Country-Ham.com
Title
The Country Ham Store
Contact
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- Cosby TN
- United States 37722
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- +1.4234251487
Description
What is a Country Ham?
The dilemma facing pioneer cooks was how to keep freshly butchered meat from spoiling without refrigeration. Hogs were butchered in the late fall when the temperature was down around 33 degrees, and while the meat was fresh, it was salt cured. The next spring any leftovers would be smoked under a fire of green hickory, or peppered. Sausage was packed in the intestines of the hog, tied off and also hung in the smokehouse for curing. Salting, peppering, and smoking protected the meat from spoiling and from insects. Today it's that salt, pepper, and smoky flavor that we love in country ham, bacon, and sausage.
"COUNTRY HAM - uncooked, cured, dried, smoked-or-unsmoked meat products made from a single piece of meat from the hind leg of a hog or from a single piece of meat from a pork shoulder. Smithfield and country hams are not fully cooked but are dry cured to be safe stored at room temperature. They should be cooked before eating according to manufacturer's instructions. A ham labeled "Smithfield Ham" must be processed in the city of Smithfield, Virginia.
HICKORY-SMOKED HAM - a cured ham which has been smoked by hanging over burning hickory wood chips in a smokehouse. May not be labeled "hickory smoked" unless hickory wood has been used.
