How Should I Adjust The Recipe To Make A Small Ham in Coca Cola?

Asked by eddy_. Answered on 16th June 2021

Full question

Dear Nigella & Team,

I would very much like to try making Ham in Coca Cola (from Nigella Bites) but I am a bit worried about my approach.

My oven is a relatively small one though I could squeeze a 750g unsmoked gammon in methinks. I've been browsing other answers and learnt that the simmering time is about "1 hour per kilogram", so I suppose I should simmer my gammon for 45 minutes in 2 litres of oniony Coca Cola, am I correct, please?

As regards the glaze, I am not sure what to do, as I highly doubt my oven (and electricity at home) could afford going for 220°C Fan (let alone 240°C conventional). Can I instead adopt the Slow-Cooked Black Treacle Ham (from Simply Nigella) method — to go for 180°C Fan and blitz the glaze for around 20 minutes, please?

Or, should I reduce the blitzing time, too, for the glaze, given my relatively small gammon, please?

Sorry for asking so many questions in one go...thank you very much in advance for your time and help!

Ham in Coca-Cola

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Ham In Coca-Cola (from NIGELLA BITES) simmers gammon (a cured but uncooked ham) in cola and then cooks the ham in a hot oven to caramelise the sugar glaze. The timings given are for a 2kg gammon and for smaller cuts you should allow approximately 1 hour per kilo cooking time. Remember to add an extra 15 minutes if the ham has been in the fridge, so the 750g gammon should take about 1 hour. To check if the ham is cooked you can also use an instant-read thermometer and the internal temperature should be at least 75°C.

For the glaze you do need a very hot oven and the oven baking time does not really cook the ham any more, it is just to melt and caramelise the sugar. So the time is the same in the oven, regardless of the size of the ham. You could use the method for the Slow-Cooked Black Treacle Ham but we would suggest maybe using the glaze from that recipe, as the treacle tends to caramelise at a lower temperature. Alternatively, if your oven has a function that allows the fan and grill (broiler) to operate at the same time then you could try using this function on the highest heat as this will melt the glaze more quickly. But if you do this keep a close eye on the ham and turn/reposition it if necessary, to make sure that the sugar melts evenly, as the sugar can catch and burn more easily under the direct heat of the grill.