There are a few reasons why you should cook gammon in the slow cooker. After trying this easy FOOLPROOF recipe, you’ll see why!
The results are a ham joint packed full of flavour and tenderness, with a honey, mustard and brown sugar glaze for a delicious crunch, all made with simplicity and convenience.
There is nothing better than turning to your trusty slow cooker when it comes to the festive season, when the kitchen gets busy, the oven gets full and time becomes precious.
We have a few secret weapons when it comes to making this slow cooker ham that’s PERFECT for (but not not exclusive to) Christmas time…
- Apple juice and cider – An amazing combination to stew a ham joint in (feel free to only use one)
- The combination of slow cooking followed by a short, sharp roast – This gives us succulent meat AND a crunchy outer crust
I kid you not, this is the most sweet, tangy and satisfying hunk of ham to feed your family and friends with. What’s not to love?!
❗️A quick note to say: This recipe is NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS.
While yes, I use it every single year without fail at Christmas (because what is the festive holiday with a ham, I ask you?) BUT I also make it at other times of the year too.
Gammon is a very cost-effective and tasty meat, and this boneless joint would be perfect for any Sunday lunch or a regular family dinner of ham, egg and chips!
Did you know: You can also cook a Roast Chicken or Beef Joint in the slow cooker too! You could also try out my Campfire Stew if you have a ham joint for the slow cooker.
Why you’ll love this Slow Cooker Ham recipe
⭐️ Delicious hot or cold
⭐️ Doesn’t take up oven space for too long
⭐️ It’s a showstopper to bring to the table!
How we came up with this recipe
I first published this recipe as my Cider Christmas Ham recipe here in 2014. (Oh my goodness, that feels like a lifetime ago!)
I decided to play around with it a little and see if I could simplify it for busy lives. I tried it in the slow cooker (or crock pot if you’re in America) and it was a definite winner.
You can leave it all day if you like, without it needing too much attention, leaving you to get on with other things and free up space in the oven.
While gammon in the slow cooker tastes amazing and is unbelievably tender, I realised if I was going to do this properly, it would have to be finished off in the oven. This is where the all-important honey glaze comes in.
After a half hour short burst in the oven, you’ll see how we can have the best of both worlds with this foolproof recipe that you can use again and again!
Ingredients
- Gammon – I used smoked and boneless, but choice is down to personal preference. You can use unsmoked if you prefer
- Carrot – Peeled and halved
- Onion – Peeled and halved
- Mixed spice – Easily available in most supermarkets
- Cider – Any type of alcoholic cider is fine, or replace with extra apple juice if you don’t want to use alcohol
- Apple juice – Any type of apple juice (the cheap pure ones are fine!)
- Runny honey – Runny is best as you can easily spread it on the ham
- Dark brown sugar – Light brown will work if it’s all you have
- English mustard – This is optional
How to make Slow Cooker Gammon
- Rub the mix into the ham, add all the slow cooker ingredients to the pan and cook according to the recipe below.
2. Take ham out, remove the string and layer of fat. Score and coat in honey and sugar, then roast as per the recipe below.
Substitutions
- Cider – If you’d prefer not to use alcohol for your gammon’s bath in the slow cooker, you can use the whole amount of liquid as apple juice instead
Storing Slow Cooked Gammon
If you are eating the ham cold, it will be fine in the fridge for up to 3 days. Wrap it up well.
Top tips
Type of gammon joint
Ham on the bone does retain moisture and keeps its shape well, but for this recipe I use a boneless joint as it’s easy to handle and easy to carve. It’s personal preference really, just adjust your timings accordingly.
I also prefer to use smoked ham rather than unsmoked as it gives great depth of flavour. However, just choose the best quality (ideally British) ham you can find in the local supermarket. Again, in terms of taste it’s personal preference. Use which bacon you’d buy as a guide.
Amount of liquid
I like to almost cover my ham with the liquid as this makes the cooked ham really juicy and moist. This slow cooker gammon recipe uses 500ml of cider and 1ltr of apple juice. You can vary the amount of apple juice depending on the size of your slow cooker.
Use a meat thermometer
If you are unsure of how to tell if your ham is cooked, you could invest in a meat thermometer. This is the one I have found to be the most reliable and I use it all the time for many recipes. It’s not the cheapest option but it’s better than many I’ve tried.
