has any one tried ham cooked in coke?

danois

i have been googling looking for some new ways to do the xmas ham this year and came across one where it is cooked in coke?? I don't know anyone who has tried it so thought I'd ask here, would be a big waste of money if its horrible!!

thanks

Mylow

Yes, and it tasted lovely. Hard to describe, heck of a lot of corn sugar in it.

danois

does it make it very sweet?? maybe i will buy a small ham and try it out for sunday diner??

The Black Oil

Yes, I tried it for the first time a few days back and it turned out really well. I had no idea what to expect, but I was surprised with the result and would happily try it again. It was from a Nigella recipe, iirc. As Mylow says, it's a little hard to describe, but give it a shot.

rubadub

Mylow wrote: »

heck of a lot of corn sugar in it.

Was this in the states? coke here just has regular sugar not the high fructose corn syrup you might get in the states.

danois wrote: »

does it make it very sweet?? maybe i will buy a small ham and try it out for sunday diner??

You could try other meats too, I can't recall what but I did marinate in coke before and it was OK. People usually overstate the sugar content of coke, it is only about 10.5% sugar, apple or orange juice usually has more sugar in it, I have had ham cooked in apple juice before (and cider) and it was not that sweet, it usually only penetrates the outside bit anyway. The acid in the coke also is meant to make the meat more tender, like soaking chicken in lemon or buttermilk.

Sagat06

rubadub wrote: »

You could try other meats too.

Yeah alot of people marinate chicken wings in it.

ArthurG

I've done this loads of time over the years - based on the Nigella recipe.

I think people expect it to make the ham taste like Coke - it doesn't. The liquid penetrates into the meat only a bit, giving it a slightly sweet tangy flavour. Almost like its part of the glaze.

Personally I love it, and it's my preferred way of doing ham.

foodaholic

Its the only way I cook ham, its fab

joanas

I have also cooked this several times. Also used the nigella recipe. To me it tastes like bbq ham. Would definately recommend you give it a go. Reckon you will love it.

danois

thanks for the replys all i had it last night and it was fab i only cooked up a small bit to try and now i cant wait for xmas diner yum yum

Mellor

i wonder what would happen if you used diet coke or coke zero.

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

i wonder what would happen if you used diet coke or coke zero.

The acid is still there so would still tenderises and add taste, I would not fancy it myself, there would be minimal sugar intake in a few slices marinated ham.

If I did do it in coke I would not tell people what I cooked it in (at first) or many would have their mind made up and be baulking & wincing before they even tasted it.

I could imagine my mothers face if I told her I cooked the christmas dinner in diet coke!

I have heard of people boiling coke down to reduce it and use it as a BBQ glaze.

BunkerMentality

I cooked chicken in Coke before... if you fry chicken, onions and garlic and then add some Coke, soy sauce + salt and pepper and then let it reduce until it gets kinda sticky it tastes a bit like Teriyaki sauce. I've done it a couple of times and it's quite nice.

neuro-praxis

I made this before and it was truly delicious. The only problem was the mess generated by the Coke. The syrup was quite hard to clean off everything. For that reason in future I will stick to the old boil and glaze, which is imo equally delicious and far less messy.

byhookorbycrook

I find it makes the ham look darker and not as nice.
I use a large bottle of Bulmers mixed with the boiling water and throw in an onion studded with cloves and two bay leaves to the pot too.

carolinespring

It is realy lovely. I add a bay leaf to the coke as well as the onion and freze the cooking juice to use in stews after christmas.Yum!!!

A couple of years ago my mum steamed the ham over a mix of white wine, 7up, stock and herbs. I cannot for the life of me rememeber the glaze she used but it was a pale one and really lush. If I remember it did take extra time to cook the ham but it was very moist and tender. Would not work for a huge ham as it would be hard to find a steamer to fit it.

ellieswellies

You've got to use the full fat coke for this! Lash in a few cloves and onions too.

Hootanany

danois wrote: »

i have been googling looking for some new ways to do the xmas ham this year and came across one where it is cooked in coke?? I don't know anyone who has tried it so thought I'd ask here, would be a big waste of money if its horrible!!

thanks

Yeah lot of work great taste

axer

Have cooked a ham in bulmers a number of times and it was delicious. Never tried coke though.

nhg

I usually cook the ham in 3/4 apple juice 1/4 water with the usual onion, bay leaft etc, when its cooked I move it onto a roasting tin and put some brown sugar over it and pour a can of bulmers over it and bake in the oven for about 30mins... delicious... and I don't usually like ham (or bulmers)