Tesco Finest Wiltshire Gammon joint.

kiwikaz

On Saturday I purchased the above from the reduced section for £ 6 instead of £ 12.
I honestly thought I'd got a bargain as it was a large joint and, therefore ideal for 3 to 4 meals.
I've never actually purchased one so large before or this brand but after cooking it was totally inedible due to the sheer volume of salt that it'd been cured with. Totally ruined our Sunday meal.
Ok I know that salting and quantity of it is very much a personal thing but I've never tasted gammon like it.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience with this item and, if so what did you do with it ?

I do honestly think that Mr T's meat quality is getting worse.

UnderPressure

I find this with any supermarket gammon joints, what I usually do it simmer it in boiling water for about 10 minutes then throw the water away and replace with fresh the simmer again for about 1 hour depending on the size of it obviously, then glaze with whatever you fancy and finish off the in the oven.

Replacing the water really make a huge difference to the amount of salt present, there is a cool recipe from Nigela Lawson have a look on google for where after getting rid of the first lot of water you would then simmer in a bottle of coca cola, sounds bizarre but tastes excellent it really does

HTH


OH PS: I agree Mr T meat is turning terrible vac pack everything all over the show the quality really is not upto much, I live in Wales so onle ever buy the Tesco Finest Welsh produce which is locally sourced and is very good, or even better a local butcher had a great piece of topside from the local butcher last Friday on special offer got just under a 2 kilo joint for £9 it was fantastic, the best beef we have had in ages

bees**knees

hi
Thats very disappointing for you ! Not sure what you can do with it once its been cooked.
I know that to reduce the saltiness before cooking you can soak joint in cold water overnight then put into a pan, cover with cold water again and bring to boil pouring off that water before you continue to cook. Cooking in the oven seems to increase the saltiness so maybe boiling the joint in a pan on the hob would help some of salt come out ( or use a pressure cooker as i do sometimes).
You can reduce saltiness of dishes by adding potatoes - seems to absorb some of the salt especially good in soups - maybe you could find a recipe that has ham and potato together.
Complain to Mr T - if it was too salty to eat then you should get money back !

UnderPressure

Here you go a link to the coke recipe I have stopped being lazy lol

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/nigella-lawson/ham-in-coca-cola-recipe_p_1.html

HTH

Meadows

kiwikaz wrote: »

On Saturday I purchased the above from the reduced section for £ 6 instead of £ 12.
I honestly thought I'd got a bargain as it was a large joint and, therefore ideal for 3 to 4 meals.
I've never actually purchased one so large before or this brand but after cooking it was totally inedible due to the sheer volume of salt that it'd been cured with. Totally ruined our Sunday meal.
Ok I know that salting and quantity of it is very much a personal thing but I've never tasted gammon like it.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience with this item and, if so what did you do with it ?

I do honestly think that Mr T's meat quality is getting worse.

I soak a joint in cold water over night (change the water a few times), I then prefer to part boil and part roast a gammon joint.

bees**knees

OOps sorry Underpressure our posts crossed !
BTW I 'was' a Home Ec teacher so happy to help out with cooking queries 1

bluecelticgirl

I also bought a gammon at the weekend and it was so salty it was inedible. I bought mine from Lidl though and a different brand. I have never had a gammon as salty before.

Meadows

Try to opt for an unsmoked joint if possible as they tend to be a lot less salty.

bluecelticgirl

Thanks Meadows I was wondering about that. I usually buy smoked ones - thought they maybe had more flavour but will never buy a smoked one again - if indeed I buy any again - that one put me right off!

Meadows

bluecelticgirl wrote: »

Thanks Meadows I was wondering about that. I usually buy smoked ones - thought they maybe had more flavour but will never buy a smoked one again - if indeed I buy any again - that one put me right off!

I used to go for smoked but found that far too salty so now I tend to stick to the unsmoked but still soak over night just to make sure.

If it is a smallish joint I tend to boil for an hour (I never change the water), I add cloves, star anise etc (anything that comes to mind). I drain and rub cranberry sauce over the top which makes for a really nice taste with the cloves, or again anything that comes to mind or is to hand at the time, honey, maple syrup etc, then I wrap in foil and roast for about and hour.

If I am eating cold I remove from the foil, wrap in clean foil and leave to go cold. This way it stays really moist.

parsonswife8

I soak my smoked gammon in water, overnight and then boil in fresh water for another 15 minutes, ditch that water and start to boil again in fresh water.

Seems to work okay.:)