Make a stock
Rather than discarding the liquid, you can use it for stock instead. Ham stock is great for making soups. Just test to make sure it isn’t too salty before using.
FAQs
The beauty of this recipe is it can take as long as you have.
You can leave it in your slow cooker on HIGH for 4-6 hours, or if you are out all day, leave on LOW for 6-8 hours. It’s so versatile.
Yes, you can cook the ham on the hob for around 2 hours instead.
For this you need to know the weight of your joint. It requires 30 minutes cooker per 450g/1lb, plus an additional 30 minutes. Then finish it in the oven as per the recipe to glaze the joint.
If I cook my Christmas ham this way, I tend to work out the total cooking time, then make sure that the boiling time + oven time = the total, so it’s not overcooked.
My favourite trusty slow cooker is the Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker for gas hobs as you can brown meat beforehand if necessary (I do try and avoid this most of the time though), or if anything needs a quick heat up after slow cooking. It’s also really light which is a bonus.
For induction hobs, I find that the Lakeland Digital 6.5l Slow Cooker is really good too.
This depends on when and how you want to eat it. If it’s part of a buffet, simply carve it up.
You could also eat it sliced with egg and homemade chips, or in a sandwich, or with coleslaw and salad, with Colcannon, diced in pasta sauce, in a pie or even a full roast dinner.
If you’re in the UK, most gammon joints, even smoked ones, are now quite mild. I never soak mine.
However, if you’re concerned about food being too salty, or if that’s not to your taste, you can soak it in fresh cold water for a couple of hours before adding it to the slow cooker.
If you’re in the USA, uncooked ham joints tend to be much stronger in flavour so follow the instructions on that joint about whether you should soak it first.
Both! They’re the same thing (gammon is the meat in its raw form, ham is what it’s called when it’s been cooked). This is why we’re calling it both Slow Cooker Ham and Slow Cooker Gammon in this recipe, because different people call it different things.
At Christmas it tends to be called ham and the rest of the time gammon (I think?!)
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Slow Cooker Gammon {Best Ever Ham!}
Ingredients
For the slow cooker:
- 1 Gammon joint About 2kg
- 1 Carrot Thickly sliced
- 1 Onion Cut into quarters
- 3 tbsp Mixed spice
- 500 ml Cider
- 1 ltr Apple juice Depending on slow cooker size
For the glaze:
- 6 tbsp Runny honey
- 3 tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp English mustard powder Optional
Instructions
- Turn on your slow cooker, this recipe can be done either on high or low depending how hungry you are!
- Quarter the onion and thickly chop the carrot.
- Rub the mixed spice onto the ham.
- Put the onion, carrot and ham joint into your slow cooker.
- Add in your cider, and upto 1ltr of apple juice (the exact quantity depends on the size of your slow cooker – ideally the joint would be covered).
- Place the lid on and cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours. If you can baste, and turn the joint whilet cooking.
- When the cooking time is complete, take out of the slow cooker and discard the vegetables, liquid and spices.
- Remove the string and layer of fat/skin (if your gammon has them). Score the fat.
- Put into a roasting pan and drench in the honey. Pat the sugar onto the honey. (Make sure you line the baking tin with tin foil as the honey and sugar combo can really stick to the pan!)
- Roast for the remaining 30 minutes at about 200C until the ham is just blackening and crispy at the edges.
- When cold, store in the fridge and enjoy whenever!
Potty Mouthed Mummy says
I adore a christmas ham, doing ours next weekend. Could happily have one every week!! This looks gorgeous and completely mouth watering xx
Jo of Jo's Kitchen says
Looks amazing! I love Christmas ham too but usually leave mine until the last minute and do mine on Boxing Day!
Vicki Montague says
Oh gosh I have got to make this!! I always make a ham too but haven’t yet found the right recipe to do each year…so this year I will give this one a go!! Thanks x
Mel says
Sounds like your hubby and mine would get along!
Thanks for featuring my recipe, gorgeous!
Cold ham + mayo: happy me! Must pin your recipe now. I love the look of the glaze on your ham. xxx
Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes says
I love a big homecooked ham at Christmas, I think it’s better than the turkey!
