If you’re looking for an alternative to a roast bird for the big day, this Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon might be just what you are looking for! Especially if you will have many mouths to feed. Making this gammon instead will free up oven space for side dishes, or it will allow you to cook two different types of meat, one in the oven and this gammon in the slow cooker.
And if not for Christmas Day, this is the perfect meat to serve on Christmas Eve or when we usually have it, Boxing Day. It’s festive flavours and ease of prep and cook will give you just the break you need from the kitchen, whilst still serving up something special.
Cooking a gammon joint for a gathering is pretty budget friendly too, costing around £1.27 per adult (based on a 2kg joint from Tesco feeding 10 people).
What Puts the ‘Christmas’ into this Slow Cooker Gammon?
Once you’ve added your gammon joint to your slow cooker pot, and nestled in some carrots and onion, you will pour over ruby red cranberry juice and pop in a cinnamon stick for more festive flavour. Once cooked, you’ll remove from the slow cooker and pour over a maple syrup + mustard glaze, with a pinch of all-spice, before popping it into the oven for half an hour or the air fryer for 20 minutes.
How to Serve this Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon
It’s so versatile, there are soo many ways to serve this gammon, here’s just a few:
- Hot or cold
- With roast dinner sides, like roast potatoes and my creamy cabbage (leave out the bacon!)
- With a nice crusty bread and salad, my Christmas Carrot Salad goes perfectly with it!
- With mash, chips or potato wedges and a hot vegetables or with a salad
- Add it to a graze board
…and what to do with the leftovers
If you have cooked gammon leftovers, they will keep well in the fridge for a few days or in the freezer for another time entirely. Here are some delicious ways to use any leftovers you might have:
- Add it to pies, goes perfectly alongside chicken in a pie
- Top mac & cheese or carbonara pasta with it
- Have it in a sandwich or baguette
- Have it with eggs and toast for breakfast or brunch
- Add it to omelettes or a frittata
- Serve it as part of a picky plate meal
FAQ’s For My Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon
How Many People will this Gammon recipe feed?
My recipe is for a gammon joint between 1kg / 2.2lb - 2kg / 4.4lb. You want to allow 200g / 7oz of raw gammon per adult. So for example, a 2kg / 4.4lb gammon joint will feed up to 10 adults and a 1kg joint will feed up to 5.
Can I feed even more people with this recipe?
You’ll find it hard to find a gammon joint much larger than 2.3kg / 5lbs and if you do find one, it probably won’t fit in a standard 3.5 ltr slow cooker. But, if you have a large 6.5ltr slow cooker and need a larger gammon joint to feed say 12-13 people, you can do so with this recipe. You will also need a little more cranberry juice to ensure almost all the joint is covered.
Can I swap the gammon for a ham joint?
Definitely! Ham is less salty than gammon so you may want to do that, particularly if you will be eating it with young children.
How can I be sure that the gammon joint will fit in my slow cooker?
So long as you have a slow cooker thats 3.5L or more like mine, you’ll be able to fit a joint up to 2kg. See the above question if you have a larger slow cooker and need to feed a few more people.
How long do does the gammon need to slow cook for?
You’ll cook your gammon joint for 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 on low. If you have a smaller joint, say closer to the 1kg / 2.2lb mark, 3 hours on high or 5 hours on low should be fine. If you have a larger joint, closer to 2kg / 4.4lb, you’ll want to go for 4 hours on high or 6 on low.
Should I take the netting off the gammon joint to cook it?
Not before you cook it in the slow cooker, but you will want to remove it before you add the glaze and finish it off in the oven. You may have noticed, when I was shooting this I totally forgot to take the netting off until halfway through cooking it in the oven - doh! Don’t be like me and forget to take it off after you’ve slow cooked it!
Why do I have to finish it in the air fryer or oven?
You need to finish it in the oven or the air fryer in order to caramelise the maple syrup glaze.
Can I prepare this Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon in advance?
Honestly, there’s not much to prepare for this recipe, but you can prep the veg and chill until ready to use if you like. You can also mix the glaze, cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature until later on.
How can younger children help make it?
They can help you add the veggies and the cranberry juice to the pot - they will love the ruby red colour! They can also mix up the glaze with you.
Can I Store Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon leftovers?
Slice up any gammon leftovers and store in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). Leftovers can also be frozen, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge. You can serve it cold or reheat in slices in the microwave, until steaming hot.
More on safe food storage and reheating.
What diets is this recipe suitable for?
My Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon is gluten, diary, egg and nut-free.
Is this Slow Cooker Christmas Gammon suitable for baby weaning?
As gammon is salty, wait until little one is over 2 years old to share this with them. Alternatively, use a ham joint of the same weight as that will be less salty.
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Christmas Slow Cooker Gammon
Equipment
- Chopping board + meat fork + carving knife
- Measuring jug + mini wire hand whisk
Ingredients
- 1 kg - 2kg unsmoked gammon joint see notes
- 2 litres cranberry juice
- 1 carrot peeled and thickly sliced
- 1 onion quartered
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 grounds of black pepper no salt gammon is salty
- For the glaze
- 150 ml maple syrup
- 1 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- Large pinch of all spice
See above blog post for serving ideas. See notes for baby & toddler.
Instructions
- Add your gammon joint into slow cooker pot, lying it as it best fits your pot (and keeping the netting on for now). Add the vegetables around it.
- Pour in your cranberry juice, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick and black pepper. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours (2kg joints go for those max times). Internal temperature of the gammon should be 71ºc or a little over. Once done, preheat the oven too 190ºc/170ºc fan/375ºf/gas 5.
- Then carefully lift the joint out of the juice (best way is to stick a meat carving fork into it and can use a knife to hold it from underneath if needed) and set it on an oven tray. If the joint will stand up with the rind facing upwards, position it like that. If not, lay the joint on it’s side. Using clean scissors, snip and carefully pull off the netting from all around the joint.
- Combine the glaze ingredients in a jug and stir until well mixed.
- Carefully pour half the glaze over the gammon joint. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or air fry for 10, then pour over the rest of the glaze and bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes or air fry for another 10 minutes. If you’ve had to lay the joint on it’s side, turn it over before you do the second glaze. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
Notes
Baby & Toddler
STORAGE
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