Preparing a Country Ham. Holy Crap, this thing is Huge.
I've got a gigantic Virginia Country Ham that needs to be cooked. How long do I soak it? How do I cook it? Where do I find a container large enough to do these things? Your help would be appreciated!
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10 Comments:
When I want to brine a large piece of meat - turkey, pork shoulder etc. - I use a cooler. Put some ice in the water and check periodically to see if the ice is still there - then you can be sure it is cold enough to prevent spoiling.
(I haven't prepared country ham, so that is the only help I can offer!)
SSMom at 11:08AM on 03/18/08
Here is an excellent tutorial from Alton Brown. You can FF to 6:55 if you want to skip the superfluous stuff, since you already have your ham.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr0OJyglHXw
PerkyMac at 11:20AM on 03/18/08
I have to tell my ham story. We had gotten a whole country ham and planned to fix it for Christmas or a family dinner. Since it was winter we wrapped and stored it on top a cabinet in the breezeway. Somehow a door didn't latch and the neighbor's dog got in, pulled it down and started to make off with it. We caught him but the damage was already done. I hope he enjoyed it! We could do nothing but laugh - it reminded us of the turkey scene in "A Christmas Story". I'm sure your ham will be great - just keep it safe from the dogs!
dutchgal at 11:39AM on 03/18/08
I've run into the container-large-enough issue when brining turkeys. My most recent solution? I have an absolutely GINORMOUS commercial stock pot that will easily hold a 12-14 pound turkey. However, it is made of aluminum, which is obviously not acceptable for brining. I went out and bought some of those extra-large plastic roasting bags, which I'd never use for roasting, but which I know are food-grade. They are exactly the right size to line the pot, much the way a plastic liner bag works in a wastebasket.
I've never done a whole country ham, but I've done slices. I always soak them overnight, trim the rind and rinse really well before frying. Rather than soaking, one of my (southern) in-laws always simmers a whole one before roasting. She dumps the simmer water, cuts off the outer layer to remove any mold/excess salt, and rinses it well before it goes into a slow oven. Comes out delish.
LoCo at 11:40AM on 03/18/08
I won a country ham in a drawing. If, as the old joke goes, eternity is a ham and two people, what's a ham and a single woman? (This was before I married Mr. Meatloaf.) My best friend was getting married and was doing a potluck wedding reception, so I decided to cook the ham. I scrubbed my bathtub, Cloroxed it, and set the ham to soak. I rented a pot large enough to cook it in, and carried it from my city apartment to a little country church. I followed the instructions in Joy of Cooking, probably in the 1975 (or so) edition.
lemons at 12:04PM on 03/18/08
@lemons - The Bathtub??? You did not tell anyone eating the ham, did you?
crazyspice at 12:20PM on 03/18/08
I told the bride. Like me, she's a nurse. I promise you, that bathtub was clean enough you could do surgery in it. And frankly, as long as the ham had to cook, just about any surface bacteria from the tub would have been nicely poached.
lemons at 1:55PM on 03/18/08
@lemons--if you're scrubbing didn't take care of it, all the salt leaching from the ham would have finished 'em off!
Elizabelle, you might want to get a hotel pan from a restaurant supply store. Or follow AB's advice and remove the hock portion and it will hopefully fit into a large roaster. Remember, even after soaking for two days it will still be really salty, but so good. I have also heard of soaking and then boiling and then baking. phew! So much work, but so worth it.
Man, I'll never forget the country ham hanging in the walk-in. Chef would go in and slice off a hunk, then slice paper thin and make sandwiches for us. So good.
Makes me want to go out and buy a ham and hang it my garage! Hahaha, just the visual. You know how some people hang a tennis ball on a rope to know how far to pull in? I could have a country ham! hahaha
Sorry, I don't think I was much help.
wookie at 2:27PM on 03/18/08
oh, I just thought of something. Before getting the hotel pan, make sure you measure your oven's interior dimensions. I'm pretty sure a hotel pan would not fit in my antiquated oven.
wookie at 2:41PM on 03/18/08
In the 70's, I did the whole soaking in multiple changes of water, braising, trimming, roasting thing for a dinner party. Of course, I had to buy a pan that was specific to this cause. We've carted the baby-bathtub sized contraption around the country ever since.
islandexile at 4:11PM on 03/18/08