Hairy Bikers Gammon in Coke Recipe

Look for a Hairy Bikers gammon in coke and none turns up in the 16 cookbooks I own, but their ginger beer ham comes close. So here it is from Family Favourites, glazed with tamarind, sugar and ginger, which gives 4 plates of about 640 calories in about three hours.

They rate it “simple but special”, and the double hit of ginger is why: ginger beer in the pan, then ground ginger in the glaze. While their British Classics ham simmers in water, this one goes into alcoholic and soft ginger beer mixed, with garlic in the pot.

Check the ham with a skewer before it leaves the pan, because the oven blast browns the glaze but won’t finish the meat. If the skewer is almost too hot to touch for more than a second, it’s ready, while a probe should read at least 68°C.

Hairy Bikers Gammon in Coke Alternative: Ginger Beer Ham

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time:2 hours 40 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:3 hours Servings:4 servingsCalories:640 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

The joint simmers partly covered in two kinds of ginger beer for up to 2 hours, with bay leaves and crushed peppercorns. Then it is trimmed to a thin rim of fat, scored, studded with cloves and rubbed with a sticky syrup. After 15 to 20 minutes at 200°C it comes out browned, ready to carve with slices of grilled pineapple.

Ingredients

For the ham

• 1 x 2kg rolled gammon joint, smoked or unsmoked
• 500ml alcoholic ginger beer, such as Crabbie’s
• 750ml to 1 litre non-alcoholic ginger beer, such as Fentimans
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp allspice berries, lightly crushed

For the glaze

• 1 tbsp cloves
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 50g dark brown soft sugar
• 2 tsp ground ginger

To serve

• 4 pineapple rings and 1 tbsp golden caster sugar, my amounts scaled from their rum babas

prime30 days freeMissing an ingredient?✓ Free fast delivery   ✓ Cancel anytimeTry Prime freeUnderlined ingredients link to Amazon UK. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

1. Start the pan: put the ham in a saucepan or flameproof casserole just big enough to hold it, then pour over both ginger beers. Then top up with a little water if it isn’t covered, and add the onion, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns and allspice.
2. Simmer: bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, partly covered, for about 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours. Then check it with a probe for at least 68°C, or a skewer that is almost too hot to touch for more than a second.
3. Trim: preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 while you lift the ham onto a board to drain. Then set the liquor aside, cut off any string and trim the fat to a rim about 2mm thick.
4. Score: cut a diamond pattern through the fat, then push a clove into each corner.
5. Glaze: put the tamarind paste, sugar and ground ginger in a small pan with 2 tbsp of the liquor. Then stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, simmer to a thick syrup and rub it all over the ham.
6. Roast: put the ham in a roasting tin and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the glaze has browned.
7. Serve: carve into slices and serve with grilled pineapple. For that, their rum babas in the same book cook sugared rings on a hot griddle for 2 to 3 minutes a side. Then take them off once they are lightly charred and caramelised.

FAQs

Where does the gammon in coke idea come from?

In Britain the best-known version is Nigella Lawson’s ham in Coca-Cola, from her book Nigella Bites. But none of the Hairy Bikers recipes on BBC Food uses cola. So their glazed gammons there use honey and mustard, marmalade or cherries, while the only fizzy one I have found is this ginger beer ham.

Can I cook it in coke instead of ginger beer?

Yes, but swapping the ginger beers for the same volume of full-fat cola is my change, not theirs, so treat it as an experiment. And the timing should stay about the same, since any simmer sits just under boiling, though trust the 68°C probe over the clock. So keep their tamarind and ginger glaze, but don’t save cola liquor for soup, because it comes out very sweet.

Can I make gammon in coke in a slow cooker?

No slow cooker gammon appears in their books I own, and the Meat Feasts bacon joint beside their pease pudding simmers on the hob. So I would stick to their pan method, because I can’t give you a slow cooker timing they never tested. Either way, the glaze needs the hot oven at the end, because a slow cooker can’t brown sugar.

Do I need to soak the gammon first?

Ask your butcher, which is their own advice, because some joints need an overnight soak and others don’t. For a quicker fix, their honey and marmalade gammon starts by bringing the joint to the boil in water and tipping it away. And their bourbon and cherry glazed ham does the same, rinsing off any white starch before fresh water goes in.

What can I do with the leftover ham and the cooking liquor?

Save the ginger beer liquor, since they reckon it “makes an excellent base for soup, especially a bean one”. But taste it before salting anything, as gammon liquor can be salty, then try it in their pea and ham soup. And cool any leftover ham and chill it within two hours of cooking, then eat it within two days.