If you’re wondering which supermarket to pick up your Christmas ham this year, wonder no more. CHOICE has done the hard work for you and Coles has been declared as the top dog for the staple December 25 item.

The consumer advocacy group put three experts through a blind taste test of 12 hams from Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi. The testers were asked to rate each one on flavour, texture, appearance and smell.

“Coles Christmas Beechwood Single Smoked Half Leg Ham took first place, receiving a score of 80 per cent,” CHOICE editorial director Mark Serrels revealed.

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Which supermarket had the best Christmas hams?

Brigid Treloar, Greg Bonnefin, and David Stössel were the experts tasked with scoring each Christmas ham.

They declared Coles’ Beechwood ham, which retails for $8 per kilogram, as the best because of its “mild but pleasant aroma, good texture with a moist mouthfeel, and its flavour”.

The testers said the meat’s flavour was “balanced nicely with smoky and sweetness”.

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But what about the other top performers?

Coles Christmas Beechwood Smoked Half Leg Ham ($8 per kilo): 80 per cent

Woolworths Mountain Ash Wood Double Smoked Half Leg Ham ($13 per kilo): 75 per cent

Woolworths Bone In Half Leg Ham ($8 per kilo): 70 per cent

Aldi Specially Selected Premium Triple Smoked Half Leg Ham ($13.99 per kilo): 69 per cent

The Coles Finest Free Range Triple Smoked Leg Ham Portion and Aldi Specially Selected Premium Free Range Boneless Ham came in joint fifth with a 68 per cent rating each.

While Aldi didn’t perform particularly well in this test, it did score very well in another survey.

Canstar found the low-cost supermarket was the best by far for having the best festive items, which included leg ham, turkey, fruit mince pies, Christmas pudding and pavlova bases.

What were the worst-rated Christmas hams?

Aldi had two Christmas hams at the bottom of the pile.

It’s Festive Selection Triple Smoked Boneless Ham, which costs $13.99 per kilo, scored 64 per cent.

While its Festive Selection Australian Half Leg Ham On-The-Bone, which is $7.99 per kilo, notched just 61 per cent.

Even though Coles’ Single Smoked Ham was the best-rated, it’s Double Smoked offering only notched a 64 per cent rating.

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“The ham presents well as a whole piece with clean cream fat layer and nice colour on the skin,” the blind taste testers said.

“The sliced pieces are pale, dry, and uneven in colour and texture. Aroma and flavour are very mild, with little salt or smoke. Lacks depth of flavour.”

You can find the full list of winners and losers here.

How to pick the best ham when supermarket shopping

CHOICE revealed there are several factors that you should weigh up when looking for the ham that you serve on Christmas day:

Ham type: It’s usually done on the bone, either as a shank or a slightly larger leg cut, with this type usually being “more flavoursome and juicer” than a boneless cut

Ham size: CHOICE said you should allow about 225–340g of ham per person

Quality: The consumer group said flecks of white fat, known as marbling, can add “extra juiciness” to the meat, and you should keep your eyes out for the ‘Australian Pork’ logo or the country of origin labelling

Smoked vs Unsmoked: The smoking process creates that classic ham flavour that “many people associate with ham” and they tend to have “a richer deeper flavour”, wheras unsmoked hams have a milder taste. But smoked ham usually costs more.

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