Published November 16, 2022 Updated December 17, 2024
Your holiday dinner for at least one of the meals should definitely be this Instant Pot Gammon made with a vegetable trivet and a delicious honey and brown sugar glaze! It's EASY and perfect for Christmas or any family gathering.
Pressure Cooker Ham
This 1.7 kg uncooked gammon joint is cooked on high pressure in the instant pot for 18 minutes cooking time. Talk about a convenient instant pot ham recipe to have in your collection. The entire process takes less than an hour!
Incase you're thinking that 5 minutes per 500grams is not sufficient, let me say that it would depend on the size of your gammon for starters. As explained below in the faq's it cooks to perfection, sliceable, tender and juicy after cooking for a further 30 minutes in and out the oven glazing every few minutes.
The options when cooking any food are varied, cook to cook, oven, stovetop, air fryer, temperatures etc. these are all to be considered. This gammon cooks in the instant pot and finishes in the oven.
Can you finish the glaze in the air fryer instead of the oven? I don't know, I have never tried it. I'm sure it will work but for me, nothing can caramelize like the oven. Based purely on the space for even heat distribution. My two cents.
The gammon meat is juicy and tender thanks to the foil wrap and cooking broth with a sweet and sticky glaze. I've served it here with a strawberry compote and it is as equally delicious with a Classic Christmas Cranberry Sauce.
We still love our popular Christmas gammon (nothing will ever change that) they are both delicious just the timing is a fraction of the time in the instant pot.
Those who know me, know that I will make both these recipes during the course of the holidays. Making gammon in the IP is convenient, making gammon the traditional way is for me personally more spiritually aligned. Filled with memories of all our family gatherings. We would all bring our Christmas lunches together from roast chicken, potatoes, dessert, salads, pasta salads, you name it - it was there!
Ingredients You Will Need
Gammon/Ham: I've used a medium size of smoked deboned (boneless) ham with a weight of roughly 1.6 / 1.7kg.
Smoked boneless gammon is not as salty therefore doesn't need soaking the night before. You can also use a bone-in ham too just check that it fits into your Instant Pot.
Carrots: The classic stew or slow cook meal always has carrots and celery.
Celery: You only need two stalks if they're small and one if your celery is large. Remember we have a 1.7kg gammon to fit into the instant pot so we don't want to overcrowd it.
Onion: Leave the peels on they give the stock a nice color. You discard the veggies later anyway.
You get a beautiful homemade stock from your vegetable trivet which you can use for any of your recipes that require stock.
Ingredients For the Glaze Recipe
Muscovado sugar: If you can't find muscovado or demerara use any brown sugar.
Sherry vinegar: The sherry vinegar cuts through all that sweetness adding a balanced taste.
Dijon mustard: Mustard always switches up the flavor profile with a tasty tang!
Bourbon: I used bourbon. I had no idea if and how it would work when I stole 2 tablespoons of bourbon from my "cooking husband" (loves the kitchen as much as I do!) it worked like any other liquer. You can use brandy, frangelico, rum or cognac. Feel free to omit it altogether if you don't want to use alcohol.
(Optional ) Vino Cotto This Italian condiment is not only for macerated strawberries, it works very well with roast meat, soups, veggies and more. If you omit the vino cotto altogether however, your gammon will still be amazing! The updated ingredients use brandy and not vino cotto.
How To Pressure Cook A Gammon/Ham Joint In The Instant Pot
This is an easy recipe where you can use the trivet or not, in this recipe we are using the trivet method.
Trivet: Place the trivet (wire rack/steamer that comes with the instant pot) at the base of the inner pot of the instant pot. What a tongue twister 🙂
Liquid: Pour in the liquid.
Vegetables: Add the classic flavourings of carrot, celery and onion pieces. Okay, now that we have all the liquid and veggies in the botto of the instant pot, lets wrap the whole ham/gammon.
Note: You can add the gammon with foil into the instant pot without any veggies.
Foil Wrap: Place the gammon (do not untie the twine around the gammon), on a large sheet of foil because it not only traps the moisture in making the gammon more tender, it also makes it easier to remove and lift the gammon when it's cooked.
The water you added into the instant pot will be just water when the gammon is cooked. Inside the foil, is where your flavor liquid will be (image below). Pour that into a jug and set it aside. Don't toss it out!
Making of the Glaze
Add all the glaze ingredients: Sugar, Dijon mustard, Sherry vinegar, Honey and liquer. Cook for around 5 minutes. It starts off on high heat then you lower to a medium simmer and watch it doesn't overboil!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I'd like to receive tips & recipes from Anosmic Kitchen.
