[Sca-cooks] Adventures with Smithfield Ham

[Stefan li Rous]

Gunthar said:
<<< I may have posted earlier that I got a great deal on a Smithfield ham.
In a nutshell, the store wanted to get rid of it because nobody was
buying them so I got a 14lb ham for $22. 

It sat in the freezer for a couple of weeks and now I'm cooking it.
I've soaked it in water (with several changes) for around 26 hours
and now comes the cooking. >>>

<<< Unfortunately I don't have a stockpot big enough for this monster...>>>

So why did you thaw it out and soak it all at once? Rather than cutting off a slab and just soaking and cooking that?

Of course if you froze it, it would have been more difficult to cut into pieces, but you could also have cut it into several chunks first and then froze those.

When I got a Smithfield ham (thanks to this list), it sat in the refrigerator and I cut off what I needed, usually a few slices, and then I soaked and cooked that. They probably don't have to be kept in the refrigerator, much less the freezer. I kept mine in the refrigerator just to be on the safe side.  After cutting off a chunk, I did do as they recommended and rubbed the new edge down with more salt.

Now that you've removed the salt that was protecting it, you will have to eat the whole thing within a limited amount of time or do something like freeze it again, rather than being able to portion it out over time.

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****