Slow-Cooked Irn Bru Ham (with Irn Bru Glaze)

Irn Bru Ham? Really? Trust us, this recipe is brings together to ingredients that go so perfectly with each other we can see this becoming a family Christmas tradition! Irn Bru Ham is as simple as it is delicious!

What is Irn Bru?

Irn Bru is a bright orange soda that could be described as “Scotland’s other national drink”, with whisky being the first of course. The flavour is debatable, but many say it tastes a bit like bubble gum or cream soda. Basically, it’s a unique sweet taste!

Why combine it with ham?

Combining the quintessential Scottish drink with a ham might sound a little odd, but slow cooking a ham joint in all sorts of different flavoured liquids isn’t a new thing. We’ve seen ham cooked in coca-cola, or cider, and cooked it ourselves in a mixture of orange juice and spices.

Slow cooking a ham makes it deliciously tender, and usually involves a fairly sweet liquid which helps to cut through the saltiness of the ham joint. Using Irn Bru therefore isn’t a big leap, and combining it with a bit of bitter marmalade for a citrussy Irn Bru glaze is just the icing on the cake, so to speak.

Of course, you can just slow cook your ham joint or gammon and not glaze it, but this provides a sticky, tasty coating to the ham that really adds to the overall flavour, so we’d highly recommend going through with that part of our Irn Bru Ham recipe too.

Things you’ll need to make Irn Bru Glazed Ham

• Slow Cooker – We have a 3.5 litre capacity slow cooker like this
• Roasting tin

Ingredients for Irn Bru Ham

Ham

• Onion
• 1-1.5kg Ham Joint/Gammon
• 2 litres of Irn Bru

Glaze

• 1.5tbsp honey
• 1.5tbsp marmalade
• 2 tbsp Irn Bru (taken from the slow cooker)
• 1tbsp dijon mustard
• 40g brown sugar

What type of ham to use

We used a 1.3kg ham joint that fit into our 3.5 litre slow cooker perfectly with the two litres of Irn Bru. You can make adjustments based on the size of your own slow cooker!

The ham we used didn’t have a rind just a thin layer of fat on one side, but you can use either type.

You can use smoked or unsmoked. We prefer unsmoked for this recipe.

What marmalade to use

To cut through the sweetness of the ham we suggest using a bitter orange marmalade, or even one with a dash of Whisky in it. We used Mackays Orange Marmalade with Whisky since we love using their Scottish-made products in our recipes (see our Jam Flapjacks recipe and Caledonian Cream recipe!).

How to make Irn Bru Ham – Step by step method

Cut the onion into large chunks and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Place the ham on top, flat side down. Trim if you need to, to make it fit.

Pour in the Irn Bru. We used a whole 2 litre bottle but just use what fits your slow cooker and covers the ham. If the onions float up don’t worry!

Cook on high for approximately 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, depending on the size of the ham chosen. You can use a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the meat. If it’s above 68C/154F then it’s ready.

Carefully remove from the slow cooker and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Mix all of the glaze ingredients in a bowl, taking the Irn Bru from the liquid in the slow cooker.

Remove any rind from the ham, leaving the layer of fat on top, and score with a knife.

Place the ham on a baking tray (we recommend placing it on foil as the glaze will be very sticky) and baste with the glaze. You do not need to use all of it.

Put in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, until it starts to slightly char at the edges, removing halfway through to put more glaze on.

Allow to cool slightly, carve, and eat!

Making Slow Cooked Irn Bru Ham without a Slow Cooker

It’s entirely possible to make this recipe without a slowcooker! You’ll need large pot with a lid on the stovetop instead. Keep it on a very low heat, and watch that too much liquid doesn’t evaporate (this is the benefit of having a slow cooker instead). It should take about 30 minutes per 450g of ham until it is cooked.

How long does the ham last?

You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. But honestly, hours never lasts this long, it’s just too moreish!

Pin for later!