Ham, gammon, bacon joint. Let’s take a look at what they are and what the differences are between them.

This should be a fairly quick and easy one, folks.

All three:

• Are meats.
• Usually come from pigs.
• Are cured.
• Can be smoked.

Ham:

• Is taken from the hind leg or rump.
• Can be wet cured or dry cured.
• Is sold cooked.

Gammon:

• Only comes from the hind leg.
• Is usually wet cured.
• Is sold raw.

Although gammon comes from the hind leg specifically, it can vary in where on the leg, as seen in the below picture:

Bacon joint:

• Can include collar from the shoulder, hock from the front leg, and/or gammon from the hind leg.
• Can be wet or dry cured.
• Is sold raw or cooked.

So then: a gammon is basically uncooked ham, except that gammon must come from the hind leg whereas ham can also come from the rump.

A bacon joint can include the gammon itself. Gammon can be known as “the lower end of bacon.”