Michelle Reeves (bodfortea) says
I’ve never cooked ham before but this looks delicious! Have linked up with a festive trifle – boozy of course! x
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says
Now that ham looks absolutely amazing, I am going to have to get some of those spice mixes now and get cooking!
Hannah | MakeDo&Push says
This looks absolutely delicious! The Husband is thinking of doing a ham for boxing day so I shall be unsubtly hinting to him about this recipe 😉
I’ve linked up! Hurrah! xxx
Stuart Vettese says
That ham looks so inviting – I can almost taste it! Never had ham for Christmas day itself bit my aunt makes a great one for New Year.
Mummy Tries says
This looks like a serious piece of ham lovely, might have to give it a go 🙂
Julie's Family Kitchen says
Sarah your baked ham looks totally delicious, it’s making me seriously hungry looking at it. When I was growing up we always had ham, beef and turkey at Christmas, I baked ham last year and the kids loved it. Your recipe sounds brilliant, definitely on my list of recipes to try out. Beautiful photos as always. xx
Over a Cuppa says
This looks gorgeous, I have never cooked a ham before, I need to right this! x
Mummy Whiskers says
My husband would love this, I may have to try and make it for him! 🙂
brummymummyof2 says
Oh bab! YUM! You know I will never cook such a thing but it looks beautiful xxx
becky says
Oooppss, sorry Sarah I thought I had commented! This looks amazing and I am soooooo doing this at Christmas as our second meat. Ohhh yum yum! Actually dribbling! X
Elizabeth says
Goodness this ham looks AMAZING! I would like a great big slice or two just now, fried, with some poached eggs please 🙂 Do you deliver?!
Heledd says
Okay, I’m storing this recipe and making it on Christmas Eve. We always have a ham at Christmas and this will be the one this year!! #TastyTuesday xx
By the way I Love Your Blog!!! xx
Not A Frumpy Mum says
This looks so delicious. We always have a ham for Christmas Day, that we cook on Christmas Eve and have on baps that night. I think I may have to give your recipe a go for a change from our usual one. x
Sally - My Custard Pie says
Totally agree that a ham for leftovers at Christmas is non-negotiable. What a lovely recipe….
Honest Mum says
I’ve stopped eating meat recently and not missed it until NOW! Wow that looks gorgeous! Thanks for linking up to #tastytuesdays
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I could just reach through my computer for that ham.
Lee-Ann Demarzo says
Just finishing this ham off in the oven as I type – it tastes divine! So easy to do … might become a winter staple.
Merry Christmas
M Wooding says
I gave this a try today with a just over a kilo of unsmoked gammon cooked in the slow cooker with apple juice and cider with spices, 2hrs in slow cooker and half hour in the oven your recipe for the glaze. Results were really good and very moist gammon thankyou. M 😊
Sarah Barnes says
SO pleased you enjoyed it!
Mary hay says
What spice’s do you use please this ham looks fantastic
Denise Lovell says
Mary, have a look in the herbs and spices aisle for Mixed Spice. I’m definitely going to try this recipe for Christmas!
Kate says
This looks delicious and perfect for our Christmas Eve. Gammon tradition. Has anyone tried this in the Instant Pot?
Jennifer says
I made this a couple of weeks ago as part of a roast dinner and it was beautiful. We had it left over the next day and it wasn’t dried out at all. The flavours were amazing. One of the best slow cooked gammon dishes I’ve cooked. Perfect all year round.
Emily says
The best slow cooker ham I have ever done and so easy. All the family love it x
Sarah Barnes says
Oh YAY! So pleased you liked it Emily, thanks so much for the comment x
Hannah Davies says
Such a great recipe. Probably the best Gammon I’ve ever had. My husband would have me make this every day! Definitely not just for Christmas, great in Summer with salad.
Sarah Barnes says
So happy to hear it went down well Hannah!
Tracy Skilling says
Absolutely loved everything about this! The smell in my house all day long was amazing and my youngest said it smelled like Christmas. It was absolutely delicious and definitely a recipe I’ll be using often. I used a cup of the juices from the slow cooker to make the gravy and served it with garlic and rosemary roast potatoes, mash and roast parsnip, carrot and sweet potato. Yummmm!! I have now sent this recipe to 2 of my friends to try, definitely a winner. Thank you! x
Jo Baker says
Hi, love this recipe and very keen to do it as part of my first Christmas cook (eeek) but had a few queries re the instructions:
– Remove the string and layer of fat/skin (if your gammon has them). Score the fat.
