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Honey Roast Gammon Joint

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Recipe Card Jump to Video Print Recipe

We show you how to cook the best honey roast gammon joint.

We give you the cooking time per kg for how long to boil gammon in a pan and the instant pot/pressure cooker gammon method.

Honey Roast ham joint on a wooden board with three slices cut from it with a honey stick coated in honey and a dollop of mustard on the sides

A simple honey and mustard glaze is poured over the boiled ham before being oven-roasted giving a delightful sticky, sweet taste.

Most popular at Christmas, but we love it all year round for a delicious Sunday roast dinner with all the trimmings, use up leftover slices of ham for lunch!

We also have a slow cooker gammon joint recipe, and a gammon steak recipe you may want to try.

Jump to:

How to cook a honey roast gammon joint?

Check out the video below for easy-to-follow steps to creating this simple roast gammon dinner.

The recipe card instructions tell you how to long to boil and roast a 2kg gammon joint. But we have also given the cooking times for per kg for all gammon joint sizes.

Jump to Recipe for the best way to cook gammon joint.

Should I boil or roast a Gammon Joint?

You can boil or roast a gammon joint, we find combining the two methods, is best resulting in moist meat from boiling. With a delicious sticky roasted honey glaze coating from oven roasting

Boiling a Gammon Joint is quicker than roasting alone and gives moister Gammon slices.

Honey Roast Gammon slices on a wooden chopping board

However, to give the glaze the best finish, it needs a little time to roast in the oven.

Gammon boiled in a pan or a pressure cooker then coated in a delicious sticky glaze to finish off in the oven.

How to boil gammon?

When boiling gammon you need to cover it with water, you can add herbs, peppercorns, onion or vegetables can also be added to the boiling step if desired.

We love the taste of the ham as it is and to add flavour from the glaze instead! So we keep it simple with just a couple of bay leaves.

A gammon joint cooking in a silver pot of boiling water

Make sure to submerge the gammon joint to cover over the top with water, if you lose water during cooking add more.

Also, it should be noted that although it's called boiled ham or gammon, it should not be boiled for the whole duration; simply bring it to the boil then lower it to a simmer.

How long to boil gammon joint per kg?

See below for a gammon joint cooking time calculator chart for how long to boil gammon joints of different sizes on the hob or using an instant pot, pressure cooker.

Gammon joint sizeHow long to boilHow long to pressure cook
1 kg (2.2lb)45 minutes25 minutes
2 kg (4.4lb)1 hours 30 minutes50 minutes
3 kg (6.6lb)2 hour 15 minutes1 hours 15 minutes
4 kg (8.8lb)3 hours1 hours 40 minutes
5 kg (11lb)3 hours 45 minutes2 hours 5 minutes
Choose boil or pressure cook method - then oven roast the Gammon joint for final 30 minutes

So now you know how long to boil gammon, no matter the joint size. Time to turn this simple boiled ham into a honey glazed roast gammon

The roasting time for boiled gammon is 30 minutes, this cooking time is the same for all boiled gammon joint sizes.

The gammon is cooked already you are just roasting the fat layer and adding a delicious glaze.

Pressure Cooker Gammon Method

To speed things up, you can use an instant pot or pressure cooker to cook the gammon Joint. No checking in on it, leave it for the allotted time.

water added to boneless gammon joint in a pressure cooker
pressure cooker Pressure King Pro on Meat setting 50 minutes

If you haven't got a Pressure Cooker, I highly recommend the Pressure King Pro, we have had ours for 3 years now and use it every week!

You will see below in the recipe card both instructions for how to pressure cook gammon using a pressure king pro or instant pot, or how to pan boil the gammon!

Gammon joint in a pressure cooker pot with a bay leaf on top

Removing skin from Gammon?

After the gammon has boiled, it is best to remove the thick skin, leaving the fat layer intact.

The gammon fat will be super soft and ready for scouring in a diamond pattern; we then added cloves for extra flavour!

