What Sort Of Ham is Ham In Coca Cola? What Do I Do With The Cooking Liquid?

Our answer

Cooking a ham in cola will impart a slight sweetness to the ham, which is foiled by the saltiness of the meat itself. However it is only the outside of the ham that will really pick up the sweetness, it does not penetrate all the way through the ham. If your family doesn't like sweet glazed ham then you can omit the glaze and just remove the skin and crisp the fat slightly in the oven before serving.

If you have saved the cooking liquor from the ham then there are a few ways to use it. You can use it as the cooking liquid for braised red cabbage. Thinly shred a head of read cabbage, put in a large pot and add enough of the cooking liquor to come just below the level of the cabbage. Add 2 tablespoons red wine or cider vinegar and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, until the cabbage is tender. You can also use some of the cooking liquor (regular cola rather than the cherry type) as a flavouring for black bean soup or for Boston Baked beans, though you will want to add some stock or water too to make sure the finished dish is not too sweet.

For the US you will need an uncooked ham. Unfortunately these can be quite salty so please see the soaking advice in our earlier post. The sweetness of the soda can help to offset the saltiness to an extent - cooking ham in cola originated in the Southern states where salty country style hams are most popular. If you can only find a fully cooked ham then heat the ham following the supplier's instructions - if you need to cover the ham during reheating then add about ½ inch cola to the bottom of the pan and baste the ham with the cola every 30 minutes. Make the glaze from the recipe, adding 2 tablespoons of cola to the glaze - it will need to bubble for an extra couple of minutes to come to a syrupy consistency. Glaze and finish the ham following the recipe in Feast.