The ultimate Christmas ham blind taste test reveals cheaper can be better
Chefs, butchers and restaurant reviewers tackle supermarket hams, from the wet and weary to the tasty and textural. This year’s winner is salty, sweet, smoky and one of the least expensive.
Ham is not the most valuable player on Christmas Day. That title goes to turkey stuffing, gravy, a glass of sparkling red before noon, or a stolen nip of St Agnes before spiking the custard.
But over that magical period between Christmas Eve and New Year’s, when you don’t know what day of the week it is, let alone where you left your thongs, ham is vital. Elemental. Integral. It is the alpha and the omega and everything in between.
This is all to say, we take our ham seriously at Good Food, whether it’s glazed as a Christmas table centrepiece, tossed through a green bean salad and served with crusty bread on Boxing Day, or simply a lone slice nicked from the fridge while en route to the backyard.
While we always recommend buying from independent butchers, we also understand that the weeks leading up to Christmas are ferociously busy, and sometimes a supermarket mission is the most convenient ham option.
Cost-of-living is top of mind, too.
And while the supermarket has long been a hotbed of pig limbs injected with more chemicals than most public swimming pools, times are a changin’, and these days you can track down a fairly delicious ham if you missed the window for pre-orders at your local sausage supplier or farmers’ market.
Scoring pen in hand, three chefs, three Good Food editors and one butcher tasted 16 nationally available hams last week at Porcine in Paddington, Sydney (because there isn’t a restaurant in Australia that appreciates pig more).
Each entry was judged on appearance, texture, aroma and taste – especially taste – to arrive at a final average score. The hams were de-identified to keep the source unknown, but discussion was permitted throughout the tasting.
The panel
- Joel Young, owner of 3J’s Butchers in Gippsland, Victoria
- Danielle Alvarez, chef and author, and culinary director of Sydney Opera House events
- Junda Khoo, owner-chef of Ho Jiak, Sydney
- Nik Hill, owner-chef at Porcine, Paddington
- Sarah Norris, head of Good Food
- Callan Boys, Good Food national restaurant editor
- Bianca Hrovat, Good Food Sydney restaurant editor
Overall findings? A supermarket ham’s ingredient label gives few clues to its quality, with many listing the same mineral salts, acidity regulators and preservative 250 (also known as sodium nitrate), used to protect against food deterioration and give cured pork its pink hue.
There was a huge diversity across taste, texture and smoke aroma, and price is not a reliable indicator of standard.
And when it comes to picking a winner? Expect the unexpected—Callan Boys
The results
16. Aldi Festive Selection Half Leg Ham
- Price: $8 a kg
- Score: 3.5/10
It’s a sad Christmas for fans of Aldi, as the budget supermarket’s signature double-smoked Christmas ham comes in dead last for its likeness to a pale, damp dish sponge.
Joel Young: It’s too light of a brine, you need higher percentage of salt for that one. [And] it’s those salt levels and your sugar levels in the brine are what’s really going to dictate the finish.
Nik Hill: I am going to ... stop eating that now.
15. Andrew’s Choice Australia’s Finest Ham on the Bone
- Price: $30 a kg
- Score: 4.2/10
This ham, sourced from an independent Victorian producer and available from butchers nationwide, has been voted Australia’s best ham and Victoria’s best bone-in leg ham in the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards. Eaten cold, the slices have an unpleasant wet texture. But your favourite glaze and a spell in the oven may save the day.
Young: Texturally I didn’t really enjoy it, it was spongy and a bit too wet for myself.
14. SunPork Seven Mile Premium Double Smoked Leg Ham
- Price: $12.50 a kg
- Score: 4.6/10
This IGA ham was the top pick when consumer review site CHOICE conducted its own taste test earlier this year, but it failed to impress the Good Food judges. Smoked over Australian mountain ash wood, it had a distinctly “porky” flavour, dry edges and an inconsistent texture.
Danielle Alvarez: I don’t mind this texture because this actually feels like real meat. But I don’t love the flavour, and there are bits of it that are kind of ... paste-y?
Sarah Norris: It’s got a very ... different flavour, and it’s a bit dry and grainy. It’s not memorable.
13. Woolworths Bone In Half Leg Ham
- Price: $8 a kg
- Score: 4.7/10
The sinewy texture and deep salty flavour of this Christmas ham reminds the judges of beef silverside. Slices feature an unsettling iridescent sheen – a telltale sign of nitrates used in the manufacturing process.
Alvarez: The sodium has really changed the texture of the meat.
Hill: It almost looks marbled ... I’m not against it.
12. Barossa Fine Foods Premium Triple Smoked Ham on Bone
- Price: $16 a kg
- Score: 4.7/10
An unremarkable ham from South Australian small goods manufacturer Barossa Fine Foods, this free-range pork (available from Harris Farm and online) is double-smoked over beechwood chips using a 30-year-old family recipe. With its neutral flavour and colouring, it resulted in the judges’ fastest consensus: meh.
Bianca Hrovat: It’s pretty to look at, but mild in flavour.
Callan Boys: That was a quick one – all decided, it was pretty middle of the road.
11. IGA Naturally Smoked Leg Ham Bone In
- Price: $8 a kg
- Score: 4.8/10
This single-smoked leg ham, made with 100 per cent Australian pork, proved an unremarkable addition to the line-up. Judges marked it down for its bland, salty flavour and dry, sponge-like texture.
Norris: It might be good on a sandwich with some relish ...
Hill: It’s going to take quite a bit of mustard and some soft white bread to carry it.
