How to cook Gammon Steak in air fryer
Air frying gammon steaks will ensure you don't dry out these prone-to-drying-out steaks, because you have the convenience of pulling out the basket in regular intervals to check.
Gammon steaks can be air fried at a temperature of 390°F/200°C, with no longer then 12-14 minutes to fully cook. Allow steaks to rest at room temperature then preheat the air fryer. Line the basket in foil to catch juices you can use to baste the steaks, while making sure to turn over the steaks halfway.
CONTENTS:
How you air fry gammon steaks would be to follow the grill/broil instructions, if oven cooking instructions apply, which they often don't with gammon steaks.
In this example, I air fried these two 12-14mm thick gammon steaks for 12 minutes, which was the lowest time provided for grilling/broiling. Couple of more minutes could of dried out these steaks, yet the 12 minutes was all that's needed to air fry to perfection.
To cook gammon steaks in your air fryer, follow the grill/broil cooking instructions, reducing the time by 2 minutes.
Be sure to flip the gammon steaks over but bear in mind, there's little time available to produce a crispy fatty rind.
And that is what these gammon steaks are, just like bacon chops which can be air fried really well - just like any pork really - but there's not enough time to produce a crispy rind, with gammon usually featuring a fatty rind on either side of the steaks.
You will want to burn up the gammon steak rind as much as you can within the 12-14 minute timeframe, thus wrapping in foil to prevent drying out isn't a good idea.
I recommend you don't season the gammon steaks with salt either, because its salty enough, plus additional salt risks drying out the pork.
Gammon steaks will produce a pink centre so unless you have a food thermometer probe, you won't really know if the gammon steaks are fully cooked or not.
How long to cook Gammon Steaks in air fryer
Your gammon steak packaging will provide one or two cooking instructions, which are for pan frying or under the grill/broil.
Now that isn't a lot of help when trying to guesstimate for air frying, but all we have to do is look at the estimated pan frying time. Pan frying renders better results, as mentioned on the packaging by the manufacturer.
How long these gammon steaks pan fry for is between 12 and 14 minutes.
What I decided to do is air fry these gammon steaks - and always from a 5 minute preheat - is cook from the lowest suggested time, which is 12 minutes in this case.
Wonderful, not only was the 12 minutes all I needed to air fry these 12-14mm thick steaks, the centre was juicy and tender, just as they should be.
Now bear in mind, its hard to tell if the gammon steaks are fully cooked in these 12 minutes, because the centre will be pink just as it was when it was raw. I assure you though, 12 minutes is all it takes to air fry gammon steaks without risk of drying out.
Prepare 2 Gammon Steaks
Prepare gammon steaks by opening the packaging they come in, and allow to stand for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- STEP 1: Sit Gammon Steaks at room temperature - Take gammon steaks out of plastic packaging, and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes minimum
- STEP 2: Preheat air fryer: 5 minutes - Get the air fryer nice and hot because you only have 12-14 minutes to crisp up the rind, so make the most of this short time
- STEP 3: Line air fryer basket in foil - Carefully line the air fryer basket in foil in an effort to catch juices, which can be used to baste the gammon steaks
- STEP 4: Position Gammon Steaks in basket - Place gammon steaks on top of the foil, making sure the steaks don't touch
NOTE: If you want to air fry pineapple rings with your gammon steaks, position pineapple rings on top of both gammon steaks to produce char by the time they're cooked.
How to air fry directions
While I recommend these 12-14mm thick gammon steaks air fry at the time and temp set forth, please do adjust the time to the lowest as featured on the grilling/broiling instructions on your gammon steak packaging.
- STEP 1: Set temp: 390°F / 200°C; time to 12-14 minutes - By copying the grilling cooking instructions, it took just 12 minutes to air fry these steaks to a soft juicy texture... and boy weren't these delicious
- STEP 2: Air fry until halfway; turn over - You will need to turn gammon steaks over halfway, repositioning the steaks in a way they don't touch
- STEP 3: Continue to cook on opposite side until time - Now continue to air fry your gammon steaks until full time
- STEP 4: Remove Gammon Steaks with tongs - Remove gammon steaks and serve immediately
Air fry Gammon Steaks with toppings
While I've focused on how to air fry gammon steaks only, you can improve upon this by adding either pineapple rings out of a tin, with an option to melt cheese over the top - and of course this is all done in the air fryer.
I would suggest you air fry gammon steaks with pineapple and cheese inside a foil tray to contain the melting cheese and gammon juices, but lining the basket in parchment paper or foil is a good enough alternative.
Air fry your gammon steaks by following the instructions of grilling/broiling, and pop one or two pineapple rings directly on top of each steak.
What will happen is the pineapple juice will sweeten the gammon steaks, while at the same time the pineapple rings will produce a rich golden char.
With only five minutes to go - with about 7 minutes of air frying both the gammon steaks and pineapple rings sitting on top - add a pile of grated cheese to melt for the final minutes.
Its possible to air fry a whole gammon joint in an air fryer if it fits, so you can certainly improve upon a plain gammon steak, which deserve a little extra care.
Summarise
All you have to do to air fry gammon steaks to a juicy tender texture, is follow the grill/broil instructions as outlined on the gammon steak packaging.
Oven cooking usually doesn't exist but options to cook gammon steaks under the grill or in the fry pan is prominently featured.
In which case you must follow the grilling cooking instructions, with the lowest suggested time for air frying.
Air fry at a reliable 390°F/200°C with the time set to 12-14 minutes. It only took 12 minutes for me, which was the lowest time suggestion for grilling/broiling.
Centre of gammon steaks will be pink remember, so there's no way of telling if they're cooked, other than probing the steaks with a food thermometer probe. It would probably be best to cut off a little gammon steak to taste, to be absolutely sure its fully cooked.