Use the drippings from the gammon earlier to create a thinner consistency. The longer the glaze stands the thicker it will be. Add a little at a time as you need it. If you run out, add water.
Note: If the glaze becomes too thick, you have to reheat it and add liquid as you stir for the perfect consistency.
Once the ham has cooled from the instant pot you can go ahead and remove the skin (rind). Use a small sharp knife to carefully cut into the fat but not the flesh to create diamond shapes. Insert cloves for presentation add your first round of glaze and bake.
This gammon cooked in the instant pot for 18 minutes so it will need to continue cooking in the oven
To Finish The Gammon In a Hot Oven
Glaze: Pour the glaze over the gammon, half before it roasts and the remaining glaze, every 5 minutes until your gammon is golden brown.
Note: The glaze is sticky so be sure to use foil when roasting for easy clean up!
Note: You can make triangle shapes and insert cloves OR not. Thinly slice the fat after removing rind and glaze as you can see in the images below.
This was the method I used in my Honey Glazed Gammon Ham Recipe if you want to see the fulll recipe.
Preheat your oven: Preheat 190 degrees C. Place the gammon in an oven tray, pour part of the glaze over the top and use the back of a spoon to spread it all over the top of the gammon.
Serving Suggestions
We love serving gammon/ham with a variety of side dishes, here are a few ideas;
- Potatoes: These crave worthy crispy baked cheese and bacon smashed potatoes or awesom air fryer roasted potatoes.
- Salad: I cannot think of a better salads than potato salad, pasta pesto salad (omit the chicke for a lighter side) and grilled peach and proscuitto.
- Bread: Cheesy garlic and herb toast, ciabatta for easy tearing apart or this easy no knead bread.
- Veg Sides: Air fryer brussel sprouts, caramalized carrots and roasted butternut.Recommended Recipes
Storage
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days.
Christmas Dinner Recipes
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
Frequently Asked Questions
A trivet is a selection of vegetables (onion, carrots, celery) which you use to elevate the meat while it cooks. A trivet is also the 'steaming rack' that comes with the instant pot. You end up with not just a delicious gammon but a beautiful stock too.
Yes absolutely, and I suggest that you do because it saves you so much time! As in the traditional oven roast gammon/ham method where we simmer the day before, here you can pressure cook the gammon ham a day ahead. You can make the sweet mustard glaze on the day before serving just give enough time for taking the gammon out basting every few minutes.
Yes please! If the gammon is frozen, take it out the freezer a day or two ahead. I prefer taking it out 2 days ahead from the freezer to the fridge before using.
No the gammon is not cooked through after 18 minutes in the instant pot but here are the reasons your gammon is the perfect internal temperature.
18 minutes plus the natural release time which is around 15 minutes +
oven roasting time of 30 to 40 minutes (including taking it out every few minutes to add the glaze.
By the time you've added the roasting time, your gammon will be an on point 63°C / 145°F temperature. That is the perfect temperature for a tender, safe to eat Instant Pot Gammon.
Yes you need some sort of liquid and that can be the cooking liquid from the gammon but it can also be a cup of cold water. Other options are a dash of ginger beer, soda water, the addition of earthy rooibos tea, pineapple juice, orange juice. All these options add the best flavor. The liquid helps for thinning the glaze out.
If you have any leftover gammon, simply refrigerate, it stays good for about 3-4-5 days. If the climate is very hot and your fridge is over-stacked, chances are that fridge temp is not as cold as it should be so all those details should be considered. Hence my 3 to 4 to 5 day suggestion.
How To Use Leftover Ham for Future Use?
Fill a pie crust with simple veggies like baby spinach and bell peppers, add chopped leftover ham, a little cream, seasoning and bake! Left-over gammon/ham also makes the best sandwiches. You can also include any leftover ham into your next pasta bake.
More Gammom Recipes
⭐ Star Rating To Help Us Grow!
If you enjoyed this recipe please take a moment to leave a rating and a comment. Your feedback helps me continue to provide you with high-quality, free recipes. Thank you for your support, and happy cooking!
Instant Pot Gammon
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Saucepan
- Oven tray
- Measuring jug or bowl
Ingredients
GAMMON
- 1.7 kg uncooked gammon
- 1 ½ cups stock or water
VEGETABLE TRIVET
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 2 sticks celery, sliced chopped
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
If you are not going to use the stock omit these ingredients.
