[Sca-cooks] dry-cured ham source

[Stefan li Rous]

Halima replied to me with:
> I got my dry-cured ham at Sam's club.
A Smithfield ham, then? That is where I got mine. I still have some as 
I've been cutting/sawing off some and then boiling/cooking that rather 
than cooking the whole thing which I would then have eat before it went 
bad. They also have the Smithfield bacon, but I wasn't that impressed 
with that. It wasn't that much different than the fresh bacon I can buy 
and it was much more expensive.

I was hoping that perhaps you were going to tell me of another source.
> It wasn't nearly as good as my
> sister's home-cured (she also makes the best bacon, but I digress),
Yes, that sounds wonderful. Does she start with her own pigs?
> but
> it was passable.  Just remember to soak overnight before using.  If
> boiling (and I recommend that you do), discard soaking water and 
> replace
> with fresh water before boiling.
Yes, at least once.
> Boil/simmer to internal temperature of
> 160 degrees, then peel off fat and skin, and roast/glaze as desired (I
> never do this-just eat them boiled, but yum!!!).  Flavorful, succulent,
> and not the insipid, water-pumped flavorless kind of ham...you'll 
> become
> a ham snob, mark my words...<eg>.
The biggest problem is the size. As I mentioned, you either have to cut 
off a chunk somehow or boil the whole thing. The latter works for a 
family get-together but not just for one or two people. The other 
problem is you have to plan ahead. Which I often don't do. You can't 
decide at 6pm that you would like some country ham for dinner that 
night.
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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