Country Ham

dingo007

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Feb 17, 2014

326

68

Gypsy

• Apr 8, 2015

• #1

Following Mr T's awesome guide on making country hams....I embarked on this project nearly a year ago.....

65 Days of Cure

20 Days of Equalization

40hrs of Cold Smoke

9 Months of Aging

Simmered for 6hrs

Chilled ovenight

Honey Glazed and baked for Easter Dinner........

04812B86-CF2F-4782-AA32-AC35F31A96BA_zpskayw2fbp.j

• dingo007
• Apr 8, 2015

Sliced with some baked veges and home made slaw...

87B1D008-AC67-4977-A5EB-31A2F3D8D3DB_zpsbs9kvjfs.j

• dingo007
• Apr 8, 2015

The family loved it....personally...I dont think the effort to reward ratio is worth it. Dont get me wrong..it was tasty enough but not measurably better than other hams I've made in 2 months. I'll do another one some time in the future, but for now I think i'll stick with the "city" hams.

Thanks for looking.

 

• 

Reactions: dirtsailor2003

daveomak

SMF Hall of Fame Pitmaster

OTBS Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Nov 12, 2010

27,123

4,979

Omak,Washington,U.S.A.

• Apr 8, 2015

• #2

Sounds like a country ham.... dry aged and all.... usually they are not cooked.... just sliced and eaten... Did you use the cure #2 recipe...

 

bluewhisper

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Apr 1, 2014

3,587

455

Columbus Ohio

• Apr 8, 2015

• #3

Looks great! Dad would buy a Smthfield and just nick away at it, snacking. Tough, hard dark dry salty meat, he was in heaven. We would carve off pieces and build a split-pea soup around them. It would take weeks to finish one. And, then, there were the soup bones.

 

dingo007

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Feb 17, 2014

326

68

Gypsy

• Apr 9, 2015

• #4

DaveOmak said:

Sounds like a country ham.... dry aged and all.... usually they are not cooked.... just sliced and eaten... Did you use the cure #2 recipe...

Click to expand...

Thanks Dave....Yep used MrT's Cure#2 recipe...It's definitely cured for sure...just not sure I like the flavor that much. I understood that typically they shouldn't be cooked....but also read a bunch of recipes (referenced in MrT's post) that go with the cooking method. I guess my taste isn't mature enough...who knows?

 

dingo007

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Feb 17, 2014

326

68

Gypsy

• Apr 9, 2015

• #5

BlueWhisper said:

 
Looks great! Dad would buy a Smthfield and just nick away at it, snacking. Tough, hard dark dry salty meat, he was in heaven. We would carve off pieces and build a split-pea soup around them. It would take weeks to finish one. And, then, there were the soup bones.

Click to expand...

Thanks Blue...mmmm...split pea soup sounds like a great Idea...i'm gonna do it!

 

b-one

Legendary Pitmaster

OTBS Member

Aug 31, 2014

8,954

1,562

Michigan

• Apr 9, 2015

• #6

Well it looks amazing! I don't think Ill be pulling that one off as I find it hard to let cheese sit a few weeks.

 

dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

Oct 4, 2012

21,947

4,224

Bend Oregon

• Apr 9, 2015

• #7

Looks great Dingo! Even though it wasn't your favorite Ham I gave you points for the successful curing anyways!

 

dingo007

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Feb 17, 2014

326

68

Gypsy

• Apr 12, 2015

• #8

dirtsailor2003 said:

Looks great Dingo! Even though it wasn't your favorite Ham I gave you points for the successful curing anyways!

Click to expand...

Thanks Case.....I'm chalking it up to experience...and maybe I'll be able to re purpose it somehow.

 

cdn offroader

Meat Mopper

Nov 14, 2013

292

63

St Albert, AB

• Apr 14, 2015

• #9

Looks good Dingo, I agree with you about the effort to reward ratio for these. They are good, but not significantly different than a regular cured ham. I notice the texture difference more than flavor.

 

atomicsmoke

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Apr 3, 2014

4,313

1,235

Toronto, Canada

• Apr 14, 2015

• #10

Is this how country ham is served? Cooked?

It does seem weird to cook a cut of meat that's been drying/aging for 9 months.

 

dingo007

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Thread starter

Feb 17, 2014

326

68

Gypsy

• Apr 14, 2015

• #11

atomicsmoke said:

Is this how country ham is served? Cooked?

It does seem weird to cook a cut of meat that's been drying/aging for 9 months.

Click to expand...

I believe it is traditionally just sliced and eaten after aging... However there is reference to both styles.