10. Aldi Specially Selected Premium Triple Smoked Half Leg Ham
- Price: $13.50 a kg
- Score: 5/10
No ham was as divisive as this triple-smoked number from Aldi, which scored as high as 8/10 and as low as one by different judges. It was full of smoke and sweetness, but considered too salty by some.
Boys: I think if you put a really good, sweet glaze on that, it could make for a cracking Christmas lunch. You just have to tone down the salt.
Junda Khoo: Sometimes, what we do at home is marinate the meat in Kewpie mayonnaise [for about 20 minutes] and then pan-fry it ... it becomes softer and less salty after that.
9. Coles Beechwood Double Smoked Half Leg Ham
- Price: $13.50 a kg
- Score: 5.5/10
If you’re a fan of salty ham, but don’t want to down a gallon of water after Christmas lunch, this one’s for you. Coles’ double-smoked variant is big on flavour, with the familiar texture of deli meat.
Boys: It’s obviously all about how the ham goes after Christmas Day as well, because going in for a slice from the fridge is one of the best parts in that weird space between Christmas and New Year’s, but I think I’d get pretty bored with this flavour.
Hill: It depends on what you do with it. If it’s for a hot ham main course, that’s going to punish you, but if you’re doing cold slices on toast for brekkie, it could be OK.
8. Coles Finest Free Range Triple Smoked Half Leg Ham
- Price: $15.50 a kg
- Score: 5.6/10
While the judges are self-professed fans of smoky ham, this triple-smoked half-leg from Coles misses the mark. It’s too much – too dry around the edges, too wet in the middle, and too overwhelming in flavour.
Norris: Very different in flavour. Very smoky. And there’s this colourful sheen on it.
Hill: Like a meat rainbow.
Young: This one is probably smoked the same length [as the Woolworths triple-smoked ham] but it’s a little drier on the edges where it’s been exposed to the smoker.
7. Murray River Smokehouse Free Range Leg Ham
- Price: $25 a kg
- Score: 5.5/10
Free-range Australian-grown pork is hot-smoked over Australian hardwood for this Christmas ham from Harris Farm. It’s pretty to look at, tender in texture, but disappointing in flavour.
Young: Texturally, that’s the best so far. It’s really tender.
Hill: It’s kind of “porky”, though. We use a lot of pork at the restaurant, and one thing we try to avoid is that wet pork flavour you get with supermarket pork, like when you get a sloppy pork steak and it’s just a bit ick.
6. Coles Beechwood Smoked Half Leg Ham
- Price: $8 a kg
- Score: 6.2/10
Inoffensive, but not outstanding, this budget choice from the supermarket giant was notable for its glossy good looks and mild, semi-sweet beechwood flavour.
Young: This one immediately looks better. It has a really nice pink, doesn’t look too wet, it’s got a really nice glossy-looking fat.
Alvarez: It is sweet, but it’s underwhelming. I expected more from it.
5. Vic’s Signature Baby Ham Whole Leg
- Price: $49 a kg
- Score: 7/10
Smoked slowly over beechwood for 12 hours, Vic’s signature leg ham has a meaty texture and a balance of sweet, salty and subtle smoky flavours. It’s available from Vic’s premium butcher shops across NSW and Victoria.
Young: That’s the nicest tasting so far. Visually, when you look at this one it’s a paler pink colour, which is an indicator that it’s probably got a lot less nitrite – a higher nitrate level is going to give you that stronger, sharper taste, but it also will give you bright coloration, whereas this one is noticeably less harsh on the salt level.
4. Sunshine Meats Double Smoked Bone-In Ham
- Price: $21.70 a kg (full ham); $22.70 a kg (half ham)
- Score: 7.2/10
This maple-infused ham using free-range Australian pork proved divisive – while judges appreciated the complexity of flavour, others couldn’t get beyond how wet the slices became beneath the thick covering of fat. It’s stocked in butchers nationwide.
Boys: It’s a good ham to serve as a main course – it’s not too sweet, but there’s enough interest there.
Hill: The fat has a nice flavour; it’s really silky.
3. Deignans Meats Black Forest Smoke House Premium Free Range Leg Ham Triple Smoked
- Price: $16 a kg
- Score: 7.5/10
This ham is made from Australian free-range pork, traditionally wood-smoked over ironbark in Sydney’s inner west, and sold at Harris Farm. It’s a popular choice among the judges for its depth of flavour and familiar texture.
Khoo: This is more my cup of tea. Maybe because this reminds me of the ham I grew up with, which has that spam-like texture: not wet, not super meaty, kind of in-between.
Norris: It’s quite a neutral flavour. This is a safe ham.
2. Woolworths Gold Triple Smoked Free Range Half Leg Ham
- Price: $15.50 a kg
- Score: 8.3/10
Woolworths’ triple-smoked free-range ham won top prize during Good Food’s 2023 Christmas ham taste test, and continues to impress in 2024. It’s unapologetically big on flavour (smoky, salty, and just a little sweet) with a rich, meaty texture.
Young: It’s got a really nice, dark smoky ring to it. They’ve done well to do that without it drying out around the edges.
Khoo: The smoke and the salt hits you first, but instead of becoming overwhelming, the flavours slowly fade out. It’s better than the other salty options, where the flavour lingers, and you’re like, “Oh, I need a glass of water”.
1. Central Highlands Pork Double Smoked Ham On The Bone
- Price: $10 a kg
- Score: 8.5/10
Costco sells this year’s top ham, made from Australian outdoor-bred pork and manufactured with “an old-fashioned recipe” (yep, that includes smoke flavouring). The judges, most of whom quickly declared it their favourite, praised the ham for its balance of flavour and rich colour.
Hrovat: It’s got a bit of everything going on − salty, sweet, smoky.
Hill: I’m into it. I like that big, smoky flavour.
