Christmas ham – a special variety of ham
- Type
- Ham
- Level
- Easy
- Rating
- Rate this recipe
Today I’ll show you how to make a Christmas ham yourself. It’s simple and super quick to make.
What makes Christmas? For me, the classic Christmas spices clove, star anise and ginger. And those are exactly what you’ll find in this ham. A very tasty affair if you like the spices.
In general, the Christmas ham is a raw ham from my ham book. However, since time was short that year, I turned it into a cooked ham. However, at the bottom you’ll also find my raw ham version.
Want to learn more about ham? No problem, I wrote down all my knowledge in my ham book. Interested? Explore my ham book.
But now enough talking…
Here you can find the complete Christmas ham recipe as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
Christmas ham – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| pork neck/top leg/back | 1,000 g | 100 % |
Spices per 1 kg
| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| salt | 29.5 g |
| sugar mixture 50/50 (sugar/dextrose) | 3 g |
| Cure #1 | 2.5 g |
| black pepper | 2 g |
| cloves | 1 g |
| allspice | 0.5 g |
| cinnamon | 0.5 g |
| ginger | 0.5 g |
| mace | 0.5 g |
| star anise | 0.25 g |
| cardamom | 0.25 g |
The equipment to make Christmas ham
Spice grinder/ mortar:
Freshly ground spices taste best. But of course you can also use ground ones. It is best to use a spice grinder. Alternatively, you can use a mortar. Here, however, be careful that it is really very finely ground.
Make Christmas ham – Step-By-Step Instructions
Remove any tendons, fibers and silverskins from the meat. Make sure there are no large cuts or “pockets” in the meat. Now weigh the meat. Note the weight and then calculate how much salt and spices you need. Then weigh all the ingredients
Put the spices in a mortar and grind them.
Spread the spices evenly on all sides of the meat.
Put the meat into a bag. Make sure all the spices end up in the bag with it.
Vacuum the meat.
Place the bag in the refrigerator for the minimum curing time (1.5 days/cm thickness of meat). Turn the bag over occasionally.
Cook the Christmas ham in the bag at 68 °C (154.4 °F) for about 4 hours.
Take the ham out of the bag and dry it.
Your Christmas ham is ready 🙂 Let it cool down overnight.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Christmas ham?
What is a Christmas ham?
A Christmas ham is an ordinary cured ham carrying the spices you associate with Christmas. There is no separate cut behind the name and no separate technique. Mine is cloves, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger over a piece of pork neck, and everything else about it is the ham I would make in June.
Which ham it turns into is up to you. Cured and then cooked in the bag, the way steps 7 to 9 do it, you get a sliceable cooked ham that is ready the next morning. Cured and then hung up to dry, the way the raw ham variant at the end of this post does it, you get a raw ham that needs weeks. I wrote this one as a cooked ham because the year was nearly over and the raw version would not have been ready in time.
How long is the shelf life of the Christmas ham?
How long is the shelf life of the Christmas ham?
Your Christmas ham will keep covered in the refrigerator for about a week. The alternative is to vacuum pack the ham in portions. When vacuumed, it should keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. You can also freeze it. This will increase the shelf life many times over.
Christmas ham – raw ham variant
Follow the steps above up to and including point 6.
7. After the curing time you can take the meat out of the bag and rinse it, then dry it with a kitchen towel.
8. Hang the meat in a dark place to dry. It should ideally be around 12 degrees (53.6 °F) and 75% humidity.
9. Leave the meat to mature for at least a week or as long as you like. Check it regularly.
10. Your Christmas ham ready 🙂 Enjoy!
