Slow Cooker Gammon in Ginger Beer

Name: Slow Cooker Gammon in Ginger Beer
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 255 min
Total time: 200 min
Ingredients: 1 kg unsmoked gammon joint; 750 ml ginger beer; 2 tbsp marmalade; 60 ml cooking liquid from the gammon; 1 tbsp dark brown sugar

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If there’s one thing I make every single Christmas, it’s my Slow Cooker Gammon in ginger beer. With a sticky marmalade glaze its a delicious treat and SO easy to make. I love serving this slow cooked Ginger Beer Gammon with my Christmas Dinner but it’s great for cold cuts on Boxing Day too!

A slow cooker gammon on a board with marmalade glaze.

I absolutely LOVE slow cooker gammon. And my slow cooker gammon in ginger beer is always the star of the show for a Sunday roast or Christmas dinner.

This is a naturally gluten free and dairy free recipe, this is the easiest meat for a roast ever – simply chuck it in the slow cooker or crockpot and forget about it.

I especially love making this slow cooker recipe for Christmas Day. Serve it with my air fryer roast potatoes, gluten free Yorkshire puddings and gluten free cauliflower cheese.

The leftovers are perfect for cold cuts over the ‘in between’ period, in my Ham and Mushroom Pasta or chopped up and made into my gluten free chicken and ham pie.

As an additional step, you can also make a simple marmalade glaze which created a glazed, sticky and sweet finish. With an air fryer and oven method!

I have a variation on this recipe in my cookbook with a honey mustard glaze on the slow cooked gammon. And if you need something quicker, try my Air Fryer Gammon Joint.

Ingredients
How to cook gammon in slow cooker
Storing and Freezing
Variations
Frequently Asked Questions
Slow Cooker Gammon in Ginger Beer Recipe
More gluten free Christmas dinner recipes
More slow cooker recipes

Ingredients

You only need a couple of ingredients to make this easy slow cooker gammon recipe, which are as follows:

Unsmoked Gammon Joint: I tend to use a large gammon joint from the supermarket but any size will work. Just adjust the cooking times for an especially small or large piece of meat. You can use smoked gammon but I prefer unsmoked.
Ginger Beer: I like to fork out for a good quality ginger beer – and not a diet one. I find these too chemically. For an extra special touch you could also use Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer – it’s gluten free! Most ginger beers should be gluten free but always double check as some drinks occasionally contain barley malt extract.

For the marmalade glaze:

Marmalade: Any marmalade will work, depending on if you want a smooth glaze or like the chunks of orange in it.
Dark Brown Sugar: Essential for getting that gorgeous colour on the ham glaze.

How to cook gammon in slow cooker

There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how to cook ginger beer gammon in the slow cooker.

Unwrap any plastic from the gammon joint and place in the slow cooker pan, but leave on the string as this stops it falling apart.

Pour over the ginger beer and top up with water if needed, so that the ham is just covered.

Slow cook gammon on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6 hours. The ham can be eaten at this stage, or read on if you want to glaze it.

Adding the gammon to the slow cooker and pouring in the ginger beer.

To make the marmalade glaze:

To make the glaze, spoon out 60ml of the cooking liquid from the ham into a small saucepan.

Add the marmalade and the dark brown sugar to the pan, stir and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Making the marmalade glaze for the gammon in a saucepan.

Remove the ham from the slow cooker. If there is any rind, trim this off and then score the fat underneath.

Place the ham in the foil lined tray – If the tray is too big, you can use bits of foil to prop the ham up so that the fat is on the top.

Pour the glaze over the top of the ham, then place in the oven for 15 minutes. Half way through you can baste the ham with the glaze before finishing the cooking off.

To glaze the slow cooker gammon in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 200’C / Fan 180’C / Gas Mark 6. Line a baking tin with foil and set to one side.

Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing up and serving.

I like to drizzle the extra marmalade glaze from the pan over the top of the gammon slices before serving up for extra flavour.

The ham after grilling with the glaze on (left) and the ham shredded with a fork (right).

To glaze the slow cooker gammon in the air fryer:

Follow the steps above to make the glaze, then place the gammon in the air fryer basket. I like to pop it in some foil so it sits in the glaze while cooking.

Coat with the glaze and air fry at 200C for 10-15 minutes until the fat has started to caramelise.

Glazing the slow cooker gammon in the air fryer.

Storing and Freezing

If you want to make this slow cooker gammon ahead of time, you can easily slow cook it and then pop in the fridge ready to reheat and glaze the next day.

Any leftovers of this ginger beer gammon can be placed in a bag or tub in the fridge for 3 days. You can also freeze leftovers to defrost and eat cold or hot.

I like to freeze some of the gammon in slices that I can use for sandwiches, and some shredded for things like pasta bakes and pie fillings.

Leftovers can also be baked into a new dish – for example in my Leftovers Pie, my Chicken and Ham Pie, added to Chicken Fried Rice or cooked with Gluten Free Gnocchi.

Variations

I absolutely love this ginger beer gammon recipe but there are some ways you can put a twist on it to try something different:

Cola Ham: Instead of ginger beer, fill the slow cooker with Coca Cola instead for a sweeter version. This is another really popular way to cook gammon and Cola Ham works well in the slow cooker too.
Add Spices: Adding some whole cloves, a cinnamon stick and star anise to the ginger beer will create more of a ‘mulled’ flavour. Perfect for a slow cooker Christmas ham.
Cider Ham: I also love slow cooking a gammon joint in cider (or apple juice for a non-alcoholic version) as well. It’s a lovely boozy treat and the apple cider cooking liquid also works really well in the glaze.
Honey Mustard: Check out my cookbook for my mustard and honey glazed ham recipe if you want a different glaze to try out.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best slow cooker?

I have tried and tested a few slow cookers and I definitely have my favourites. I use my Morphy Richards Sear and Stew Cooker allll the time. It’s so handy because the pan is light, dishwasher-proof and can be used on the hob too. When I’m cooking a big meal (like a whole chicken or a large ham joint) I use my large Crockpot instead.

Is ginger beer gluten free?

Most ginger beer is gluten free. However it may not be specifically labelled as ‘gluten free’ so you need to check it has no gluten in the ingredients and no ‘may contain’ warnings. I have once or twice seen ginger beer contain barley malt extract so be sure to avoid any which have this. Crabbies ginger beer, an alcoholic (and very yummy) version is certified gluten free and great in this recipe!

Do you leave plastic on the gammon in the slow cooker?

No – be sure to remove any plastic from the gammon before cooking. If you’re worried about it unfurling you can wrap it with some cook-safe string but it shouldn’t need it. Slow cooker gammon is best shredded anyway!

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