you kept it frozen too long. We tend to turn leftover gammon into Pea and Ham Soup or Ham and Sweetcorn Chowder etc and then freeze those for later consumption - with the chowder, we found it is best not to add potatoes if freezing as they break up and although it tastes fine, you don't get the nice chunks of spud! We tend to add cooked potatoes when reheating it.

Hope this helps!

thriftlady_2

I regularly cook big gammon joints. I boil them for 20 mins per 500g, then glaze and bake for half an hour.

We eat it hot on day one, cold on day two then I slice the rest as thinly as possible and freeze in meal sized packets. Any bits that don't slice neatly get frozen for use in dishes like ham and potato bake or pasta sauces.

A cooked gammon will keep for about 10 days in the fridge. Frozen gammon will keep indefinitely in the freezer.

saverstacey

Thanks very much for all the advice. I don't have a pot big enough to boil as a whole so think I will cut it into 4 and boil as suggested above.

Thanks again xxx

sooty&sweep

Hi

If you boil the gammon you can use the stock you create for making tasty soups.

Jen