[Sca-cooks] ham advice

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Etain1263 at aol.com wrote:

> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> stefan writes:
>
>
>><<you only used one soaking of water. I would have done several. I imagine
>>you can still do this, but I'm not sure what the effect of doing this on an
>>already cooked ham is.>>
>>
>
> Doesn't the curing process essentially "cook" the ham anyway?  I thought that
> roasting was merely "heating it up".

Actually, no. While there's probably some denaturing of proteins that
takes place, the main problem with expecting the cure to cook a ham is
that so much of it is connective tissue, which doesn't become tender
unless cooked slowly, and usually in the presence of some water. Hence,
boiled ham. Baked ham is often boiled before baking, and then you get
into compexities related to different cures and such. Some hams can be
soaked and then baked, but often that involves a covered container or a
crust to seal in moisture so the connective tissue can break down.

  Prosciutto is eaten "raw", though, as are various other cured cuts of
pork or beef (for example, bresaola) that have a lot less connective
tissue than a ham, and these can be eaten without further cooking.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98