Country ham

[Skeggs]

So, not 'zackly traditional, but my wife has this steam oven you see...
Sous vide country ham! Just a hair brained notion, I'm sure others have done this, but I don't see much on the subject.
It works really, really well.
There are other ways to sous vide, but here is what I did:
Very old traditional Kentucky country ham, nice half inch slices.
Vacuum seal in water for two days.
Change the water to brown sugar water, one more night.
145 degrees for 2 1/2 hours in the bag.
Liquid gets saved for gravy, your choices are limitless here, redeye, coffee, etc.
Remove, trim fat and gristle, lightly sear on medium high cast iron.
Slap on the biscuits.
Prepare to defend your plate!

 

[tenngun]

My then sister in law came to our house for Christmas dinner one year. I backed a dry cured ham. Soaked it two days before baking, it was heaven on a platter.
Next year she tried one for thanksgiving. She just tossed it in the oven to bake.
She never mentioned it but a few weeks later my brother was complaining about a plate of salt. We couldn’t make it to her dinner that year, I’m glad
I’m not saying that was the reason she is my ex sister in law but…..

 

[Skeggs]

Ouch! Country ham, or as most folks called it when I was a kid, ham, requires some work. Since we're talking ex, I suggest some brains help out here, too.
We also have an old cast iron kettle, guessing about 20 gallons-ish, from my wife's uncle, passed down a few generations.
Been itching to try a boiled ham recipe from some childhood family friends.
Pop that whole sucker in the pot with appropriate water, cook for, well, for a long while, I suppose, cause I was a kid and don't remember!
Eventually add beans, onions, etc, because that water is perfect for beans.
This was a big holiday meal, Christmas I think, 20-30 some people.
One day, I'll get one of those round toits folks talk about.

 

[windini]

That sounds really good!

But I have a technical question: how do you get a vacuum seal in a bag with water? I have an older FoodSaver, and liquid is the bane of its existence! The vacuum sucks the liquid into the seal band and prevents sealing.

 

[Dale Lilly]

Ouch! Country ham, or as most folks called it when I was a kid, ham, requires some work. Since we're talking ex, I suggest some brains help out here, too.
We also have an old cast iron kettle, guessing about 20 gallons-ish, from my wife's uncle, passed down a few generations.
Been itching to try a boiled ham recipe from some childhood family friends.
Pop that whole sucker in the pot with appropriate water, cook for, well, for a long while, I suppose, cause I was a kid and don't remember!
Eventually add beans, onions, etc, because that water is perfect for beans.
This was a big holiday meal, Christmas I think, 20-30 some people.
One day, I'll get one of those round toits folks talk about.

Uh, better clean that cast iron really well. That's what my grama and I made lye soap in. Never really cleaned it. Dale

 

[Skeggs]

Not sure. We had an older foodsaver, but we now use one of the bigger units we saw on Iron Chef. It has some white poly cutting board devices that you can remove to allow a sort of puddle of liquid to stand while you vacuum.
Maybe hang it sideways??
We did have some containers with a hose, as I recall, from the food saver. Wore that puppy out on years of venison, though! Found some cookie jar money and got the bigger vac when the old unit gave up the ghost.
Not really sure that a vacuum is as important as a good seal, honestly. As long as it stays sealed and the juice and seasoning doesn't escape, you should be good.
Some of our grown kids use a beverage cooler and mini water pump gadget, circulating hot water with a thermostat that holds a set temp. They have good results with that, too.
I just thought sous vide was for steaks or fancy "cuisine" things, but then I was in a mood for ham and biscuits, and just thought I'd give it a try.
It could be that some form of zip lock bag is available for this, I just don't know. Temps are pretty low.
Lucky my wife is a gadget person I suppose.

 

[Skeggs]

Cast iron cleaning for me is, deglaze, pour off the liquid, scrape a little if needed, wipe it out, hang it up.
The big pot?
Yeah, well... eat last!

 

[Hardscrabble]

This method has been used in my family since I was big enough to know what I was watching. It is foolproof unless you use a dented can that won’t seal, you somehow manage to drop the can, or you steam your face off emptying hot Dr Pepper into the sink. I have never had a problem but I’m as careful choosing the can as I am choosing a ham.

One each whole Benton’s ham, one gallon Coke or Dr Pepper, one Charles Chips potato chip can (lard can, etc, even a large pot will do, although not traditional, the largest can from Garrett Popcorn in Chicago is about perfect, you just have to eat the popcorn first) and an old quilt.

-Ham goes in the can. Can goes on the heat, cover with water and bring to a boil.
-Let cool a bit until cool enough to handle. Dump the water in sink or outside, back on the heat, pour in Dr Pepper to cover ham. Bring back to a boil.
-Lid goes on the can, old quilt laid out on hearth, wrap the can up in the quilt.
-Ham slow cooks overnight.

This method produces a very tender ham akin to a braised butt.

 

[windini]

As long as it stays sealed and the juice and seasoning doesn't escape, you should be good.

This could work! I can just seal w/o vacuuming by placing the bag edges just so in the contraption. Thanks for the pondering!

Time to get a ham...

 

[doubleset]

Well, I'm a Yankee by birth and upbringin'. And while I do appreciate a certain amount of Southern "cuisine", I have to say that I've never seen country ham that I'd want to touch with a fork. Y'all can have it, bless your hearts. I suppose y'all eat it with okra, which I also can't abide -- although the rest of my family actually believes it's an edible vegetable of some sort. I might could try country ham again at some point, though I think the very thought of that would give my cardiologist a heart attack.

