Cooked my first ham today

Supercell

I bought a ham in Tesco the other day as they were selling them half price and I thought, why not, haven't ever cooked one before.

I found a great recipe on allrecipes.com and it turned out fantastic.

However the ham when I unpacked it initially smelled a bit like poo to be honest. I cut away the rind and most of the fat below that and that took away the smell.
But is it normal for the rind to smell so bad?, and should I have left it on?

olaola

I think you leave the rind on while boiling it, then take it off before you bake it.
Leave as much as the fat as you can behind, and then do the do with the sugar, cloves, mustard etc.
I've never tried the Nigella 'cookitincola' thing - but a coupla my friends have, and SWEAR by it. It is on my to-do list.

I would usually buy my hang from the butcher, but I've never noticed the poo smell! Maybe it might have
been sweating in the plastic packaging (I'm guessing since you bought it in Tesco?)

Schlemm

We cook our hams in coke all the time a la Nigella and it makes them quite nice, not a huge difference but it is defo sweeter! Use regular coke mind, that diet stuff is rubbish!

catho_monster

i hate cooked ham, to eat i mean,
tried in nigella's coke. it is the business
seriously seriously good.

Supercell

I must try the coke thing next time judging from the reviews here!, always nice to try something new
The recipie I used above will be hard to beat though, but I'm willing to give it a try!

gonker

Aw yes the coca cola ham...its name in my house, is a serious treat. Really good. you must try it