Cutting the skin of the gammon joint with a silver knife
Scoring criss cross pattern on the fat of the ham joint with a silver knife
Pushing cloves into the fat of the gammon joint with fingers

In all honesty, we went a bit OTT with cloves here but wanted it to look even and well covered for the photo! You can use half the amount we used!

Honey and mustard glaze

A simple glaze for roast gammon is this honey and mustard glaze, it is easy to make with equal amounts of runny clear honey and English mustard.

Honey being poured into a clear glass measuring jug
English mustard being poured into a clear glass measuring jug
Mixing the honey and mustard together with a silver fork

You could try out our Sticky Beer and Honey Glaze instead for another option.

Pour your chosen glaze over the top of the gammon joint, making sure to save some to add again halfway through roasting.

I also highly recommend adding a layer of foil under the gammon joint as the honey is hard to clean off the baking tray!

Pouring honey and mustard glaze over the top of the gammon joint on a baking tray lined with tin foil

How long to cook glazed gammon in oven?

Oven roast glazed gammon in a preheated oven at 180°c fan / 200°c / 400°f for 30 minutes; halfway through add more glaze to the top.

Glazed ham joint on a baking tray lined with tin foil being placed into the oven by hands
Re glazing the top of the ham joint with a black rubber brush
Honey Roast Gammon on a wooden board with a coated honey stick and a dollop of English mustard on the side

When finished remove from oven and cover loosely with foil, allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Cutting slices of the honey roast gammon joint on a wooden chopping board with a silver knife and a meat fork holding the joint in place

You have got to agree that it is quite a masterpiece roast dinner to bring to the Christmas dinner table!

Glazed gammon roast joint with crispy roast potatoes and vegetables served on a white plate on a tartan table cloth

There is enough to serve 8 people with a 2kg gammon joint.

Gammon Serving Suggestions

A roast gammon is obviously great served for a traditional Sunday roast dinner served with roast potatoes and roasted parsnips, apple sauce and yorkshire puddings as seen below.

A sunday roast dinner served a white plate which consist of two slices of honey roast gammon, roast potatoes, peas, carrots , roasted parsnips, flawless Yorkshire puddings and apple sauce

Honey roast gammon is also great served with any of the below.

Or chop gammon into cubes for adding to

Slices of honey and mustard glazed honey roast ham on a wooden chopping board with a honey stick coated in honey and a dollop of mustard on the side

📖 Step by Step Recipe

Honey Roast ham joint coated in a honey and mustard glaze on a wooden board with three slices cut from it with a honey stick coated in honey and a dollop of mustard on the sides

Honey Roast Gammon Joint

Luke and Kay - Flawless Food
We show you how to cook the best honey roast gammon joint. We give you the cooking time per kg for how long to boil gammon in a pan, as well as the instant pot/pressure cooker gammon method.
A simple honey and mustard glaze is poured over the boiled ham before being oven-roasted giving a delightful sticky, sweet taste.
Most popular at Christmas, but we love it all year round for a delicious Sunday Roast dinner and leftover slices of ham are perfect for lunch!
Instructions shown for 2kg gammon joint recipe, cooking times for other sizes can be seen in the notes section
5 from 128 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Oven Cook 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American, British
Servings 8 People
Calories 347 kcal

Equipment

pressure cooker or hob

Ingredients
  

  • 2 kg Gammon/Ham Joint (4 ½ lb) unsmoked/ smoked - personal preference
  • 500 ml Water (2 cup)
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 12 cloves

Honey & Mustard Glaze

  • 4 tablespoon Honey
  • 4 tablespoon English Mustard

Or Beer and Honey Glaze option (click through)

    Instructions
     

    • Soak the 2 kg Gammon/Ham Joint (4 ½ lb) for a few hours in cold water, we normally do it overnight, or if you don't have time, rinse under cold water a few times to wash away excess saltiness.
      Water being poured on top of a gammon joint in a silver pot

