Real Country Ham

[Vintage465]

While I was in Nashville last week I ate my fair share and then some of real country ham. It is a real treat to have a slice of aged, dry cured ham. Magnificent on a biscuit with a couple eggs on the side. Really no such thing out here in California. Just "City Ham" as they call it in Nashville.

[db7512]

Petit Jean meats from Arkansas. Hard to best and you can order it online
It doesn't get any better

[Vintage465]

I ordered up some Country Ham biscuit slices, seasoning meat and ham hocks from Broadbent's in Kentucky. Made some ham biscuits right off the bat! Very yummy. I just made some stock to simmer some greens in for a "Department Lunch" I will provide my crew on Tuesday. Very tasty stuff!

[bobsallyh]

Yeah, Daddy Bear forgot the gravy, my bad! Love to go in Cracker Barrel in Yuma, AZ. in the winter and see those ugly things swinging over their trinket area.

[Daddy_Bear]

And don't forget that wonderfully tasty, made from the drippings after frying up that country ham, RED EYE GRAVY!! They go hand-in-hand...can't have one w/o the other...just wouldn't be right!

Western NC southern boy here! Every time we go home to visit we bring back two or three country hams. They are hard to find in Montana!

[bobsallyh]

Rotz's Meats in McConnellsburg, PA. has the best country ham I've ever had. Bring it home and trim the mold off the outside, slice it, simmer in pan with water which helps to eliminate some of the salt. Then put in black iron skillet and fry. Eat anything with it that you care to. If they don't look bad, they aren't good!

[theoldwizard1]

The "country ham" I have had is just to salty for my taste.

We have a local company (Dearborn Sausage) that does a knockoff of the "Honey Baked Ham" at a fraction of the cost and it tastes as good or better !

[Gene_Ginny]

Dick_B wrote:
What's the sodium content of real country ham?

Food database and calorie counter - Source: USDA
4 oz Ham (Center Slice, Country-Style, Lean Only, Cured)
Sodium 3056mg

LINK

[ramzfam]

Growing up in south-central Virginia, I was in my early teens before I discovered that there was such a thing as ham that wasn't cured. I have friends that still raise hogs. They cure and smoke hams, jowl, bacon, side meat, and occasionally, front shoulder. Being raised on this kind of meat, the saltiness is a feature rather than an issue.

[rockhillmanor]

Last week I watched a documentary on PBS on how they make that 'really' expensive Prosciutto Di Parma in Italy. I think it was that cooking show called Eat Drink Italy.

Parma
OMG, all the mold involved!!
And the only type of inspection is a man with a nose!!! He pierces the ham with some sort of special needle carved from a special bone and then smells the end of the bone to see if it's done curing or has gone bad!
Parma's crowning glory - Prosciutto di Parma from start to finish


Kentucky
While most Kentucky country hams is aged up to a year, we age our hams an additional year for added flavor in our non-climate controlled “aging house” behind the Inn (photo above, with Chuck Dedman), taking advantage of the natural, seasonal fluctuations of temperature and humidity. The weather conditions in our area seem to aid the natural enzymes that produce this true Kentucky delicacy.
http://beaumontinn.com/kentucky-cured-ham/

Sooo I guess it doesn't matter how much that ole pig's leg costs neither Italy or Kentucky do much in the realm of any real safety testing just lots and lots of mold. :B:W:B

[Vintage465]

Wow, did this ever start the fun going! The country ham I enjoyed in Nashville was actually from Waffle house. Yes very salty, but sliced thin. No I wouldn't eat it every day, but man!.....with a biscuit! Can't be beat. I guess the other reason I am so intrigued by country ham is the fact that I make lots of sausage, hams,(wet cured) bacon, corned beef etc. Country Hams are made so much different and I believe the curing and aging is truly an art. Some day all these types of curing related art forms will be gone. I will enjoy them in good health while it's here!

[Johno02]

OK, I know that it is a very private, and well guarded procedure, but could we share just a few ways of cooking or preparing hams for eating. We do need to pass some of this on, else it may become another of the lost arts.

[Happytraveler]

phillyg wrote:

Dick_B wrote:
What's the sodium content of real country ham?

Who cares?

My grandmother lived to be 102 and she never paid attention to sodium content. When she was gardening in the heat she took salt pills, go figure.

[phillyg]

I'm from up north and never heard of country ham till I married a VA gal.

[phillyg]

Dick_B wrote:
What's the sodium content of real country ham?

Who cares?