Country Ham Question

[Willy]

I've never really had a country style ham, 'ceptin' maybe a slice or two in a diner when visiting Alabama or Tennessee. and I'm really wanting to try one. I want to buy a whole one, but I'm kinda worried that with just two of us we won't eat it quickly enough, resulting in spoilage--and wasted $$. I THINK I know that one can hang around at room temp for a "long time", but must be refrigerated once cut into.

My basic questions are:


1) Am I correct about my thoughts above?
2) How long will an "opened" ham last in the fridge?
3) Can it be frozen?
4) Any recommendations as to a good brand? I'm expecting to mail order this.
5) Good uses beyond fried for breakfast and served on muffins with gravy?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

[Hulagn1971]

My father has been getting us one from Padow's Hams and Deli out of VA for years. I actually used to work for Sidney and Eddie Padow when I was in college. My Dad went to school with them and grew up with them. Make sure you have a VERY sharp knife and get a bone-in one. Then stand it up on end, cut a notch out and slice towards the bone. These are great for bunco buns with a good swiss cheese. I believe they can be kept in the fridge for at least a month, I would freeze after that. The bone can be used for a big pot of navy bean soup. Ok, now I'm hungry.
http://www.padows.com/ABUS.html

https://www.recipelion.com/Sandwiches/Bunco-Buns

[Donw]

An uncooked country ham once cured is aged in 75-95 degree heat for months to give it flavor. It will last you at least 6 months just hanging in your home. You can slice off what you want to cook and the remainder will be fine. Just protect from insects.

There are a lot of good recipes such as Crab Norfolk. A search will give you many more. There are a lot of good places to buy. While I am partial to SE Virginia hams, and Eastern North Carolina hams too, Kentucky has fine ones, as well as Missouri. By VA law, to actually carry the name Smithflied it has to be fully cured and smoked in the town limits of Smithfiied VA, so there are a lot of ham shops there that ship. You will pay more for the word Smithfield. A better ham was made in the Richmond area but that company is out of business now. However, the almost exact style is produced in NC at usually a lower price, and they are just as good.

One other thing to remember is that the ham companies do sell ham slices and you don’t have to spend $100+ to try and enjoy country ham.

[Donw]

It is unfortunate that you don’t live closer to ‘country ham’ country where old time ham shops still exist, like WestWater’s in Warsaw. I did want to provide you with this link to a place that does sell online and produces a pretty good ham at a very reasonable price. http://goodnightbrothers.com/shop/. They are in Western NC, but don’t hold that against them too much.

If you want to see it being made, here is another othe link from UNC https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZoXccLLGeQ# This place reminds me so much of my granddad’s ham shop.

[EdF]

Supposedly the Smithfields aren't up to the same standards as the smaller shops like you mention here.

[texastweeter]

I like smithfield myself. Cook a slice in bacongrease, strong coffee and brown sugar. Use whats left in the pan to make redeye gravy. Serve ham and gravy over buscuits. The ham should keep for quite a while.

[Frozen Smoke]

Can you provide a more detailed recipe for this? Ingredient measures?

[Steve R.]

+1 on the redeye gravy!

[texastweeter]

enough bacon grease to shallow pan fry, and a cup of coffee, about half a cup of dark brown sugar Frozen Smoke I usually cook several slices back to back before making the gravy.

[edwtimfor]

I applied barbecue techniques (low and slow and the Texas crutch) to my country ham this year and the results were great. First I soaked the ham for 3 days changing the water twice a day. I put the ham (hock removed) into an old granite ware roasting pan my Mother left me and put only 4 cups of water in the bottom. I covered the pan with wide foil and crimped it tightly all around. I even put the roaster lid on over the foil for more moisture retention. The ham then went into a 225 degree oven until my probe hit 145. Pulled it from the oven but left it sealed until the temperature started to fall. It hit about 160. I sliced off most of the skin and surface fat while it was warm, wrapped it in plastic and put it in the refrigerator to chill.

The meat was moist and had that great country ham "funk". It was nicely salty even after 3 days of soaking but that was my plan since not a lot of salt would cook out in so little water. I still had about 2 quarts of delicious ham stock in the pan that went into the freezer for beans later.

I keep mine in a large zip bag in the refrigerator for about a month, sometimes a couple weeks more and it is as good the last day as it is the first. Just slice it as thin as you can. I use a Spanish ham knife.

Good luck and good eating.

[Donw]

Sounds delicious! It is hard to beat a well prepared country ham.

[Frozen Smoke]

Good thread I wanted to do a country ham this past Christmas but didn't pull the trigger. Mostly due to zero experience with them and didn't want my first time to be family Christmas dinner. I hope to do one maybe two this off season in prep for the next holiday season.

What would those of you in the know recommend to buy if I wanted to do one on the stick burner? Cooked? Uncooked?

[Donw]

Uncooked would be my preference for a whole ham. If it is a salt cured country ham (Smithfield style) it will already have been cold smoked so it wouldn’t need a lot of extra smoke if any. Your main contribution is towards the end when finishing and glazing if you do glaze. Main key to preparation is a long soak in fresh water. Soak 24-36 hours changing the water at least every 4-6 hours. A cooler with a drain plug works best for us. Then you wrap it up tight in aluminum foil with liquid and let it cook around 20 minutes a lb at 350.
Plenty of glaze recipes on the web. http://countryhams.com/cookinginfo.htm has several as well as various cooking instructions. Also any country ham site will have recipes too.

I would also suggest just cutting off some slices from the uncooked ham, giving them a little soaking, and then frying them up. Redeye gravy, made from the pan drippings, on grits or rice is something you won’t soon forget.

[Donw]

They do recommend a soak if you are going to bake. The no soak is only recommended if you are boiling the ham.@Willy

[Willy]

As I read it, they just say to cut slices 1/4" thick and pan fry them:

1. Ham should be sliced approximately 1/4 of an inch thick.

2. DO NOT trim fat off of slice before frying - it will fry itself. Add no shortening.

3. Put slices in medium hot, heavy skillet, fry 1 minute per side.

I don't think I'm missing anything here--help me! LOL

[Donw]

No idea. It was just a random website I pulled up because it had some glazes I know people might like. They say soak if baking, no soak if boiling. I would never bake without soaking.
As to individual slices it is just your own tolerance to salt. My family wants slices soaked. I personally don’t soak individual slices when cooking just for myself, but I’ve been eating country ham at least 3 times a week for over 65 years.

[Willy]

Frozen Smoke I think an easy way to think of country ham is to compare it to prosciutto. They aren't the same thing, but they are both "finished", cured products made from a fresh ham.

[EdF]

There are cooked and uncooked variants, though. Your preference?

[Willy]

@EdF: I didn't know either country ham or prosciutto came cooked--at least not "quality" ones. Educate me. Lord knows, I need it! ;«)

[Steve R.]

Baked country ham is outstanding, if you are wanting something besides slices cooked up in a skillet.