    Pan Boiled Gammon

    • Place in a deep pan, fat side up, and fill the pan with enough water to cover the gammon joint.
      Add 2 Bay Leaves and bring to a boil.
      Turn heat down to a simmer and leave to cook uncovered for 1 ½ hours. Top up with more water if gammon is sticking out of the water?
      A gammon joint cooking in a silver pot of boiling water
    • Mix together the glaze ingredients 4 tablespoon Honey and 4 tablespoon English Mustard .
      English mustard being poured into a clear glass measuring jug
    • After 1 ½ hours, remove from pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Remove netting from the boiled gammon joint.
      Cutting the netting on a ham joint with a silver knife
    • Remove the skin/rind away from the gammon leaving a juicy layer of fat
      Cutting the skin of the gammon joint with a silver knife
    • Score the fat layer of the gammon with a sharp knife into diamonds
      Scoring criss cross pattern on the fat of the ham joint with a silver knife
    • Push 12 cloves into the corners of each diamond.
      Pushing cloves into the fat of the gammon joint with fingers
    • Cover a baking tray with foil, before adding gammon joint on top.
      Pour most of the honey and mustard glaze over the top and save a little to reglaze halfway through oven cooking.
      Pouring honey and mustard glaze over the top of the gammon joint on a baking tray lined with tin foil
    • Place in preheated oven at 180°c fan / 200°c / 400°f for 15 minutes.
      Glazed ham joint on a baking tray lined with tin foil being placed into the oven by hands
    • Reglaze by brushing over remaining honey and mustard glaze.
      Re glazing the top of the ham joint with a black rubber brush
    • Cook for a final 15 minutes keep an eye on it and remove sooner if the honey glaze begins burning. Cover with loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving
      Honey Roast Gammon on a wooden board with a coated honey stick and a dollop of English mustard on the side
    • Carve slices of gammon to your desired thickness.
      Cutting slices of the honey roast gammon joint on a wooden chopping board with a silver knife and a meat fork holding the joint in place
    • Serve with your choice of sides.
      A sunday roast dinner served a white plate which consist of two slices of honey roast gammon, roast potatoes, peas, carrots , roasted parsnips, flawless Yorkshire puddings and apple sauce

    Pressure cooker method boiled ham

    • Drain the water and place the 2 kg Gammon/Ham Joint (4 ½ lb) fat side facing up in the pressure cooker pot
      Add the 2 Bay Leaves and pour 500 ml Water (2 cup) over the top, it will not cover the gammon, which is fine, it will cook in the steam.
      water added to boneless gammon joint in a pressure cooker
    • Close the lid, pressure valve turned to the closed position.
      Place the pressure cooker on meat setting for 50 minutes.
      pressure cooker Pressure King Pro on Meat setting 50 minutes
    • Once the Pressure cooker is finished, allow 10 min natural release.
      Carefully remove the meat from Pressure cooker.
      Follow from step 3 above, to oven roast the pressure cooked gammon
      Gammon joint in a pressure cooker pot with a bay leaf on top

    Video

    Notes

    If you have a different size joint adjust cooking time accordingly......

    Pan Method

    Bring to boil, then simmer for 45 min Per Kg / 20min per lb
    The following joint sizes on the hob, simmer for time indicated below, and 30 min in oven to crisp off.
    • 1kg - 45 min
    • 2kg - 1hr 30 min
    • 3kg - 2hr 15 min
    • 4kg - 3hr
    • 5kg - 3hr 45min
    Time in oven to brown glaze off is always about 30 minutes regardless of the size of joint.

    Pressure Cooker Method-

    Pressure cook for 25 min Per Kg / 11 min per lb. Allow 10-minute natural release on all joint size.
    The following joint sizes in pressure cooker take time indicated below, plus 10 min natural release and 30 min in oven to crisp off.
    • 1kg - 25 min
    • 2kg - 50 min
    • 3kg - 1hr 15 min
    • 4kg - 1hr 40 min
    • 5kg - 2hr 5min
     

    Nutrition

    Calories: 347kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 55gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 157mgSodium: 4498mgPotassium: 943mgSugar: 1gCalcium: 36mgIron: 5mg
    Keyword boiled gammon, Christmas dinner, Christmas Dinner Alternative, Gammon joint, honey and mustard, Honey Roast Gammon, pressure cooker gammon, Roast Gammon, Thanksgiving Dinner
    Tried this recipe? Share an image on Facebook / Instagram / PinterestPlease mention @flawlessfooduk or tag #flawlessfooduk!