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
FOR THE GLAZE
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 tablespoons vino cotto, optional or try molasses, balsamic & molasses
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons Bourbon See notes below (2 Tbsps-¼ cup)
- 1 cup Muscovado sugar or any brown sugar
- cloves for decorating
Instructions
- Prep your instant pot: Place the trivet which is the inside rack of the insant pot into the instant pot. Pour the liquid in and add the vegetables.1.7 kg uncooked gammon, 1 ½ cups stock or water, 1 carrot, roughly chopped, 2 sticks celery, sliced, 1 onion, roughly chopped, 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, 2 bay leaves, 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- Wrap the gammon: Use a large sheet of foil to wrap the gammon up and make sure the foil covers the gammon, this way you can simply hold the foil to lift the gammon out of the instant pot once it's cooked. Place your foil wrapped gammon on top of veggies.
- Seal your instant pot Put the instant pot lid on, slide it in to hear the click sound to 'lock' your instant pot. Set it on manual high pressure, make sure its set to SEAL and adjust the time to 5 minutes per 500 grams (my gammon was set to cook for 18 minutes). Your instant pot is ready to cook but will not show the time it until it has built up enough pressure.When it has, the pin will drop and the time will show, in my case the 18 minutes cooking time starts.
- Glaze: Make the glaze by combining all the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to simmer. Once bubbly and simmering, remove from the heat. It will thicken too much if you leave it on the stove and it also thickens as it stands.Taste and adjust your glaze.¼ cup honey, 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 2 tablespoons vino cotto, optional or try molasses, balsamic & molasses, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons Bourbon, 1 cup Muscovado sugar or any brown sugar
- Release pressure: When the timer goes off the time is up but don't do anything which allows the instant pot to release the pressure naturally giving you a more tender meat. This takes about 10 minutes by which time you can remove the gammon so carefully do a quick pressure release unless the valve (Pin) has already dropped in which case you can open your instant pot. Remove the gammon with the help of the foil, set aside until properly cooled.
- Preheat your oven to 190C whle you glaze and then regulate it to 180C depending on the heat of your own oven. The oven should be hot for the glaze but not burning hot.
- Prep the gammon and remove rind: Use a kitchen scissors to remove the string. Be gentle so as not to rip pieces of meat along with the string. Gently slide your ginger under the one corner of the gammon meat and skin (rind) and remove the rind. Again, do not rip it off or you will tear/remove the fat. Remove the rind/skin.Use a sharp knife to score diamond shapes into the fat and push cloves into the corners of the shapes.cloves for decorating
- Oven roast: Pour half the glaze over the pork and bake for 20 minutes. Take it out, pour the remaining glaze and return to the oven to the oven to continue baking another 10 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and caramelized.
- Rest and Serve: Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it necessary to add vegetables? The vegetables add flavor and help create a good stock that you can refrigerate once cooled for other recipes. Feel free to not add any vegetables and continue with the recipe. Is it necessary to use foil in this recipe? I think the question then should be why? I wrap my gammon in foil only when using the instant pot because I prefer a tender juicy gammon. I am also paranoid of the slightest rubbery texture. Can you cook gammon in the instant pot with foil? Sure you can, it's a personal preference. Can I omit the spices? Yes you can. The spices are there to flavor the liquid, this liquid becomes your flavored stock once the gammon is cooked which you can use for more recipes BUT the spices are definitely optional and do not affect the overal taste of the gammon. How large should the gammon be? It should fit into the inner pot of the instant pot. Consider the size when buying your gammon. Notes on the Glaze There are a number of glazes you can make depending on what you prefer. Here are a few options;- For the bourbon, it is optional and you can use anything from 2 Tbsps. to ¼ cup. Substitute with sherry, Frangelico, brandy, rum etc.
- Honey, a marmalade glaze, Frangelico glaze, soy glaze, mustard and honey, cranberry glaze and more. You can also add butter to your glaze for richness.
- it makes it easier to get it out by using the end bits to lift the gammon
- traps the moisture in making the gammon much more tender.
Nutrition
Derek Amos says
Going to try your recipe, my Gammon is 2.7kgs, will your glaze recipe be enough, or should I increase it??
Cheers Derek
Miranda's Anosmic Kitchen says
Hello Derek, yes it's twice the size of mine so you are going to need more glaze. Make sure that it fits into the instant pot, other than that, enjoy! Happy holiays and thank you for being here, I appreciate it xx Miranda.