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Preparing your Ham

If you have selected a cooked or a baked ham, further preparation is unnecessary. .Just slice and serve

There are three easy steps to elegantly carving your Bone-In Ham:

1. With ham on a flat surface, dressed side up, begin about two inches from the hock (or small end) and make the first cut straight through to the bone.
2. Slant the knife slightly for each succeeding cut. Slice down to and partially around the bone.
3. Decrease slant as the slices become larger. Eventually the bone formation will cause you to cut smaller slices at different angles.

1. Wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil, joining the edges carefully to form a vessel with the bottom layer. Add 4 cups of water for a Wiltshire Cure Ham within the foil and place in oven with a tray or pan underneath for support.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 400 degrees, bake for 20 minutes. Turn off oven for three (3) hours. Then heat oven to 400 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes. Turn off oven and let ham remain for 6-8 hours or longer overnight is satisfactory).

Important: Do not open oven door until the cook cycle is completed, including the last 6-8 hours.

Water-cooking

Place in a large roasting pan, skin-side down and cover with cool water.

1. Bring water to 180 degrees (not quite simmering). Cook to 160 degrees internal temperature (or about 25 minutes per pound). Add water to keep ham covered.
2. Take ham from the pan and while warm, remove the skin carefully without tearing the fat. Dot the surface with cloves if desired, then sprinkle with brown sugar and bread crumbs and bake in an oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees (or long enough to brown nicely).

Boiled Ham

Remember to always soak the ham is cold water for at least 4 hours or overnight to remove some of the excess salt no matter what method you use for cooking the ham.

This is a trick I discovered while living in Bishopstone near Swindon in Wiltshire.  The village shop/post office made some of the best boiled ham I have ever eaten and especially when it was cut thick and placed on slices of white bread.  Their secret was to cook the ham in a "Boil in bag".  This is a special plastic bag we supply with every Gammon Ham,  After the ham has been removed from the soaking water, place the ham in the bag pointed end of the ham to the bottom of the bag.  Hold the top of the bag loosely and remove the air from the bag, I do this by just sucking the air our of the bag, then tie the top of the bag tightly with a cotton string.

Place the ham in a large pot and cover the ham with cold water, bring the water to a boil, reduce to simmer and boil for about 30 minutes per lb. or until using a cooking thoemeter  reaches 160F then the ham is done.  Remove the ham from the pot and plunge it under cold water or in a bath of ice water to stop the cooking.  Do not remove the ham from the cooking bag.  Place the ham in the refrigerator overnight to cool. As the ham cools it will pull some of the cooked out juices that are trapped in the bag back into the ham increasing its flavor and moistness.

Next day place the ham in a large container, this will stop the jelly in the bag from getting all over the place, with a sharp knife cut the bag lengthwise from the top to the bottom of the gammon.   Remove the ham from the bag, using your hand simply run your hand firmly over the ham, this will remove the fat that has cooked to almost nothing leaving you with a nice pink cooked ham.  Now using a sharp knife, cut off a small piece of the gammon and taste it (close your eyes for you can her Rule Britannia playing in the background).

You can either simply use the ham for sandwiches.  If you want some more spectacular, score it in diamond shapes with a knife, place some pineapple rings on it (don't forget the cloves), bake it in a medium hot oven for about an hour or until the internal temperature reaches about 160F.  About 10 minutes before you remove the gammon place some cherries in the rings of the pineapple and there is Sunday dinner.

• Wiltshire hams are not as salty as American hams  may be kept refrigerated for up to ten days.  They  do not last as long un-refrigerated
• Place the ham in the refrigerator as soon as you receive it.
• Gammon Slices should be consumed promptly after opening.
• Cooked ham may be frozen; however, we recommend removal of the bone before freezing.
• Wiltshire hams will be shipped frozen and should be refrigerated or re-frozen upon receipt.

The flavor of your ham is best when served at room temperature. These hams can be served in a variety of ways. Sliced ham is delicious on biscuits or pan-fried. Or use pieces of ham or a piece of bone in soup, beans or vegetables.

For more great ways to enjoy your ham, try one of the many recipes featured in our Recipe area.

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