We’ve found Australia’s best Christmas ham
IT WOULDN'T be Christmas without a glossy, succulent glazed ham sitting pride of place on the table - but finding the perfect ham can be tricky.
More than two-thirds of ham sold in Australia is made from imported pork. But there are some fantastic Aussie produce readily available to choose for your Christmas table.
From more than 140 entries, the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards found the best 100 per cent Australian hams over three categories (best boneless, traditional bone-in, and nationally available).
The winners are:
Overall Winner and Best Artisan Ham
Pingelly Quality Meats, Pingelly, WA
Australia's Best Boneless Ham
1st: Pingelly Quality Meats, Pingelly, WA
2nd: Sunvalley Fine Foods, Warana, Qld
3rd: German Butchery - Mona Vale, NSW
Australia's Best Traditional Bone-In Ham
1st: Barossa Fine Foods, Edinburgh North, SA
2nd: Noosa Meat Centre, Noosaville, Qld
3rd: Lago and Paramount Smallgoods, Melbourne, Vic
Best Nationally Available Ham
1st: Woolworths Half-Leg Ham - Bone-In
2nd: Bertocchi Australian Leg Ham - Hickory Smoked
Highly Commended: Woolworths Whole Leg Ham - Bone-In
According to judges Paul McDonald and Simon Bestley, along with fleischmeister (that's German for 'meat master', so trust us when we say he knows what he's talking about) Horst Schurger, Pingelly's ham was "perfectly smoky and sweet, with a brilliant initial taste, true to style and with even colouring".
Barossa Fine Foods' traditional bone-in ham was "well balanced" with "very mild flavours, mild smoke and excellent texture".
Woolworths' half-leg bone-in had a "great cure, great creamy fat, good salt and great colour".
For a selection of Christmas ham recipes, head to delicious.com.au.
