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Best way to cook a gammon joint?
madasaflake
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Hi all
I have been given a gammon joint and haven't a clue what to do with it! I assume it is boneless and weighs 5 1/2 pounds. I have it covered in water at the moment as I seem to remember you have to do that first, what then?
How long do you have to soak it for? Once it is cooked can I slice it in steaks and can they be reheated or would I have to have them cold?
Any advice much appreciated as it is not something we eat in this house as I am the only one that likes it, but it is a shame not to do something with it!
I have been given a gammon joint and haven't a clue what to do with it! I assume it is boneless and weighs 5 1/2 pounds. I have it covered in water at the moment as I seem to remember you have to do that first, what then?
How long do you have to soak it for? Once it is cooked can I slice it in steaks and can they be reheated or would I have to have them cold?
Any advice much appreciated as it is not something we eat in this house as I am the only one that likes it, but it is a shame not to do something with it!
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I usually soak it overnight ! Or severa hours, Also when ready to cook I bring it to the boil throw the water away,this will get rid of excess salt.then follow the the advice of previous poster.
Put the joint in a saucepan. Cover with water. Bring it to the boil. Switch off the heat and then lift the pan and empty out all the water. That gets rid of all the saltpetre and whatever else they use to cure the gammon.
You can then either do as indianwells suggests and bake it in the oven, or you can refill the pan with water and simmer it for about 50 minutes. It is quicker in a pressure cooker.
There are many variants when cooking in a pan. You can use Coke. You might just pop a peeled onion in the water together with herbs and a few cloves.
I would never have imagined cooking it in coke! may actually give that a try.:D
I cooked a gammon joint at christmas in cherry coke it came great, Wiill do this again
Cheers
Brogusblue
I shall be having left overs for my Dinner tonight.
It is beautiful. I do one every Xmas and take it to work, everyone loves it.
He then sticks cloves into it and cooks it in the oven.
That sounds lovely - I think I will do that. I have to admit coke sounds intriguing but I don't think it is quite for us!
Thanks for all the replies.
You wont taste the coke madasaflake! It just makes it richer with a fuller flavour,the same as when you cook beef in guinness you dont taste the guinness:)
It doesn't taste of Coke! Gives it a sweet, smoky, almost barbeque taste.
Don't all the chemicals and additives soak into the meat?
Alan
It tastes great, don't knock it until you've tried it.
Didn't comment about the taste. Don't drink chemical drinks, so why would I contaminate a piece of meat with them?
Alan
For ham, I cook mine in a pineapple glaze.
http://www.recipezaar.com/72654
It's also lovely cooked with rosemary.
Ham is a pig's hind leg, first cut off the carcass and then smoked, salted or dried (or a combination of these) for preservation. Gammon also comes from the hind leg but it is cured as part of a side of bacon and cut off afterwards. Gammon may be smoked separately or left unsmoked but it is not matured long enough to have a strong ham flavour and does not keep for as long as ham, which is generally cured more slowly. While some hams are meant for further cooking, some such as Parma and Bayonne hams are simply eaten in the 'raw' cured state, having been salted and then dried over several months to preserve the flesh.
Hams may also be smoked over a slow fire, and the different types of wood used, such as beech, juniper or oak, will each produce a distinctive flavor. Unsmoked hams are also known as green hams and have a milder flavour.
You can buy an uncooked whole ham to bake as a special dish, but in most stores, the ham is sold cooked and sliced, and is used for salads and sandwiches, or included in recipes where it just needs to be heated through. Gammon can be hard to find, but is available from specialist butchers especially if they sell traditional British cuts. It is sold in joints, rashers or steaks for cooking at home.
Each to their own, you're missing out though mate.
Could also cook it in cider or in perry (basically cider made out of pears) with peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves. Would only do that if it was unsmoked.
Another method
Take the rind off if it has it so theres just fat cook it for an hour or so, add cloves cook it again until 30-40mins before its done cover glaze in honey. think the cooking time is something like 20mins then +20mins per lb
You can soak it and then cut it into steaks thicker the better and grill. Make gammon and pineapple kebabs.