Slow cooking ham

Cat_M

Hi,
Can't find a clear info online. How much water should I use when slow cooking 2kg ham please? Some sites say no water. The instruction manual says to fill the joint with water but that doesn't sound right?? I thought it was always minimum liquid.

The Hill Billy

Place the ham in a pot & cover with cold water (you may also wish to add peppercorns, a halved onion &/or a bay leaf).
Bring to the boil, the turn down the heat & simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
If the ham is particularly salty, you may wish to change the water half-way through.
Also, if you also plan on baking the joint, you can reduce the boiling time.

musicmammy

I don't measure it but minimal liquid is what I use. Just enough to cover the bottom of the slow cooker. I have used water or apple juice and both were successful. Same amount of liquid regardless of the weight of ham, just the length of cooking time differs.

dudara

It’s really a matter of preference how you cook it.

Soak it it in water overnight and throw away the water. Then fill it back up, add some aromatics if you want, cover and simmer. I often like to finish a boiled ham in the oven so that I can get a bit of crisp and colour on it.

You can also do it in the oven. Place in a baking tray, add some liquid (1-2cm) depth. Cover well with foil making sure no gaps and bake at around 180 C for 45 mins/kg. Plus 20 extra. Towards the end, you can take off the foil, and glaze it if you’d like.

looksee

Two different options here. One is ham cooked in a slow cooker, where you use minimum water and also sugar/honey etc, and the other is 'boiled' ham (which is not boiled it is very gently simmered). I honestly don't think it matters that much exactly how much water you use. Cooking in a slow cooker I think I would be inclined to ensure that the bottom of the cooker is covered with water. You could end up with a very salty piece of meat though, just slow cooking.

So long as you cook it long and gently its hard to damage a piece of ham. What matters is the quality of the ham to start with, and how it has been preserved. I haven't cooked ham in a slow cooker, but I would be inclined to bring it to the boil in a pan, simmer for 20 minutes or so, pour off the water and then put it in the slow cooker with a fresh cooking solution.

When cooking in water I like to leave the ham standing in the water with the heat turned off for half an hour at the end. The water should be brought to the boil then turned down and if necessary the pan pulled half off the heat so the water is barely moving.

Redlim

If you're looking to try the no water method this one's simple where the ham just sits on a bed of brown sugar in the slow cooker. Came out real nice actually. https://babytime.ie/recipe/2-ingredient-slow-cooker-ham-fillet/

Atoms for Peace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbgigPetjOQ

Cat_M

Atoms for Peace wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbgigPetjOQ

Thanks. Because of the salt factor I will boil in water first and then slow cook in minimal fresh water.