How to Prepare Perfect Gammon
Chef Wendy’s top tips for preparing your Christmas gammon!
The festive season is upon us and you might find yourself giving some thought as to what roast you are going to prepare for your family get-together during the holidays. Will it be chicken, lamb, turkey or gammon?
Many people find preparing a gammon an intimidating task and are often nervous that they will prepare it incorrectly or cause it to be dry and tasteless. Never fear, as we have wonderful tips and recipes to ensure your roast gammon is perfect!
The best thing about gammon is that you can prepare it well in advance and then on the day (or even an hour before serving) you can prepare the glaze and finish off your gammon.
TOP TIPS
• When choosing your gammon, bear in mind how many people you will be serving and allow between 150g – 170g per person.
• When storing your gammon in the fridge, keep it wrapped in its original packaging and in a container away from and below any other cooked food in your fridge.
• The first step to preparing your gammon is to simmer it gently in a well-seasoned broth. For this you will need a large stock pot. Gammon usually comes encased in a netting - do not remove the netting as this will help the gammon to retain its shape during the simmering process.
• Place your gammon into the pot together with aromatic ingredients such as chopped onion and carrot, sprigs of parsley celery, whole peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves, and cover with water. Bring the water to the boil and then immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
• Do not allow your gammon to boil as this will cause it to become dry and have a grainy texture. Allow 20 minutes simmering time per 450g gammon, plus an extra 20 minutes at the end. Note: You may need to cook the gammon for longer if it has a bone – please follow the cooking instructions on the packaging.
• The next step is to remove the skin from your gammon and score the fat. Firstly carefully remove the gammon from the broth, place in a container and allow to cool slightly and rest.
• Using a pair of scissors, cut away the netting from the gammon. Then, using a knife, peel off the orangey coloured rind/skin from the outside – this will now leave the thick white fat layer of the gammon exposed.
• Using a small, sharp paring knife you can now ‘score’ the fat – in other words, create criss-cross or diamond shapes in the fat layer over the entire joint of gammon. Be careful not to cut into the actual meat – you just want to cut through about two thirds of the fat layer.
• You can now insert a whole clove into each alternate incision – this will help to flavour your gammon by permeating the flesh with delicious flavour during roasting, and the incisions allow your glaze to penetrate into the meat.
• Place your prepared gammon into a roasting tray that has been lined with a double layer of tin foil and your gammon is now ready for glazing.
• Watch your gammon closely while you’re glazing it, as the high sugar content of the glaze means it can burn in an instant. Move the meat around in the oven a few times if you see one part caramelising or browning faster than another.
• During the glazing process, baste the gammon a couple of times with the glaze that drips into the roasting tray; you can do this with a pastry brush, or by scooping it up with a spoon and drizzling it on top of the fat.
• When your gammon comes out of the oven, continue to baste it by trickling any run-off glaze over the fat. As the glaze cools, it will cling to the fat.
• You can choose from one of our delicious recipes, depending on your tastes:
Glazed Gammon Studded with Cloves
Everyone loves a sweet and sticky gammon, whether it is Christmas time or not!
• Recipe serves6-8
• Preparation time20 minutes
• Cooking time20 minutes
Ingredients
• 1 Large boiled gammon
• Robertsons Whole Cloves
• 3 Sachets KNORR Monkeygland Sauce
• 1 ½ cup Mrs Balls Hot Chutney
Method
• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Place the gammon into an oven proof tray.
• Remove the skin from the boiled gammon leaving the fat intact.
• Using a small, sharp knife score the fat of the gammon to create a diamond shaped appearance on the surface of the fat.
• In a jug mix together the dry contents of the sachets of KNORR Monkeygland Sauce with the Mrs Balls Hot Chutney until smooth to form a sticky glaze.
• Stud the gammon in the middle of each diamond shape with one whole clove.
• Pour the glaze over the gammon and spread it over using a basting brush or spoon, reserve at least ⅓ of the glaze for basting during cooking.
• Bake in a preheated oven and continue to baste intermittently until the basting is golden brown and fat of the gammon is crispy.
Roast Gammon with Honey and Mustard Orange Glaze
When it comes to glazing a gammon worth wowing the family, KNORR Stock Pot has got it covered!
• Recipe serves4 - 6
• Preparation time15 minutes
• Cooking time60 minutes
Ingredients
• 4kg boneless boiled gammon
• 15ml cider vinegar
• 15ml brown sugar
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 5ml Dijon mustard
• 1 KNORR Vegetable Stock Pot
• 15ml honey
• 4 whole cloves
• 20 whole cloves
Method
• Preheat oven to 200C
• Place the cider vinegar, brown sugar, orange zest and juice, Dijon mustard, KNORR Vegetable Stock Pot , honey and 4 cloves into a small saucepan and bring to the boil then allow to reduce by half.
• To prepare the gammon for roasting peel back and remove the rind from the gammon
• Using a sharp knife, score the flesh in diamond cuts, then brush over the glaze and stud with the remaining cloves
• Roast in the oven at 200°C, during cooking baste the gammon a couple of times with the glaze that drips into the roasting tray
• Cook until the glaze starts to caramelise then remove from the oven, slice and serve
Glazed red wine and cinnamon gammon
This aromatic cinnamon and red wine infused gammon is delicious served hot or cold, if you buy a pre-boiled gammon it will be even easier to prepare!
Glazed red wine and cinnamon gammon
This aromatic cinnamon and red wine infused gammon is delicious served hot or cold, if you buy a pre-boiled gammon it will be even easier to prepare!
• Recipe serves6 - 8
• Preparation time25 minutes
• Cooking time190 minutes
Ingredients
• For boiling the gammon:
• 3.5 kg boneless gammon roast
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 carrots, unpeeled and sliced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 Robertsons Bay Leaves
• 12 Robertsons Whole Black Peppercorns
• 12 Robertsons Whole Cloves
• For the glaze:
• 15 ml Dijon mustard
• 30 ml Flora Gold margarine
• 125 ml honey
• 125 ml firmly packed brown sugar
• 250 ml red wine
• 1 KNORR Chicken Stock Pot
• 1 Robertsons Whole Cinnamon stick
• 5 ml Robertsons Ginger
• 5 ml Robertsons Mixed Spice
• 30 Robertsons Whole Cloves
• 125 ml water
Method
• Place the whole gammon into a large pot together with all the vegetables, bay leaves, black peppercorns and cloves
• Cover with cold water then bring to the boil
• Reduce the heat and allow to simmer with the lid loosely on for 2 hours 35 minutes (allow 20 minutes simmering time for every 500 g and then an extra 15 minutes at the end) turning over halfway through
• Remove gammon from the pot and discard the simmering liquid (this will now be too salty to use for anything)
• Preheat oven to 200C
• In a saucepan mix together all the ingredients for the glaze except the cloves and water and simmer over a low heat to dissolve the sugar and melt the KNORR Chicken Stock Pot – about 8-10 minutes
• To prepare the gammon for roasting peel back and remove the rind from the gammon
• Using a sharp knife, score the fat in diamond cuts and stud with the cloves then place the gammon into a roasting tray
• Pour the water into the base of the roasting tray then brush with half the glaze then and roast in the oven for 10 minutes uncovered
• Baste with the remaining glaze and roast for a further 10 minutes
• Remove from the oven, allow to rest for a few minutes then slice and serve
• Tip – use the juices in the roasting tray to make a delicious sauce or gravy!
KNORR WHATS FOR DINNER
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