    This post was originally published on 10/12/2019 and has been modified on 21/04/2023 with updated recipe card and serving suggestions.

    Plus simplified roast gammon cooking time calculator with times per kg. How to make honey roast gammon joint with a simple honey and mustard glaze.

    Frequently Asked Questions?

    Does gammon need to be soaked?

    Most store bought gammon joints in the UK are ok to use straight away, I normally soak for a few hours to remove some of the saltiness. If buying from the butchers ask if it will need soaking first, it depends how they have cured it?Water being poured on top of a gammon joint in a silver pot

    Do I cook gammon joint with netting on?

    Yes, keep netting on when boiling to keep it together, and remove before removing skin to roast.Cutting the netting on a ham joint with a silver knife

    Should gammon skin be removed?

    The tough gammon skin should be removed, leaving behind a layer of fat which soaks up the glaze and becomes crispy when oven baked. Cutting the skin of the gammon joint with a silver knife

    Always makes an appearance at our Christmas table! A firm family favourite. Also great for boxing day when we like to pig out on cold meats and cheeses!

    Pin image of our Honey Roast gammon on a wooden board with three slices cut from it with a honey stick coated in honey and a dollop of mustard on the sides

    More Roast Dinner Recipes

    We have loads of roast dinners to inspire your next Sunday roast, from cheap joints of beef topside or slow roast silverside.

    To more luxury prime rib roast beef. Delicious slow roast leg of lamb or lamb shoulder.

    If you like pork, try our roasted pork belly another affordable roasting joint.

    Hope you enjoyed this honey gammon roast joint recipe and found it easy to follow? Please spare some time to leave us a comment/review below.

    More Dinner recipes Recipes

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Nicole Bescoby

      Saved this recipe to use for Christmas Dinner this year. My family will be surprised and impressed 😂😋

      Reply

      • Luke and Kay

        Thank you for sharing your experience with our Honey Roast Gammon Joint, Nic! We are so glad to hear you enjoyed it and were inspired to share it with your family. We know Christmas dinner can be a special time of togetherness and love, and we hope your family enjoys their dinner. Wishing you all a very merry holiday! 🙂

        Reply

    2. Debbie

      5 stars
      Followed this recipe for Boxing Day sandwiches and it turned out fantastically well, with compliments from everyone!
      As I hadn’t prepared the ingredients in advance and didn’t have any cloves to hand, I improvised with slices of orange instead, inserting them into the scored fat.
      The oranges tasted really good with the gammon, although I will make sure to source all the ingredients in advance next time so that I may try the original recipe!
      Thank you so much for this.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Thank you for trying our Honey Roast Gammon Joint recipe, Debbie! I'm glad to hear that it turned out fantastically well and that everyone enjoyed it.

        I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have any cloves on hand to use in the recipe, but I'm glad to hear that you improvised with slices of orange instead. The oranges tasted great with the gammon and I'm sure next time you'll be able to try the original recipe using all of the ingredients.

        Thank you again for trying our recipe and for your kind words. 🙂

        Reply

    3. Debbie

      5 stars
      Followed this recipe for Boxing Day sandwiches and it turned out fantastically well, with compliments from everyone!
      As I hadn’t prepared the ingredients in advance and didn’t have any cloves to hand, I improvised with slices of orange instead, inserting them into the scored fat.
      The oranges tasted really good with the gammon, although I will source the ingredients in advance next time so that I may try the original recipe!
      Thank you so much for this.

