Succulent ham cooked in cranberry juice and spices, Slow Cooker Christmas Ham is a fragrant and delicious combination. Perfect for serving over the festive season with all the trimmings.
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Christmas Ham in the slow cooker
What I love about this recipe is that it’s a Christmas twist on a classic marmalade and mustard gammon. By cooking the gammon in cranberry juice, the juice adds an amazingly sweet flavour to the meat that you can taste with every slice!
It’s also a really attractive crowd-pleasing dish to make. Once cooked, set this in the middle of your table (complete with holly and mistletoe like our pictures) and you’re guaranteed to get compliments on how it looks (and hopefully tastes!).
What’s the best ham to buy?
Supermarkets typically stock two different types of ham – smoked and unsmoked. Slow cooker cranberry and orange gammon requires unsmoked meat.
Outside of the UK gammon is often sold salted, so it’s necessary to soak the gammon in water overnight before cooking it in a crockpot. Check the instructions on the cut of meat you’ve bought, and don’t forget to factor this into the cooking times if required.
Why make this recipe
- Looking for something beautiful to serve over the holiday season? Look no further. This Christmas ham makes a beautiful centrepiece on any festive table.
- Ham tastes (and smells!) wonderful with fragrant spices such as clove and cinnamon.
- Keeps well in the fridge for up to three days and makes fantastic sandwiches with a lashing of English mustard the next day!
Equipment
- I used my Crockpot DuraCeramic 5L digital slow cooker.
- An electric fan oven to bake the ham after glazing.
What you’ll need
Exact ingredient quantities can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
How to make it
Here’s how to make it.
- Cook the Ham – Slow cook the ham in the cranberry juice with the vegetables, mixed spice and a few slices of the orange, giving it a beautiful sweet and fruity flavour.
- Glaze ingredients – Prepare the ingredients for the glaze.
- Mix the glaze. Mix together well to form a thick syrup. together the ingredients for the glaze.
- Score the ham. Once cooked in the slow cooker remove the skin and most of the fat. Then score the remaining fat with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern. Apply the cloves to the cross sections of the diamond pattern and paint over the glaze.
- Stud the oranges – Slice the remainder of the orange and use cloves to pin the slices to the outside of the ham.
- Bake – Bake in the oven to create a wonderful sticky rind. The orange will brown beautifully and release extra flavour to the edges.
Serving Suggestions
Once the ham is cooked allow it to cool for at least 40 minutes and then slice thickly. It’s versatile enough to go with all the trimmings of a roast dinner or with more simple sides such as chips and fresh vegetables.
How can I use left over Slow Cooker Christmas Ham?
If you have some leftover ham after your dinner, it’ll keep for three days in the fridge wrapped well or in sealed container. Here’s some ideas of what to do with leftovers.
- Sliced finely it’ll work brilliantly as a sandwich filling.
- Why not make homemade ham and mushrooms pizzas?
- Roughly chop and stir into creamy pasta for a delicious indulgent meal the next day.
Slow Cooker Roasts
Looking for some other options for a fabulous centre piece for a celebratory meal? Why not try our Slow Cooker Roast Beef, Slow Cooker Gammon in Cola or Slow Cooker Lamb Shoulder?
Slow Cooker Christmas Ham
Equipment
Ingredients
Slow Cooking
- 2 kg (4.5 lb) gammon joint
- 1.5 l (6.5 cups) cranberry juice
- 1 white onion roughly chopped
- 1 carrot roughly chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp mixed spice
Gammon Glaze
- 20 cloves
- 1 orange sliced
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 3 tbsp muscavado sugar
- 3 tbsp orange marmalade
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
Instructions
Slow Cooking
- Add all of the slow cooking ingredients to the slow cooker (gammon, cranberry juice, onion, carrot, bay leaves and mixed spice), and cook on low for 7 hours or 3.5 hours on high (see recipe notes for cooking temperatures). Ensure that the gammon is sat on top of some vegetables, fat side up (not on the bottom of the slow cooker), and that the cranberry juice covers the gammon (see pics for guidance).
Gammon Glaze
- Heat your oven to 190C. Whilst it's heating, mix together the mustard, sugar, marmalade and cider vinegar. If you're struggling to mix the ingredients, heat them gently in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen them up.
- Remove the fat from the gammon – you should be able to pull it off easily without a knife. Score a diamond pattern into the remaining fat, and press a clove into each corner of the lattice.
- Cover the gammon in half of the glaze, then add sliced orange on top. Hold the orange in place with cloves, if required.
- Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then add the remaining glaze and bake for a further 10 minutes.
31 Best Christmas Crockpot Recipes For An Easy Meal - All Nutritious
Monday 11th of September 2023
[…] 13. Christmas Ham […]
Una
Monday 26th of December 2022
Made this with farm shop ham hocks Delicious and will make it again for sure Only addition of mine was sliced apple which
Una
Wednesday 21st of December 2022
Can I cook Ham Hocks the same way? Please advise
John
Wednesday 17th of November 2021
This is the best gammon l have ever done , have now been told that I’m Making it for Christmas, it is so easy and so good
Bec
Friday 19th of November 2021
Fantastic to hear that you enjoyed this, we are also having this over Christmas!
John
Friday 12th of November 2021
The gammon was the best I have ever done , definitely will cook this one again 10 out of 10