/ck/ - Food & Cooking

OP here, heading to the grocery store real fast, would love some feedback on country ham when I return!

I don't browse /ck/ daily but I browse it semi regularly, never seen it mentioned.

Really /ck/ no interest at all in amazing porky goodness?

This is a regionally specific item and it's way too early for drun/ck/s from the southeast to be looking at this board.

You're going to need to give it a few hours for people to crawl out of bed.

Welcome to the blue boards.

Maybe in its final form?

Surely I have some southern brothers and sisters here who grew up on this in the 70s/80s when it was a staple?

>>4650501
I'll bump after noon I guess...I'm here in the south and didn't get drunk last night.

>>4650374
show me how to make it!
now!

>>4650532
I don't cure it myself, I just eat it, but there are tons of guides online. Looked it up today myself, interesting to see where this amazing food comes from.

>>4650503
Not a 70's or 80's kid but I've had my share of Country ham for breakfast (We call those Ham Steaks). Nothing still beats using country ham in a big pot of string beans or cabbage or even better, ham biscuits.

>>4650532

It's a huge PITA to make country ham yourself, and it's cheap as fuck. Benton hams cost like $70 for a 15 pounder and are used in some of the finest restaurants in America (Get the deboned and sliced if you order).

If you want to make it yourself, it basically works like this:
>mix 1TB salt, 1 t sugar, and 1/8t #2 cure for each pound of the raw ham.
>rub it all over the ham
>cold smoke it for 48 hours
>hang it in a cool, damp environment for 6 months to a year

>>4650554
Here in the south ham steaks are more of the run of the mill ham, not salt cured, are you sure you're not having that?

Country ham is quite a bit more salty than the ham steaks I think you are talking about, same cut of pork and everything, just cured in salt.

>>4650556
My grandmother had a smokehouse full of hams year round, my family ate delicious cured ham often, I miss that woman and her wonderful cooking.

>>4650562
This is what we call a ham steak here, visually similar, but without the reddish color and nitrate/salt laden goodness.

You may know exactly what country ham is too, just the phrase ham steak leads me to believe otherwise.

>>4650570

That just looks like fresh ham, i.e. a steak cut from a pig's ass.

I went to a diner in arkansas that all the locals were crazy about and I ordered country ham with my eggs.

The diner lady was all "son, are you sure you know what that is?" And everyone was like "you're not gonna like it"

I was expecting some nuclear salt in my mouth but it was nothing. Belly lox is saltier.

Pretty good though, would order again 9/10

whats the difference between country ham and urban ham?

>>4650579

It's called City Ham, and it's basically everything you normally think of as ham. Country Ham is more like prosciutto and jamón iberico.

>>4650579
One is aged/cured (country) the other is fresh and usually a bit sweeter than savory (city).

A lot of what people consider as a traditional holiday ham is what we in the south call a city ham, sweet, glazed, cloves, pineapple, cherries, all that.

>>4650592
ah, so it turns out the country ham isn't that crisscut leg they take out of the oven!, now you're gonna tell me you gringos have other recipes with turkey that are not just roasting it whole?

>>4650567

Your Grandmother sounds like an amazing woman. At least to this hungry /ck anon.

>>4650624
She was, she also made a 12 layer chocolate cake from scratch, I swear she was the best cook I have ever known.

country ham is awesome
I'd buy it before I'd buy prosciutto, but, ironically it's easier (and more expensive) for me to find imported prosciutto without having to make special orders.

>>4650697
>I'd buy it before I'd buy prosciutto, but, ironically it's easier (and more expensive) for me to find imported prosciutto without having to make special orders.

Online ordering is pretty easy these days, if you like country ham more and with the difference in price it seems like this would be a no brainer to order.

>>4650697

yep same here. I can get something like 6 different kinds of prosciutto from the grocery store here and that's before we get into similar products from spain and germany. to get country ham I'd have to get on the internet.

I'm frequently accused of being a murrka hating european by our local USA PATRIOT community but the fact is regional products often aren't all that easy to find outside their native regions.

>>4650601
>now you're gonna tell me you gringos have other recipes with turkey that are not just roasting it whole?

I hunt turkey, and don't always roast them whole. Wild turkey nuggets are fucking delicious.

>>4650710
>>4650712

Hah, I live in SC and it's the polar opposite, local country ham is cheap as shit and plenteous in the pig. I prefer prosciutto myself however.

>>4650710
Except that I hate ordering food online that does not go to a someplace that'll store it (I.E., purveyor). I live in an area where it is not uncommon for it to be 110f+ this time of year, and I do not spend much time at home, so it would likely have to sit out in that heat for 6 hours+, if not longer. Add the price of ice packing to the shipping to combat all that, and yeah, not so great with the added hassle and concern.

>>4650716
Remember that country ham sits in a wooden shed without AC for southern summers in their creation.

They would hold up better than just about any food imaginable through transit.

>>4650725
that's also during the curing process
they wouldn't hold up better than many other cured meats, which I also wouldn't abuse if I could avoid it. Most really good country ham producers suggest refrigerating in the same way you'd refrigerate condiments. It helps to preserve the intended flavor.

>>4650731
If you're that concerned, is the cost of the ice shipping prohibitive to the point that prosciutto is the winner even with your preference to country ham?

>>4650756
no, but it being more of a hassle, and not all that much cheaper to get domestics just seems silly to me
I understand that it's just because prosciutto sells better nowadays, but I also don't really know why it sells better
Do food magazines not use other cured hams in recipes or something?

>>4650787
Country ham doesn't sound nearly as exotic as prosciutto, sadly this and the stereotype that exists for anything "country" or "southern" is all it takes to form lasting public opinion.

Also, country ham is rarely used in recipes, the flavor is kind of overpowering for casuals.

Years ago though Smithfield used to sell country ham sausage, it was some of the best sausage ever.

>>4650801
Just Googled country ham sausage, apparently Smithfield plastered Paula Deen's mug on the package...no wonder I haven't recognized it..

>>4650801
>country ham sausage
oh man, that sounds amazing

>>4650787

it's because marketers have caused people to associate the word "country" meaningless marketing speak. the public hears "country X" and the mental filter activates, grouping it in with country style lemonade mix, all natural pie filling, and country crock butter.

there is some terrible fake prosciutto out there too but for normal people it's still associated with a quality product.

also Jews and the Illuminati.

>>4650805
It's probably the most expensive sausage you can find in the typical grocery store, but man it's like nibbling on pork Jesus.

>>4650812
>Jews
they're conspiring to rid the world of all pork products, firstly by narrowing it down to the least possible number of expensive imports first?
>illuminati
this I can attest to
the grail story is really just a cover up for their underground super secret larder that is not quite full of country ham yet

>>4650831
>the grail story is really just a cover up for their underground super secret larder that is not quite full of country ham yet

Now I have to go find the fucking Holy Grail, thanks dude.

Country ham is best ham. I get one per year or more from Newsoms.