Easter Ham

It's that time to put together the Easter menu. I would like to just pick up a ham this year and cook all the sides. Can you help me out and tell me which direction to go. My choices so far are Honeybaked Ham, Heavenly Ham, and the local Honeybaked Ham Co . Is there any difference or are they all the same. Any other suggestions in the N.W. Chicago or suburbs?Thank You

HI,

Saveur had an article a few years ago. Really more a snippet than an article. It was called Monte's Ham. It was a young career girl who learned how to feed a crowd for $15. The advise was buy the cheapest bone-in ham, then glaze the hell out of it.

I have done it. It is quite impressive and impressively cheap!

The recipe is linked above and the article is here ... it appears I exagerated the cost: $6.99!

Regards,

You might keep an eye out at Costco. Last year about this time, they had Honey-baked hams that were running $2.99 a pound. This started about 1 month before Easter and ran at least 2 months afterward. We gorged ourselves for 3 months and then kicked ourselves for not stocking the freezer. Now it seems they have their own Kirkland brand of spiral cut ham. Speaking of which, has anyone tried their house ham and if so how does it compare?

I had a Kirkland spiral sliced ham for our Super Bowl Party. I added a bit of brown sugar to the glaze mix . It was a very good ham. And the bone made a great pot of bean soup. I will buy this product again.

In this month's Rosengarten Report, David is touting a Korobuta Ham from Snake River Farms in Idaho. The Korobuta, an "exotic Japanese Black hog" is purported to be the porky equivalent of Kobe Beef.

Dave is selling a whole 17-29 pound Korobuta for $169 delivered (no, I didn't forget any decimal points) or a 7-9 pound half ham for $109 delivered.

To order, call 800-832-2330. Cooking and carving instructions are included. Personally, I think that, for that price, Dave should come to your house and carve it for you himself.

Cathy2 wrote:Saveur had an article a few years ago. Really more a snippet than an article. It was called Monte's Ham. It was a young career girl who learned how to feed a crowd for $15. The advise was buy the cheapest bone-in ham, then glaze the hell out of it.

I have done it. It is quite impressive and impressively cheap!

The recipe is linked above and the article is here ... it appears I exagerated the cost: $6.99!

The first ham I ever made had a similar glaze -- no marmalade, just equal amounts brown sugar and mustard. It was even cheaper, because it wasn't a ham but a smoked butt. I didn't really know the difference, having barely ever even eaten ham before then. (Pork never entered my parents' house.)

It turned out beautifully. It's not as impressive as a bone-in ham, but if you don't need to serve so many, a butt is a great value.

I have bought two or three hams from Northeast Iowa Specialty Meats, all organic, sustainably raised, etc. Also very delicious. I deal directly with the farmers, Phil and Barbara Hueneke, who are super nice and very accommodating.

If you order significantly in advance you can have your meat shipped directly to your home (they'll take a deposit for a special freezer package).

But I always order at the last minute, which means that Phil brings it along with his holiday delivery and I drive to meet him somewhere (usually on the outskirts of the city). Definitely easier to have it shipped, but nice to know that I can get meat straight from the farm at the last minute. I bought a ham for Christmas and it had just been cured, never even frozen.

The ham ran about $3.50/pound. They also raise beef, other pork, chicken, and lamb, as well as milk and eggs.

You can get in touch with them through their website:

http://www.iowa-natural-meats.com/

YourPalWill wrote:In this month's Rosengarten Report, David is touting a Korobuta Ham from Snake River Farms in Idaho. The Korobuta, an "exotic Japanese Black hog" is purported to be the porky equivalent of Kobe Beef.

I've had two of Rosengarten's half-hams over the past year. They were, by far, the best hams I have ever purchased. These are even better than the ones I cure and smoke myself. (On the other hand, the turkeys he sells are among the worst I've ever had).

Bill/SFNM

While I am partial to Smithfield and other country hams due to my past career in Virginia, I would agree with Cathy2. Put a good glaze on a loss-leader ham and bake it, making sure NOT to overcook it.

