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Ham on Christmas Day - it’s a tradition like Applets and Cotlets. We don’t eat much ham so I checked on line for reviews. Target (!) #1, Aldi #2. Honey baked ($$$) dead last at # 10. Aldi had hams on sale so that’s what I got. It lived up to the hype - one of the best I’ve ever had.
Pre-cooked, of course - I’m sure you can still buy uncooked hams somewhere but they’ve pretty much disappeared. But what should the finish temp be? And wouldn’t you like to tour the plant where they cook all of those hams? The smell must be incredible!
Online recommendations for time, oven temp and finish temp were all over the place - most hovering around 325F for the oven and a finish temp of 150F. For reference I cracked open my trusty 1958 Betty Crocker illustrated cookbook and found this glorious thing!
My ham looked nothing like this. Look at the fat on the outside! Haven’t seen a ham like that in decades. They kind of went away after the “Pork - the Other White Meat” campaign of the 1980’s. It worked - pork is much leaner these days - but they’ve result has been pork roasts, chops, and such are nearly impossible to cook without drying them out. Not a problem in 1958!
What was a problem, apparently, was trichinosis - not so much today. Betty made sure her ham didn’t have that problem - finish temp 170F!
Cook a modern ham to that temp and you could saw off slices to shingle the shed! Modern FDA recommendation is 145F - perfect texture but a bit pink for some folks. Not a problem with a cured ham and that’s the temp I cooked it to. I used 300F for the oven temp, figuring it would be less likely to dry out on the outside and I had plenty of time.Perfect!
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We had ham a few days ago as well. We buy most of our pork from a nephew's farm in Ohio. The half hog this ham came from was slaughtered and smoked at a meat market one of my uncles established many years ago that is now run by 2nd and 3rd generation descendants.
Since there are few of us eating most meals, we have several slices cut from the center of the ham and then the butt and shank ends packed separately. We roasted a shank, which fed three of us, leaving some meat that I cut and diced to go into macaroni and cheese, and now have a pretty meaty ham bone that is destined for ham and bean soup.
Big Al
Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.
Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro
A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ
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I’ve been making ham stock. Brings beans up to a new level!
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I've used this Jacques Pepin recipe for making ham. Works well for me because ham can be pretty salty and I'm a sodium watcher.
https://jfmccann.com/jacques-pepins-smoked-ham-with-sriracha-maple-glaze/
Like the recipe says, the water you simmer the ham in becomes a ham stock and can be used to cook other things like beans, etc.
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@Steve-Miller said in Ham:
Al, are the hams you get from the farm old school like the one in the picture?
No, they are leaner, without a great deal of external fat. I think there is less desire for a fat hog these days. I'll have to ask my nephew about this the next time I see him.
Big Al
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@Steve-Miller great post! I hadn’t thought about the move to leaner ham, but they do indeed dry out too easily.
We used to do ham at Christmas or new year’s all the time, but now we haven’t done one in years. I kind of miss it.
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@Steve-Miller Have I got a ham for you....
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What a great story!
Thanks!