      Reply

    4. Shaun

      5 stars
      Pretty much the perfect ham recipe. The only change I made was soaking the joint overnight because I'm not keen on salt. Changed the water once, second soak I added some aromatics but the final boil was au naturel like yourselves, great flavour. I had one dinner and a sandwich, her indoors polished the rest off!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Thank you for trying our Honey Roast Gammon Joint, Shaun! We're glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you found the recipe easy to follow. It sounds like you made some great modifications and got the perfect flavour profile for your taste buds. We hope you'll give us a try again in the future.

        Reply

    5. Tina Lamb

      5 stars
      Followed the instructions to boil and roast the joint. Was very impressed with both the taste and how moist the gammon was. The glaze was good too.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Thank you, Tina, for the great review 🙂
        So glad your Gammon's joint came out great, and you liked the glaze also 😉

        Reply

      • Hazel

        Hi it looks fantastic but can I slow cook in a multi cook ninja

        Reply

    6. Marie

      5 stars
      It looks delicious. Very good instructions and very simple. I will try this method.
      I would like to use my tower precision cooker but I don't understand the use of another pot inside and how much water do I need for a 2kg gammon.

      Reply

    7. Susan Morley

      5 stars
      Brilliant to have all the alternative instructions and timings for pan and pressure cooking all together, I have mine in the pressure cooker now, and will roast with the honey and mustard glaze later, can't wait to taste!
      Thank you 😁

      Reply

      • Kay

        Glad our gammon joint recipe has been helpful to you Susan. Hope you enjoyed your gammon as much as we did this year!

        Reply

    8. Sally

      Hi many thanks for the cooking times.
      We have a ham every Christmas and I always cook it on Christmas Eve. Every year I have to search the internet for cooking times. This year I bought a notebook for cooking tips and this will be the very first entry.

      We wish you a very merry Christmas and hope the New Year brings you everything you wish for.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Sally,

        Glad you found our Gammon Roast Joint cooking times so helpful, very excited to be your first entry in your cooking tips book. Hope some more of our recipes will take your fancy too!

        Hope you and your family had a fantastic Christmas day and a very Happy New year to you!

        Thanks again,

        Kay & Luke

        Reply

    9. Denise Edwards

      Thanks. Seems easy enough. Following recipe later today. Merry Christmas

      Reply

    10. Jenny Johnson

      This sounds delicious! I would like to cook this the day before as we have church Christmas morning so rushed and no pressure cooker and we celebrate at lunch. Do you think it would work to do the simmering the day before, cool, put in the fridge and then heat Christmas day adding the glaze. Thinking it would need a bit longer than the 30 minutes as coming from the fridge cold. Any thoughts?

      Reply

      • Luke

        Hi Jenny,

        Yes, boiling the gammon joint the day before will work, prepare it up to step 5, scoring gammon fat.

        To finish the gammon in the oven the next day from chilled I would first warm it in the oven without the cloves and glaze and cover with foil at 180°c fan / 200°c / 400°f for 20 minutes.

        Then remove foil and add a few cloves and the glaze.

        Continue cooking the glazed gammon uncovered at the same temperature for 15 minutes then reglaze and finish for another 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it and add foil if browning to much.

        Wishing you and your family a fabulous Christmas Day.

        Luke & Kay
        PS. We are making ours today too!

        Reply

    11. Andrew Evans

      5 stars
      This is how i cook my gammon joint, however, i also pre-boil my joint in coke first, bring to boil and then drain, repeat and then carry on as per recipe though i only add honey as the glaze as not everyone likes mustard.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Thank you, Andrew for the comment and review 🙂
        We have cooked gammon in coke before, and the kids loved it 😉
        I hope you enjoyed your glazed gammon; enjoy!!

        Reply

    12. Liz

      5 stars
      This is my dad's favorite type of meat but I think it's called something different here in the US. I'ms end this recipe to my mom!

      Reply

    13. Allyssa

      5 stars
      This is perfection! It taste really amazing and I can say that I highly recommend this one! Thank you so much for sharing this! Super helpful and Job well done!

      Reply

    14. INSCOL

      Great !! I loved it.