If you want to get a cheap ham after Easter, Costco generally sells the Honeybaked Ham for $0.99/lb about 3-5 days after the Easter holiday.

Heavenly Ham sells bones (with plenty of meat attached) for $1 each.

I agree with Cathy2 too... I usually get the cheap cryovac ham (shank end) and use Alton Brown's recipe for City Ham. It has not failed yet!

The recipe can be found here

I second the Rosengarten ham. We had that last year and it was the best ever.

I HATE Rosengarten's writing. It's so enthusiastic that you think he's trying to hype crap. But the ham REALLY was super good.

But so far trying the food has worked quite well, though I did give up on receiving the report.

Nancy

_____My family and I have been making Aunt Naomi’s Easter Ham for about five years now and I’ve never been disappointed. Feel free to get a Smithfield ham, but you can make any cheap-o one taste phenomenal with this recipe. It was brought to my attention back when Martha was on Food Network…don’t miss those days. Go Rachel Rae!

Z

Anbody else frustrated tbat the ham on bones at Dominick's and Jewel are "ham and water product"?

We decided to not to Rosengarten's this year, I had liked it more than others it seems and they don't want to pay that price this year.

So I thought it sounded good to try Alton's City Ham which got some mentions.

I have recorded most Good Eats episodes as they never seem to be on when you want to cook something, and looked at what he said about ham qualities.

You can read that here from the Good Eats Fan Page transcript:

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/index.htm

You have to find the "Ham I Am" episode, then click on the link for manuscript.

Ham and water product is the low end of the ham product curve. He showed those as being what's in those funny reconstituted shapes. Seems like we want, ham, ham in natural juices, or at least, ham and water added - but not that lowest "ham and water product"

He also pointed out you should get the shank end, not the rump end which has more connective tissue.

So when I wander the 13 miles over to Whole Foods Market. Wellshire Farm hams. I love the Wellshire Farm bacon. Ham, not even water added! But only rump ends. I asked at the meat counter and they said they didn't have any shank ends. Not sure if they just sold out or what.

So then I went to the butcher, where I probably should've gone in the first place (but I wanted other stuff from Whole Foods anyway). Now I got me a nice quality shank ham ordered, to pick up on Friday. If you're in the NW burbs that was Johnny G's Quality Meats in Bloomingdale. Nice place. Hopefully everybody has a good place that isn't too far away.

I wanted to post this in case someone else ends up in big trouble Saturday.....

By the way, if you're happy with spiral cut hams, you shouldn't have much trouble. There's TONS of them. I just don't like them reheated...

Nancy

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Saveur had an article a few years ago. Really more a snippet than an article. It was called Monte's Ham. It was a young career girl who learned how to feed a crowd for $15. The advise was buy the cheapest bone-in ham, then glaze the hell out of it.

I have done it. It is quite impressive and impressively cheap!

The recipe is linked above and the article is here ... it appears I exagerated the cost: $6.99!

Regards,

Easter Ham Economics:

Bought cheap ham on the bone: 9 lb @ $0.99/lb -- $8.91

I whittled away fat and skin weighing 22 ounces and the bones weighed 11.5 ounces.

144 ounces (9 pounds) ham less 33.5 ounces for finished weight of 110.5 ounces (6.9 pounds)

$8.91 divided by 6.9 pounds = $1.29 per pound

Glaze was 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup orange marmalade and 1/2 cup Dijon mustard and maybe 1 tablespoon of cloves.

Ham tasted great making the whole effort worthwhile.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Saveur had an article a few years ago. Really more a snippet than an article. It was called Monte's Ham. It was a young career girl who learned how to feed a crowd for $15. The advise was buy the cheapest bone-in ham, then glaze the hell out of it.

I have done it. It is quite impressive and impressively cheap!

The recipe is linked above and the article is here ... it appears I exagerated the cost: $6.99!

Regards,

Easter Ham Economics:

Bought cheap ham on the bone: 9 lb @ $0.99/lb -- $9.90

I whittled away fat and skin weighing 22 ounces and the bones weighed 11.5 ounces.