But I do appreciate these insights into preparation of the product.

 

[nkbj]

I settle for making buckboard bacon from shoulder. It's become a favorite.

 

[Skeggs]

As the chefs like to say, start with proper ingredients. Hogs (heritage breeds are the best) raised and fed properly (not on a modern factory farm), field raised instead, things like sweet acorns (think the Iberian black foot hogs in Spain), alfalfa, etc, properly treated all the way through curing, then prepared correctly....(lots of semi- secret recipes that are really, really good, including the Dr Pepper!)...find some of that and you're going to be happy! Poorly done tastes like salty leather (my dad always over cooked the ham at home. Kinda not great).
The sous vide, after soaking, took an average ham and made it very tasty.
I'm going to find or grow a proper ham (one day...) and see how good it can get.
I'm also wanting to try my hand at a wild boar ham.
My Hawken wants one!

 

[Hardscrabble]

I regularly use sous vide, never tried country ham but I’m sure a superior plate could be achieved that way. I’m far more likely to cook a whole ham, though, and my sous vide set will handle a 5# roast but not a ham. I don’t have a vac sealer that would do it either.

I spent most of my working years with a restaurant company that most southerners would associate with country ham. I have bought, inspected, watched curing, cooked, or supervised those things with literally train cars of country ham from various providers and none comes close to a Benton ham from Alan’s place in Madisonville, TN. He’s high on locally raised heritage hogs. As you say, if you don’t start with special ingredients it’s tough to put together a special meal. Alan gets it. The only eating I place above a Benton ham is Benton bacon.

In moderation, of course. I’m getting too long in the tooth to eat as much of the great food I’d like to.

 

[Tn poor boy]

Dang Yankee Dont now what Good food is . COUNTRY HAM For breakfast with eggs red eye gravey a poun of wheat bread butter cup jfg coffee and apple butter. Dang boys i just made my self hungry lol. Ha yankee's come on done

 

[doubleset]

Dang Yankee Dont now what Good food is . COUNTRY HAM For breakfast with eggs red eye gravey a poun of wheat bread butter cup jfg coffee and apple butter. Dang boys i just made my self hungry lol. Ha yankee's come on done

If a breakfast don't got a biscuit in it, it ain't southern to me. And I don't get what it is with people in the diners around here not serving hash any more.

 

[Skeggs]

There are some good eats from our yankee friends and family we don't see much outside of the north. My mom was a New Yorker transplant, and often introduced strange foods to our poorer area of the south.
Scrapple, real kosher delicatessen staples, etc.
I like my scrapple cut thin and fried crispy around the edges, by the way.
Plenty of good Yankee stuff to try.

 

[Tn poor boy]

There are some good eats from our yankee friends and family we don't see much outside of the north. My mom was a New Yorker transplant, and often introduced strange foods to our poorer area of the south.
Scrapple, real kosher delicatessen staples, etc.
I like my scrapple cut thin and fried crispy around the edges, by the way.
Plenty of good Yankee stuff to try.

Lol your right you see you have befrom up north to be a Yankees. My ggg farther a Yankee from here in Tennessee lol so i guess iv got Yankees in me to lol

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

That sounds really good!

But I have a technical question: how do you get a vacuum seal in a bag with water? I have an older FoodSaver, and liquid is the bane of its existence! The vacuum sucks the liquid into the seal band and prevents sealing.

I have always hung the bag over the counter edge. With a slight bend in the bag you can control any liquid being sucked up into the unit. Make the bag slightly longer to achieve this. Hope this helps. Scott

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

This method has been used in my family since I was big enough to know what I was watching. It is foolproof unless you use a dented can that won’t seal, you somehow manage to drop the can, or you steam your face off emptying hot Dr Pepper into the sink. I have never had a problem but I’m as careful choosing the can as I am choosing a ham.

One each whole Benton’s ham, one gallon Coke or Dr Pepper, one Charles Chips potato chip can (lard can, etc, even a large pot will do, although not traditional, the largest can from Garrett Popcorn in Chicago is about perfect, you just have to eat the popcorn first) and an old quilt.

-Ham goes in the can. Can goes on the heat, cover with water and bring to a boil.
-Let cool a bit until cool enough to handle. Dump the water in sink or outside, back on the heat, pour in Dr Pepper to cover ham. Bring back to a boil.
-Lid goes on the can, old quilt laid out on hearth, wrap the can up in the quilt.
-Ham slow cooks overnight.

This method produces a very tender ham akin to a braised butt.

Excellent!

 

[SOLANCO]

I regularly use sous vide, never tried country ham but I’m sure a superior plate could be achieved that way. I’m far more likely to cook a whole ham, though, and my sous vide set will handle a 5# roast but not a ham. I don’t have a vac sealer that would do it either.

I spent most of my working years with a restaurant company that most southerners would associate with country ham. I have bought, inspected, watched curing, cooked, or supervised those things with literally train cars of country ham from various providers and none comes close to a Benton ham from Alan’s place in Madisonville, TN. He’s high on locally raised heritage hogs. As you say, if you don’t start with special ingredients it’s tough to put together a special meal. Alan gets it. The only eating I place above a Benton ham is Benton bacon.

In moderation, of course. I’m getting too long in the tooth to eat as much of the great food I’d like to.

I'll give Benton a try. Meanwhile suggest you try this:
https://www.newsomscountryham.com/