Hairy Bikers Marmalade Gammon Recipe

A 6kg joint simmered with cloves and bay, then roasted under honey and marmalade, makes this Hairy Bikers marmalade gammon a proper buffet centrepiece. And it comes from Mums Know Best, where it feeds 20 at about 485 calories each and takes about five hours.

“This is a fusion of tips from both our mams,” they write, with the orange juice from Si’s mam and the marmalade glaze from Dave’s. As Si’s mam puts it, using half orange juice and half water to simmer the ham “makes it sweet and tasty”.

Bring the joint to the boil in plain water and tip it away first, which the book calls “a top tip” for shifting salt. Then the orange juice goes in, so its sweetness isn’t fighting a salty joint.

Hairy Bikers Marmalade Gammon Recipe

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

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time:4 hours 40 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:5 hours Servings:20 servingsCalories:485 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

The joint simmers gently with clove-studded onions and bay leaves for about 3 hours, while you top the pan up with boiling water. After that the skin comes off, the fat is scored into diamonds with a clove in each, and the sticky glaze goes over. Then it roasts to a glossy, dark crust over 45 minutes of basting.

Ingredients

For the gammon

• 1 x 6kg gammon joint
• Fresh orange juice, enough to come halfway up the joint
• 2 onions
• Cloves, 8 for the onions plus plenty for studding
• 4 large bay leaves

For the glaze

• 120g soft brown sugar
• Zest of 3 oranges
• Juice of 1 orange
• 3 tbsp runny honey
• 3 heaped tbsp orange marmalade
• 3 tbsp wholegrain mustard

Instructions

1. Boil off the salt: put the gammon in a large saucepan, cover it with water and bring it to the boil. Then pour the water away, which gets rid of excess salt quickly.
2. Add the orange juice: pour in orange juice until it reaches halfway up the gammon, then top up with cold water to cover. Then halve the onions, push 2 cloves into each half and add them to the pan with the bay leaves.
3. Simmer: cover and simmer for about 3 hours, topping up with boiling water as needed. If you have a meat thermometer, check the middle has reached 68°C, the figure their British Classics ham uses, and simmer longer if not.
4. Score: lift the gammon into a roasting tin and remove the skin, leaving a good layer of fat. Then score the fat into diamonds with a sharp knife and stud the centre of each diamond with a clove.
5. Make the glaze: preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4. While it heats, mix the sugar, orange zest and juice, honey, marmalade and mustard.
6. Roast: spoon the glaze over the gammon and roast for 45 minutes, basting frequently. Then carve into thin slices to eat hot with mash and the juices, or leave it to cool and serve cold.

FAQs

Can I make it with a smaller gammon joint?

Yes, though Mums Know Best only times a 6kg joint, so I borrow the numbers from their British Classics ham, which serves 8. In that book a 2.5 to 3kg joint simmers for 2 to 2½ hours, until the middle reaches 68°C on a meat thermometer. Then I halve this glaze and start checking the roast at 25 minutes, since British Classics glazes its ham in 20 to 25.

How much orange juice do I need?

The book gives no figure, only that juice goes in until it reaches halfway up the gammon. Then cold water covers the rest, and for a 6kg joint in a big pan that means several litres of juice. Instead I buy chilled not-from-concentrate cartons, because that much from fresh oranges would mean squeezing dozens.

What goes with Hairy Bikers marmalade gammon?

The book pairs it with an apple compote, cooking apples simmered soft in a sugar syrup with cinnamon and cloves. Plus its quick pickled red cabbage is stirred into hot white wine vinegar, sugar and salt, then left two hours with dill added halfway. For a warm side, their red cabbage braised in cider works too, while their celeriac and apple coleslaw suits a cold spread.

How does it compare with their other gammon recipes?

BBC Food lists a Hairy Bikers honey and marmalade-glazed gammon joint that also serves at least 20, but I cooked this one from the book. By contrast, their bourbon and cherry glazed ham from British Classics simmers in plain water with carrots and celery, then glazes at 200°C. For a weeknight, their gammon steaks with parsley sauce take six minutes in a frying pan.

Can I eat it cold, and how long does it keep?

Hot or cold, the book calls it “Delicious either way”, and the compote recipe says to save some “to have cold with the ham sarnies”. Because a 6kg joint cools slowly, I slice and chill it within two hours rather than leaving it out all afternoon. Once wrapped in the fridge it lasts me three days, though the book says nothing about storage and I have not frozen it.