Country Ham - time to cook!

[squirtthecat]

Well, here goes my first attempt at a Virginia cured 'country' ham for Easter...
I bought it in Williamsburg over Christmas vacation.  It's been stashed away under the spare bed.
Almost forgot about it.   ::)

Anyway - the Mrs went out for her 5 mile walk.   I knew this was going to be scary looking/messy, so this is perfect timing!


Out of the box:




Everything I read said to expect some mold.  I expected the worse.  It did not disappoint:

EDIT   Image redacted to protect the early morning squeamish.


ACK!  Hot water on..  Scrub scrub scrub scrub scrub:




The pretty side:




Into the bath for a couple days...  Thanks again KevinG for the tip:




I saw this trick on another blog, we'll see if it helps or not. (3 large peeled/chunked potatoes to help absorb the salt)




In the tub, submerged, w/ the contents of the ice-maker.




We'll drain/flip/refill until I cook it on Saturday.

Stay tuned!

[hal4uk]

We'll be gettin' outta church about 11:30 Sunday...  Reckon you can deliver some of that on time?

[KevinG]

Yikes, you've got bigger cahonies than I'll ever have. If I had to deal with that mold, I'd be praying to the porcelain gods for days.

[squirtthecat]

We'll be gettin' outta church about 11:30 Sunday...  Reckon you can deliver some of that on time?

Welcome back, Bubba!

I'm guessing 90% of this will end up in the office cafeteria...    The salt content is over the top for the Mrs and MIL's tastes.   If it is edible, I'll chop off a pound or 2 for ya!

[pensrock]

I love country ham, can't find it around here. I normally only get a chunk with breakfast when I'm in Va or NC. Which is not very often anymore.  :(

[NePaSmoKer]

Maybe i can get to Williamsburg to get a ham before the smokeout.

[Tenpoint5]

I probably would have chucked it. Seeing the mold and green mold at that. Colored Mold scares me, white is good.

[squirtthecat]

Maybe i can get to Williamsburg to get a ham before the smokeout.

I got this one at the Edwards' Virginia Ham Shoppe (just down the road from that huge outlet mall)..   UPS shipping was reasonable - around $12 I think.

[KyNola]

STC,
Couldn't help but notice your comment to Hal "if it is edible".  Hal, being from KY like me already knows it is "edible".  It was more than edible before you threw it in the cooler for a 2-3 day bath.  The town that Hal and I are both from and where I still reside has 2 of the largest country ham processors in the U.S.

As for the mold, I've seen WAY more mold on a country ham than what yours had.

They don't call them "country hams" for nothing.  In the area where Hal and I are from, pretty much everybody who "lived in the country" had a separate building where they kept their salt cured meats because they had no refrigeration.  Heck, I've still got the lock that kept my grandfather's meat house locked.  Neat looking old lock, looks like you would have found it in a dungeon.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the saltiness.  It's SUPPOSED to be salty.

[squirtthecat]

Yeah, I was looking at pictures of these things to make sure mine was 'supposed' to look like that...   It was!
This should be an experience.   It's going in the Traeger on Saturday afternoon in a Dr Pepper sauna..

I could just do it in the oven - but where is the fun in that!

EDIT

This thing won't fit in my Bradley...  So it'll go in the Traeger, and my big turkey will go in the Bradley.

[KyNola]

Check out this link.  Right up the road from me about 30 minutes.  These guys have been making country hams for 100 years and big award winners.


http://www.broadbenthams.com/

[hal4uk]

Check out this link.  Right up the road from me about 30 minutes.  These guys have been making country hams for 100 years and big award winners.

http://www.broadbenthams.com/

Broadbent has d@mn good country ham!  And like KY said - country ham is SALTY....
But, it works for me...  I lived over a week one time on NUTHIN' BUT country ham... ;-) 

[squirtthecat]

2 day soak is over...   Let's cook this sucker.


Final rinse/scrub:




And into the pan w/ a Dr Pepper/pickle juice bath:




Running at 250°. 



I'll give it 2 hours, then flip, insert probe, tent w/ foil, drop smoker to 225°.   Going for an IT of 160°.

[squirtthecat]

Just over 2 hours later...



Flip.



Stuck the probe in, covered in foil, and dropped to 225°.

Mowed, trimmed, mowed, trimmed.   Got hungry.




No bacon.  Just smoked naked green meatballs.   :D

[pensrock]

I never thought of cooking a whole country ham.
I always figured you would just slice and quick fry it.
How is it?