Q Any tips Blue for cooking a ham at Christmas?
Greg
Brisbane
Qld
A Hi Greg, there's two ways to do this - and one takes twice as long
as
the other!
If you buy a pre cooked leg ham you can have it on the table in just over an
hour. If you use a pickled - but uncooked ham - it will take three hours
plus for a standard size (5 to 6 kilo) lump of meat. To be honest, I'd
choose the easy route.
In either case you have to strip off the rind leaving as even a coating of
fat as possible. I cut a long slit right down the length of the ham and then
do a circle at the bone (small) end so you can get a blade between the
rind
and fat and progressively remove it.
Criss-cross the fat with a sharp knife but try to avoid cutting all the way
through the fat layer. Put it in the kettle and cook for about 20 minutes.
Quickly glaze with marmalade (or apricot/ginger/pineapple jam) - soften if
necessary in the microwave to make it more brushable.
If you want to give it a Queensland flavour - mix Golden circle pineapple
juice with some Bundy rum and thicken with a cup or two of brown sugar (do
this in a saucepan on the stove). Brush on more of the glaze after about 20
minutes and put a handful of soaked hardwood chips (only use ones specially
made for use in barbecues) on the coals for the last 20 to 30 minutes.
It's a great choice for a Christmas centrepiece and is dead easy. Really,
all you're doing is heating the ham through - you don't have to worry about
undercooking or overcooking as it's already cooked! The only tricky bit is
to watch the glaze to make sure it does not burn (you want deep brown not
black) - to turn down the heat, just take off the lid from time to time.
And don't let anyone tell you to do the smoking bit before applying the
glaze. It has to be the other way around or the glaze might not stick to the
surface of the ham.
Cheers
BBQ Blue