      Reply

    15. Jere Cassidy

      5 stars
      I have never heard of gammon but realized it is close to ham. This is the perfect recipe for the holiday's and that glaze looks amazing.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Thank you so much, Jere 🙂
        The glaze just brings the ham/gammon so much flavour, enjoy!!

        Reply

    16. Jacqueline Debono

      5 stars
      I love gammon at Christmas! I think I like it even more than Turkey! Your glaze sounds delicious!

      Reply

      • Kay

        We prefer it to Turkey which is why we do both!!

        Reply

    17. Simone

      I just love that glaze, it sound so delish! What a great holiday recipe 🙂

      Reply

      • Kay

        thank you we love it too!

        Reply

    18. Monica

      5 stars
      This looks so delicious! I have never heard of or cooked Gammon. You gave such clear and complete details on how to prepare this, that I feel very confident I can cook this for my family of six. Thank you for a new recipe!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Perfect for big families, glad our step by steps are helping x

        Reply

    19. Aimee DiPasquale

      That looks delicious. I have never heard of Gammon.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Aimee
        Thank you, we call it Gammon but I'm sure in the states they call a Ham joint same thing really!
        Hope you enjoy if you try this recipe!!

        Reply

    20. Ai

      5 stars
      Oh man, that glaze looks like perfection!! Those veggies also look perfectly roasted! YUM!!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Ai
        Thank you for great words
        The glaze was perfection and the roasted veg was superb!!
        Enjoy!

        Reply

      • Leon Iveson

        For those who have never heard of gammon, it is ham when uncooked and gammon when it is cooked.

        Reply

        • Phil

          Actually it's gammon when uncooked and ham when cooked!

          Reply

    21. Nyxie

      This looks so amazing. I love honey glaze over my gammon joints, for some reason they always taste better with honey.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Nyxie
        Thank you for comment
        We loved the gammon and honey glaze is definitely our favourite for this recipe!!

        Reply

    22. Gari

      Color came out just perfect and that glaze, I'm all in.

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Gari
        Thank you!!
        We loved this gammon recipe and it came out great with our Beer and honey glaze!

        Reply

        • Lynne

          Could you please tell me how to make the beer and honey glaze plz??🙏🥰

          Reply

    23. Genevieve

      5 stars
      This Gammon recipe looks so good and perfect for Christmas!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Genevieve
        Thank you, this gammon was lush and yes it's fantastic for Christmas!!
        Enjoy!

        Reply

    24. Angela

      This looks so simply delicious and juicy!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Hi Angela
        It sure was delicious!!
        Thanks for your comment

        Reply

    25. Erika

      5 stars
      I love salmon and adding the cloves is a great idea!

      Reply

      • Kay

        I assume you meant Gammon! lol Not sure the cloves would work with Salmon! It was lovely!

        Reply

    26. Colleen | Bakes & Blunders

      5 stars
      That glaze looks amazing! Heck, the honey and mustard glaze sounds good too. Looks delish 😀

      Reply

      • Kay

        Give it a go you will love it!

        Reply

    27. Raquel

      This looks really fancy and upscale, but you made it seem really easy to prepare. That's awesome! Thanks for sharing (:

      Reply

      • Kay

        It was so easy! I have always done it on hob previous years, this is the first time in pressure cooker! Came out even better!

        Reply

    28. Christy Boston

      You had me at the beer and honey glaze. This looks so interesting and sumptuous - a great cold weather recipe to try this week, I'm thinking!

      Reply

      • Kay

        Beer and Honey glaze is perfection! I don't even normally like beer!

        Reply

    29. Tamara J

      5 stars
      I have never tried a gammon joint, but this is definitely on my list of foods to try very soon! That glaze looks so amazing and flavorful.

      Reply

      • Kay

        You will love it! The glaze was so good! We just finished off the last bit tonight with Yorkshire puddings, Apple Sauce, Stuffing and Vegetables!

        Reply


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    Many thanks,
    Kay & Luke
    Flawless Food