– Put into a roasting pan and drench in the honey. Pat the sugar onto the honey. (Make sure you line the baking tin with tin foil as the honey and sugar combo can really stick to the pan!)
– Roast for the remaining 30 minutes at about 200C until the ham is just blackening and crispy at the edges.
Question – when you remove and score the fat and cover in the honey/sugar do you only roast it for another 30 mins or the fat along with the ham?
Sarah Barnes says
Hi Jo, sorry I’m not quite sure what you mean. If you watch the video in the post you can see the method, perhaps that would help?
Jo Baker says
Cheers Sarah!
I wasnt getting that when you remove the fat there is some residual fat left on the ham that you score and then add the honey and sugar to in order to get the crispy finish.
Video helped – thank you!!!
Helen says
This looks delicious! Does anyone have any suggestions about which cider to use? Or does it not really matter?
Lucy says
Hiya, this looks amazing! What is the spice mix you use?
Sarah Barnes says
It’s just mixed spice from the supermarket 🙂
Rebecca says
I’ve made this today and the other half said it’s the best ham he’s ever eaten! It’s delicious.
Abigail Bennison says
One of the best meals we’ve had! Alongside roasted veg and your braised red cabbage 🥰
Helen Fletcher says
So easy. So delicious. Going to become a Christmas staple!
Sarah says
Thank you fellow Sarah! I love throwing a ham into my slow cooker and tried this over Christmas. My husband said it was the best one I’ve made. Truly easy and delicious. I didn’t have any cider so just went with apple juice and the ham was juicy and so flavoursome. Leftovers made a fantastic quiche and still some for sandwiches. Making it again now!!! Take care x
Declan says
Made my first Christmas dinner this year and used this recipe. It was wonderful.
Barbara says
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now. It’s beautifully easy and tastes gorgeous !! Thank you so much x
Sue P says
Best gammon I’ve ever cooked ! Thank you.
Steph says
I love all your recipes but I have an Aga so would love it if you could put Aga ovens and times on your recipes too! Xx
Rakel Lord says
Made this on Sunday and what a hit, big bonus too that we had a bit left over that I cut up yesterday and made a gorgeous left over pasta dish that fed us yesterday and will again tonight, nothing gone to waste. Thanks for sharing this recepi 🙂
Rakel x
Mandy Gannon says
I made this last year and was soooo delicious I’m making it again. Family coming tomorrow so it will cook overnight and will bake later. My absolute favourite and freezes well too if any left that is
Simon says
Love this recipe. Made it a few times and my 7year old son who just won’t eat, goes mad for it. Can’t get a better recommendation than that!
Also used elderflower cider a couple of times as we had no regular cider. Doesn’t seem to matter which is used, still tastes fabulous.
Marlene says
Excellent no fuss recipe. So delicious and it was enough for three meals and a few sandwiches
Now a regular on my mealtime planner
Ami says
My family and I loved this recipe. It was delicious!
Sam says
We live a good ham and have tried lots of recipes in the past. It’s just in the oven but going to try on brioche buns with egg, pineapple and onion rings. I also have twins plus older and younger siblings. I only discovered you a couple of weeks ago – such a find. Thank you so much. Hubby works from home so got the slow cooker recipes lined up this week. Thank you so much 😊
V R says
Made this last year for a family Christmas meal and it went down a treat!
Planning to make it for New Year lunch tomorrow but just realised husband ignored the list and bought orange juice instead of apple juice (he has been given a severe glare for his oversight😆)
Long shot that you will see this on time, but if you do, will orange juice work, please? 😅
Happy New Year and thank you for all the fab recipes, we always adore everything we try!
Althea Ellery says
This recipe removes all that need to mess about with heavy pots of boiling water. Rubbing with mixed spice a winner too. Made many times and with a smaller piece have successfully cooked in air fryer on baking parchment. 10/10 👍🏻.
Claire says
Made at Christmas and were going in again for Jan… Why not, this is so easy and economical with a smaller piece of gammon I’m making the most of the slow cooker too!!