Have wondered about that myself, so googled it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5919180_freeze-cooked-smoked-ham.html

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071104210053AAJZtSz

http://www.cookingjunkies.com/rec-food-cooking/freezing-ham-40205.html

Also, there is a very good forum, where I've found the posters very helpful.

http://www.taste.com.au/forums/

Thank you koko,a very good answer to how to do it.

It will certainly help, as it seems easy & just what I need.Also thanks for the other forum, I shall check this out.

Another way is to vacuum pack large chunks after boning.  Alternatively, use a scrubbed hacksaw to break into manageable sections and vacuum pack befors freezing.

Where I'd be a bit careful is that some hams are deep frozen to build up stocks for Xmas and defrosted in the retail outlet's chiller display.  In that case you might be better off refrigerating what you need and giving the rest away in parcels.  What goes around comes around and our parents, grandparents and other forebears knew that and shared any temporary abundance.  Remember the sharing of veggies and other foods before homes had massive electric fridges?

Thank you Nautilus, I was told at the RSL that the ham came from the local butcher.

I phoned & asked them if it had been frozen & was told it hadn't. I also asked would he be able to Cryovac half for me, he was most rude, & asked me what did I expect for the cost of a raffle ticket !! I was taken aback, as he was the owner & I am a lady of 80, what happened to manners.

I have decided that I will try what Koko said, as it seems easy,

We have no family here, or I would certainly be passing some on.

Merry Xmas.

What a miserable butcher, it would take only a few minutes to put the ham through his electric band saw and he could have asked for a few dollars to make a profit on the cryovac bags.

Slice it all up and place in bags and stand in the shopping centre giving it to people who look a bit down and out.

This will make you feel good and you luck might change so put a tatts on.

There are some foods that freeze well, and a lot that don't. The moisture level in foods is what decides whether it freezes well or not. Foods with high moisture content generally don't freeze well. The moisture turns into ice particles that swell and damage the foods cell structure.

Ham is soaked in brine and contains a surprisingly high moisture level. I wouldn't try to freeze ham. I prefer to buy smaller portions and eat it within it's use-by date. All pork products go off fairly rapidly as the fat in pork goes rancid fairly quickly compared to other meats.

Lamb is one meat that does freeze well, and uncooked lamb actually tastes better if it's frozen for a month or two, before cooking. I find Beef is best frozen no longer than 6-8 weeks, chicken the same - but lamb is good for 4 or 5 mths in the freezer.

I have just learned something new.  I have always bought a large smoked ham for Xmas, so that there would plenty left for grazing.  I definately ate Xmas ham until the middle of January this year from the frig, although, I do make a practice of wrapping it in a tea towel.  Have I just been lucky?

To wrap the ham in a damp teatowel I am told is good practice because it stops ( to some extent ) the ham from drying out when left in the frig ..........Ours was so good this year that I bought another one and carved it up completely and packed it into medium size serves .....put it in 2 quite large plastic containers and froze them

We take a serve or two from the freezer from time to time for lunch sandwiches or salads

Make sure that the ham is completely defrosted prior to use though or a slight change in flavour will be noticable ............Yum Yum

Yes, a tea towel soaked in vinegar and wrapped around a ham is the best ham preserver you can get. You do need to regularly re-soak the tea towel in vinegar.

I'm not a big eater of ham or pork products, as virtually all of these products are smoked. It seems to be nearly impossible to find unsmoked hams or bacons. I'm very aware that the medical fraternity warns regularly about the long-term carcinogenic dangers associated with smoked meats.

Thats an interesting comment you have made about smoked meats and one that I did not know about

Can you point me to extra reading on the subject ......As a Nation we eat big quantities of smoked meats .......expecially ham

You are all making up fairy stories and don't know what you talking about.

The problem with smoked meats is that are NOT smoked but soaked in flavoured/coloured  fluids to flavour the meats as if they were smoked.

Freezing cooked meats does alow you to keep them longer but the ice crystals formed breaks down the texture of the product thus the thawed meat is WET and MUSHY.

Meats can be found that are properly smoked but are usually expensive compared to supermarket products but will keep longer as they are dry and sealed by smoking.

When in doubt throw it out.

Well Davey you have made a big blunder here with your know it all statements ...........my mate is a butcher of high renoun and he SMOKES his hams and we buy them and will do so every time .........so there

The thawed meat is NOT wet and mushy ......lots of mistakes to your credit today old chap

Clay - We've all come across Daveys know-it-all sneering type, posing as the ultimate expert. There's any amount of companies advertising that their products are WOOD SMOKED for a certain amount of hours.

Check out - blackforestsmokehouse.com.au -  kaczanowski.com.au - dorsogna.com.au - the list of producers is endless, that advertise wood smoking is carried out on their ham curing processes.

If the ham producers are advertising this technique and not actually carrying it out, then I'm sure the ACCC would be interested, under Section 18 of the ACL.