144 ounces (9 pounds) ham less 33.5 ounces for finished weight of 110.5 ounces (6.9 pounds)

$9.90 divided by 6.9 pounds = $1.434 per pound

Glaze was 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup orange marmalade and 1/2 cup Dijon mustard and maybe 1 tablespoon of cloves.

Ham tasted great making the whole effort worthwhile.

Regards,

C2,

Not to be picky or anything, but for your 9 lb ham @ $.99 /lb you should have only paid $8.91

Flip - (aka Math wiz)

Flip,

I went back to my original post and made the corrections.

Now Easter Ham cost $1.29 per pound!

Thanks!

Regards,

Little late for Easter, but I order a ham each Christmas from Esicar's Smokehouse in Cape Girardeau, MO. They smoke and hang the hams for Christmas in August and September, so they're really firmed up by Xmas.

You get the back leg of a hog, not some pansy, sugar-frosted ham that's spiral sliced and pumped full of water. Has to be skinned and heated after glazing. BE SURE TO HAVE THEM COOK IT because a country ham MUST be completely submerged in water to cook, which implies a pot just a little smaller than your bathtub. They charge $2 to cook.

They ship year-round; the non-Xmas hams are only hung a few weeks, but are really nice country hams, My son just polished off one for Easter- almost as good as the Xmas ones.

My Xmas ham weighed 16 lbs and cost $53 including cooking and shipping. They include complete operating instructions with each ham. Be sure to try the Red Eye Gravy and some grits with your fried slices!

Breakfast of Champions!

Mike

I'm sorry to edit this, but the Esicar family has retired and the new owners don't know ham from $#%$; although theyve raised the price by a factor of four or five. I suggest you go to "Colonel" Newsome's Old Mill Store for a good, leathery aged country ham:

http://www.newsomscountryham.com

I'm a 30-odd year veteran of country hams and am available for advice if you wish to PM me.

Don't forget to ask me about Red Eye Gravy!

Mike

Esicar's Smokehouse
1157 N Kingshighway St
Cape Girardeau, MO 63701

(573) 335-9283

Big ham what am

For the LTHForum 1,000-Recipe Potluck, I first planned to prepare a well-aged country ham I possessed. Unfortunately, that ham turned out not to have aged so well after all.

So I decided to make a regular city ham, glazed according to the recipe Cathy2 had posted. It never occurred to me that I'd have trouble finding a ham. Nine supermarkets later, I was about to give up.

But after an exhaustive search for an "off-season" ham, I finally located a suitable smoked ham at Peoria Packing. However, even though it was the smallest of the whole hams they had for sale, it was 23 pounds!

I've never cooked a ham so big in my life before. Here it is, in all its naked glory.



I had to buy a foil pan to bake it in, because it was too big for my biggest roasting pan (which can handle a 25-pound turkey. I guess turkeys are more compact).

As long as I was dealing with a ham of the likes I'd never made before, and a glaze I'd never used before, I decided to go whole hog and use the LTHers as guinea pigs for a cooking technique I hadn't tried before, either. So I used a modified version of the Alton Brown technique that CrazyC posted about.

In this method, instead of cutting off the skin and extra fat before cooking, you just score the skin. Then cook the ham for most of its time. Then, using tongs you pull off the diamonds of skin and whatever fat comes with them, before glazing and finishing cooking.

This technique is supposed to help keep the ham moist and allow the fat to flavor the meat more thoroughly than the usual method. Perhaps it does, but it doesn't make for such a pretty ham as removing the skin and scoring the underlying fat layer.

Here's the ham after I removed the skin and studded it with cloves:



Of course, with the thick glaze, it really didn't matter what the ham looked like underneath. This glaze, made from brown sugar, orange marmalade and Dijon mustard (I actually used spicy brown mustard), is so thick that I basically troweled it on with a spatula rather than trying to brush it on. The original recipe calls for putting on more glaze at least three times during the cooking process. I had increased the recipe to allow for the bigger ham, but although I layered it on pretty generously, I still wound up with extra glaze.

