Christmas Ham in Coke

A delicious festive ham cooked in cola and finished in the oven with a sweet and sticky honey mustard glaze

It’s not Christmas without a Christmas Ham. Lightly spiced with festive flavours it makes the perfect accompaniment to a turkey on Christmas Day. Or personally I love to cook it on Christmas Eve and serve with crusty bread and salads for an easy dinner before the chaos of Christmas Day begins.

A few years ago I made a Slow Cooker Christmas Ham recipe which is really popular every year but this year I thought I’d share a different version where the gammon is cooked on the hob in cola instead. Then finished in the oven to achieve that delicious sweet and sticky glaze.

The first step is to add a 2kg unsmoked gammon to a large saucepan. It needs to be quite big to hold the gammon and the liquid. I’m using a large stock pot.

Add in cloves, star anise, black peppercorns and bay leaves.

Pour in 2 litres of cola. If the cola doesn’t quite cover the gammon then top it up with some water.

Bring to the boil, cover loosely with a lid and simmer for 2 hours.

Remove the ham from the saucepan and add it to an oven dish double lined with foil. Don’t skip the foil! The glaze is a nightmare to clean from the dish otherwise!

Use a sharp knife to cut the skin away from the top of the gammon. Make diagonal cuts into the fat and then stud with cloves.

Make the glaze by mixing together honey, dijon mustard and brown sugar in a bowl. Pour half of the glaze over the top of the ham.

Bake at 180c for 20 minutes.

Add the remaining glaze to the ham and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.Once out of the oven leave the ham to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

FAQ’s

Can I use a smoked gammon? Yes you can. Personally I find smoked gammon a bit too salty so my advice would be to soak it in water for half an hour first and rinse. This will help remove some of the salt.

Can I use diet coke? No it must be normal coke or cola. We need the sugar in the cola to tenderise the gammon.

Can I cook this in advance? Yes you can. I would cook it in the cola and then remove the skin. At this point you can leave it to cool down then keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. When ready to glaze, bring the ham to room temperature by taking it out of the fridge an hour or two beforehand. Then continue the steps for glazing and baking in the oven.

Looking for ideas for what you can do with leftover ham? Try my Leftover Turkey & Ham Pasta.

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