What is gammon?

Gammon is sourced from the hind leg of a pig and is cured by smoking, brining or salt-drying. There is a bit of confusion when it comes to the difference between gammon and ham. Ham is bought already cooked, and gammon needs to be cooked after you buy it. Essentially, gammon becomes ham once it has been cooked!

Usually purchased at the supermarket or local butchers as a whole roasting joint, either boned or boneless, gammon can also be bought in steaks. The meat is succulent when cooked and offers a strong pork flavour.

Gammon can be bought smoked or unsmoked. Unsmoked gammon has a milder flavour from a salt or brine curing. Smoked gammon is cured then hung in a smoker, giving the gammon a richer flavour.

How to cook gammon

A joint of gammon is best oven roasted, with a glaze applied before and throughout the cooking process. You may also wish to soak the joint in water before cooking to remove some salt, as a typical joint can be quite high in sodium.

Making the ideal alternative to beef for a Sunday Roast dinner, and a change from the traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, oven-roasted gammon offers a crispy outer layer wrapping around the moist and succulent inside.

For the same hit of pork flavour in a fraction of the time, you can quickly pan-fry gammon steaks. Like a roasting joint, gammon steaks can be roasted in the oven, just remember to season well.

How long does it take to cook gammon? As a rough guideline, an oven-roasted gammon joint takes around 2-2.5 hours to cook. Gammon steaks can be pan-fried in around 10 minutes and oven-roasted for around 25-30 minutes.

What is gammon ham?

Technically, there’s no such thing as gammon ham. Gammon is just an uncooked joint, whereas ham is cooked. People refer to gammon ham generally as a gammon joint they’ve bought and cooked to be eaten as ham.

What’s the difference between gammon and ham?

Gammon and ham come from the same cut of meat. The main difference is how the joint is prepped.

  • Gammon: Sold raw in a joint or steak and preserved using a wet curing process. It must be boiled or roasted before eating
  • Ham: Sold ready to eat, ready cured or cooked. It can be eaten straight away or heated up

Gammon from Campbells

We have an extensive range of quality pork produce that includes bone-in smoked gammon and boneless smoked gammon joints, as well as bone-in gammon joints and boneless gammon roasts. You’ll also find fresh horseshoe and round gammon steaks.