10 To Order: The Best of Melbourne’s Christmas Hams
Whether coated in a sticky-sweet glaze or studded with aromatic cloves, a well-chosen hunk of ham has the potential to steal the spotlight on your Christmas table.
We’ve rounded up 10 of Melbourne’s best that promise happiness on the big day – and top-tier sandwiches for many days thereafter.
G McBean Family Butcher
Third-generation butcher Gary McBean is an industry darling who has won over everyone from home cooks to professional chefs. For Christmas this year, his Prahran Market shop has hams made using free-range Victorian Berkshire pork. All hams are smoked in-house and come in a special G McBean ham bag.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store while stock lasts.
Meatsmith
This year, at Andrew McConnell and Troy Wheeler’s Meatsmith, a variety of cuts and weights are available, but go for the signature rare-breed cooked ham on the bone. It’s brined for 48 hours then smoked over German beechwood to give it depth of flavour. Add a jar of the signature brown sugar and tawny port glaze for $14 more, and an “I Want To Hold Your Ham” bag for $12.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store while stock lasts.
Peter Bouchier
Peter and Sue Bouchier opened their first butchery in 1983. Now, over four decades later, they’ve got stores in Toorak and Malvern plus a special facility for smallgoods production. Their tagline “butchers of distinction” is backed up by premium products, including the free-range leg ham. There are several options, but we recommend the skinned and scored boneless ham that you can slather with an orange-honey glaze.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store while stock lasts.
Andrew’s Choice Smokehouse
Selected from local farms and cured using a family recipe butcher Andrew Vourvahakis has held tightly for decades, these hams are consistent winners in the Australian Porkmark Ham Awards. They’re slow-roasted and smoked with German beechwood. And Vourvahakis says, “Whoever buys our ham, it’s like they’re sitting at our table on Christmas Day. It’s our gift to them”. So he’s selective when choosing retailers to stock them – “We like to think of them as our brand ham-bassadors”.
Orders are open on the Andrew’s Choice website until stick runs out. The hams can be home delivered, or you can pick up at the store at Unit 2/74 William Angliss Drive, Laverton North.
Donati’s Fine Meats
Donati’s has been a Carlton institution since the early 1960s, but with owner Leo Donati set to retire in 2026, this will be the last year to get your hands on the shop’s Christmas ham. Made with free-range pork, the ham is carefully brined for a succulent and tender finish, then smoked over Tasmanian hardwood.
Call (03) 9347 4948 or visit the store at 402 Lygon Street, Carlton to order.
Hagen’s Organics
Second-generation family-run butcher Hagen’s Organics has been around since the ’80s and now has a handful of locations across Melbourne. The team works closely with local farmers, and the pork pick is McIvor Farm Foods in the Mitchell Shire town of Tooborac. The free-range, grain-fed Berkshire pork is regenerative farmed and makes for sweet, marbled meat that works well for Christmas ham – available on or off-bone in a range of sizes. This year, Hagen’s has teamed up with local aperitif brand Rhubi on a sweet-tart glaze made with rhubarb liqueur, citrus, warming spice and botanicals.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store while stock lasts.
Gamekeepers
Gamekeepers supplies some of Melbourne’s best restaurants – Amaru and Gimlet among them. Its Berkshire pork Christmas hams come from Raven’s Creek Farm, which runs free-range, pasture-raised purebred Berkshire pigs in Moriac outside Geelong. Berkshire pork is renowned for its “juiciness, flavour and tenderness,” says Gamekeepers co-owner Jerome Hoban – it’s “the Wagyu of the pork world.” Hams go through a three-stage smoking process over Victorian mountain ash wood chips and can be ordered whole or halved.
Orders are open on the Gamekeepers website until stock runs out. The hams can be home delivered, or you can pick up from the store at 7 Edgecombe Court, Moorabbin.
Victor Churchill
The lavish Sydney butcher has a location in Armadale, and it’s got some great stuff for Christmas ham season. It favours kurobuta pork from prized Berkshire pigs, reared in northern NSW. Hams are available half or whole and come unglazed, but you can purchase glaze on the side to finish off the ham at home.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store at 953 High Street, Armadale, while stock lasts.
Cannings Free Range Butchers
The company grew out of founder Sam Canning’s respect for animals, so the team ensures all farm partners take good care of their livestock. The pork is sourced from Borrowdale and comes with a certification from the Australian Pork Industry Quality Assurance Program. For Christmas, it’s cured in small batches and smoked for 12 hours over German beechwood – expect a succulent ham with big flavour.
Online orders are closed, but hams can be purchased in-store while stock lasts.
Gamze Smokehouse
Here, the focus is on locally grown ingredients, low food miles, and making everything by hand in small batches. (Plus, the meat-curing process is entirely chemical-free.) As for the ham, Gamze uses rare and traditional Berkshire, saddleback and duroc pigs that roam freely on farms in the Wangaratta area. Half or whole legs are cured in a brine of salt, Milawa honey and celery extract, then smoked over Australian hardwoods. A low and slow steam-cooking method is used to ensure a moist and tasty stack of ham on your plate.
Gamze takes direct orders until sold out. Or find your nearest stockist here.
This article was originally published on December 6, 2021. It was updated on December 16, 2025 to reflect new information and remove out-of-date details.
Additional reporting by Quincy Malesovas
MORE FROM BROADSHEET
-684aac461c.webp)
VIDEOS
01:35
No One Goes Home Cranky From Boot-Scooting
01:24
Three Cheese Mushroom and Ham Calzone With Chef Tommy Giurioli
01:00
The Art of Service: There's Something for Everyone at Moon Mart
More Guides
RECIPES
