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Honey and orange glazed ham

Honey and orange glazed ham, photographed for Pinch of Mint

By Tom · Updated

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  • About 3 hours 15 min
  • Takes a bit of care

Christmas for me is only complete with a honey roast ham. My recipe is one packed full of festive flavours and is the perfect centrepiece for your table this Christmas. With it's classically sweet, sharp, sticky and aromatic flavours, it's sure to please the crowds this year and have them talking about it right into the New Year.

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The recipe

Honey and orange glazed ham

Christmas for me is only complete with a honey roast ham.

  • 25 min prep
  • 2 hours 10 min cooking
  • 40 min hands-off
  • Takes a bit of care

Times and difficulty are our estimates from the method, not stopwatch figures.

Quantities
Measurements

Ingredients

For the glaze

Tick things off as you go — they stay ticked if you close the page.

A dotted underline means the amount has been rounded to something you can measure.

Method

  1. Step 1

    Begin by peeling and roughly chopping the carrot (1) and celery (1 celery). Then, cut the bulb of garlic (1 garlic) in half leaving the skin on and half and peel the onion (1).

  2. Step 2

    Place each of the vegetables into a large saucepan. The saucepan must be big enough to hold the gammon joint (1 kg).

  3. Step 3

    Then, add the water (1½ l) into the pan (make sure its enough to fully submerge the gammon) followed by the rind (2 rind) of lemon (1) and orange (2), parsley, bay leaf (2 leaf), cinnamon stick (1 stick), star anise (1 anise), coriander seeds (½ tsp), black peppercorns (1 tsp) and finally the gammon joint (1 kg).

  4. Step 4

    Place the saucepan on high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down and gently simmer until the gammon is cooked. Cook the gammon 20 minutes for every 500g/1lb. Mine weighed 1kg so I cooked it for 40 minutes. Some scum will form on the surface so simply skim it off using a ladle.

  5. Step 5

    For the glaze, place the honey (200 g) into a mixing bowl along with the juice of two oranges (2) and the juice of one lemon (1) and whisk together.

  6. Step 6

    Once the gammon is cooked, take it from the pan and remove the string. Next, cut away the skin leaving a good layer of fat on the ham.

  7. Step 7

    Score the fat on an angle using a paring knife to fashion a diamond pattern and place in a hot oven at 180°C or 350°F for 15 minutes.

  8. Step 8

    After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and stud with cloves by pushing them into the fat.

  9. Step 9

    Using a ladle, pour the glaze over the ham and return into the oven. Check back every 5-10 minutes and baste by spooning the glaze from the bottom of the roasting tray over the ham. Repeat this 3-4 times until the ham is golden, sticky and delicious. This will only take 20-30 minutes.

  10. Step 10

    Rest the ham before carving. I would recommend resting it for at least half the amount of time it took to cook overall. For example, mine took 40 minutes cooking in the pan, plus 30 minutes in the oven, therefore I rested it for 35 minutes before carving.

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Questions people ask

How long does honey and orange glazed ham take?

About 3 hours 15 min from start to finish: 25 min of prep, 2 hours 10 min of cooking, and 40 min hands-off while it waits. That figure is worked out from the method rather than timed with a stopwatch, so give yourself a little more the first time.

How much does this make?

The original recipe did not state a yield, so nothing has been invented for it. The scale control on the recipe card multiplies the quantities instead, which is the honest version of the same thing.

Can I see the ingredients in ounces and pints?

Yes. The metric and imperial switch on the recipe card converts every quantity, rounded to amounts you can actually weigh or measure rather than to four decimal places. Your choice is remembered for every recipe on the site.

Can I cook it ahead?

This one sits in the batch cooking group, which means it was picked for cooking in quantity rather than eaten straight from the pan. Cool it quickly, and freeze it in the portion sizes you will actually want later.