Ham with first coat of glaze:



It comes out very dark and with a smoky, burnt-sugar taste. The photo and description at Saveur seem to bear out that this is how it's supposed to be.

I don't think I'd make this glaze again. The orange marmalade addition, to my taste, doesn't improve on my usual version of equal parts mustard and brown sugar. It didn't set up and become crusty all over the ham -- some parts remained kind of sticky and gloopy, even though I gave it an extra 15 minutes at 500 degrees. (I've heard -- but not verified -- that the Honey Baked Ham Co. sets its glazes with a butane torch.)

The ham had already reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees, so I was afraid to cook it too much longer, although when it was sliced it was perfectly moist and could probably have taken more cooking without drying out. Altogether, I baked it for about six hours, adding the glaze for the last hour and 45 minutes.

The potluck attendees seemed to enjoy it. They did a good job on this 23-pound haunch of pig. When I cut up the leftovers I took home, I wound up with just under 5 pounds of meat and a 2-pound bone (now reposing in my freezer for a future soup or bean project). I did not weigh the discarded skin or rendered fat, but I doubt it weighed more than a couple of pounds, at most.

Here's ronnie_suburban's terrific photo of the ham in all its splendor on the Figs' platter at the potluck.

ronnie_suburban wrote:
City ham with Cathy2's glaze by LAZ

Here's the recipe as I made it.

Orange-glazed city ham for a crowd

1 23-pound cryovac-packed smoked city ham on the bone
3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 cups orange marmalade
2 cups spicy brown mustard
About 1/2 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons whole cloves

Remove one oven rack and put the other on the lowest rung. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Remove the ham from the plastic bag and rinse thoroughly. Pat dry with paper towels, and using a clean box cutter on its lowest position, score the skin in a diamond pattern, cutting just through the skin and partly into the fat underneath. Place the ham in a large foil roasting pan set on a jelly-roll pan, insert a meat thermometer in the center -- not touching the bone -- and bake about 4 hours, or until the temperature reaches about 140 degrees.

While the ham bakes, stir together the brown sugar, marmalade and mustard. Use the bourbon to rinse out the marmalade and mustard jars and stir that in, too.

Remove the ham from the oven. Raise the oven heat to 350 degrees. Remove the meat thermometer. Using tongs, pull off the triangles of skin and any fat that comes with them. Stud the ham with cloves at the intersections of the scored lines.

Cover the ham with glaze. Put the meat thermometer back in in a new spot. Bake another 1-1/2 to 2 hours, adding additional glaze at least three times, until the ham registers 160 degrees. If the glaze still seems too wet. raise the oven heat to 500 degrees and cook another 15 minutes. Let cool and serve at room temperature. 45 to 50 servings.

G Wiv's close-up shows the carved ham.

G Wiv wrote:LAZ City ham with Cathy2's glaze

LAZ, I liked the citrusy flavor given by the marmalade (not generally a glazed-ham fan, though - when it comes right down to it, I prefer raw cured hams) I was expecting to find you'd used fresh orange rind in the recipe, must have recieved a particularly orange-y blob, which was nice, it cut the sweet a little bit - If I did this, I probably would sub the marmalade for some orange rind and maybe juice.

The ham itself was delicious as well, moist and not too salty, with that fine grain you only get from a high-quality ham; must have been a well-exercised pig.

Speaking of Alton Brown, I've often wondered about his glaze with crumbled gingersnaps - anybody tried that one?

Mhays wrote:LAZ, I liked the citrusy flavor given by the marmalade (not generally a glazed-ham fan, though - when it comes right down to it, I prefer raw cured hams) I was expecting to find you'd used fresh orange rind in the recipe, must have recieved a particularly orange-y blob, which was nice, it cut the sweet a little bit

I used a Sicilian bitter-orange marmalade -- pretty good stuff, though I think it did make it sweeter overall. Fresh orange zest sounds like a better alternative.

I know nothing about hams except what the wikipedia page has just taught me. With this coming holiday season, I see a plethora of hams "on sale" at various markets. How does one pick an American ham? Sure, I've had serrano ham and prosciutto, but what is "the best American ham" one can buy?

I suppose I'm asking for recommendations, but what separates a Honey Baked Ham from a Safeway Bone-in Ham vs a Bone-in Spiral Sliced ham vs etc?

What are your favorites?

Sorry this is such a boring question, but I've pretty much no experience with hams. (Don't get me started on turkeys...)

Nevermind... there are a few older threads and a newer one that have some good info; Thanks. Mods feel free to delete.

http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=4381&typeID=120

viewtopic.php?p=203061#p203061

Jay,

Since you added the link for Saveur. Your query was merged into the Easter ham thread you found so useful.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Since you added the link for Saveur.

Here is a link to another ham thread and Garden and Gun's article on Country Ham

Jay K wrote:I know nothing about hams except what the wikipedia page has just taught me. With this coming holiday season, I see a plethora of hams "on sale" at various markets. How does one pick an American ham? Sure, I've had serrano ham and prosciutto, but what is "the best American ham" one can buy?

I suppose I'm asking for recommendations, but what separates a Honey Baked Ham from a Safeway Bone-in Ham vs a Bone-in Spiral Sliced ham vs etc?

What are your favorites?

Sorry this is such a boring question, but I've pretty much no experience with hams. (Don't get me started on turkeys...)

Jay,

There's obviously a lot of info here but I once saw an episode of Good Eats that spells out the ham(s) question quite nicely. Here's the transcript: http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season4/Ham/HamTranscript.htm

You can probably find the videos on youtube if you look. Best of luck.

-Russ

I don't see it elsewhere, so I thought I'd mention the various labels on ham.

The best is just "ham." It must be at least 20.5 percent protein in the lean portion. However, added water is permitted as part of the cure.

Next is "ham with natural juices." That's at least 18.5 percent protein, but the finished product is allowed to weigh up to 8 percent more than the meat's uncured weight. Canned hams often have this label.

Then comes "ham - water added." These are a minimum of 17 percent protein and can contain up to 10 percent of added liquid, usually a saline solution. The finished product is allowed to weigh up to 8 percent more than the meat's uncured weight. Most supermarket hams fit this category. Depending on what you do with them, they can be fine; just bear in mind when you price them that you're paying for 10 percent salt water.

Finally, "ham and water product" may contain any amount of water but the label must tate the percentage of the weight that's added ingredients.

Another thing to look for on the label is whether the ham is "fully cooked," in which case it can be served as is or needs only warming, or "cook before eating."

Bone-in hams come as whole hams, as well as butt-end or shank-end halves or portions; the portions omit part of the center, which is sold separately as ham steaks or center-cut slices.


Ham info from the USDA. (I was interested to see that the USDA advises against heating spiral-cut hams: "These hams are best served cold because heating sliced whole or half hams can dry out the meat and cause the glaze to melt and run off the meat. However, if reheating is desired, hams that were packaged in plants under USDA inspection must be heated to 140 °F as measured with a food thermometer (165 °F for leftover spiral-cut hams or ham that has been repackaged in any other location outside the plant).")

Serious Eats just posted a rather exhaustive guide to How to Pick and Cook a Holiday Ham, which covers all the various ham types (much like LAZ has done), as well as preparation methods.

I just thawed out a couple of vacuum-sealed chunks of a Kite's Ham that I cooked last year, which were buried deep in my chest freezer - highly recommended.

-Dan

Hi,

IN the Serious Eats article, there is a method for reheating city ham by cooler sous-vide. The ham slowly reheats in a cooker heated to 130 degrees.

What I especially like of ham is the glaze and crust (or bark). If someone processed it sous-vide, would they glaze and put it under a broiler (or propane torch) to finish?

Regards,

I am feeding 20 people and am looking for suggestion to get an easter ham. Here are the 3 places I was thinking, but would like your opinion.

1. Honey Bear Ham -- 1160 W Grand, Chicago
2. Smithfield Ham -- Portsmouth, Virginia
3. Heritage Pork Intl -- SGT. Bluff, IA