Cooking country ham help?!


Question: Cooking country ham help!?
Help!.I received a 15 pound country ham to cook for Christmas-I have never cooked one before!.They are very salty and I need a good way to prepare it so it Will not have such a salty taste!.i have a large crock pot,but would have to remove the ham from the bone to cook it in there!.Experienced answers please!.GOD blessWww@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
Just try baking it in the oven, and pour a can of soda (Coke or Pepsi) over it!. It adds sweet flavor AND takes away some of the too-salty flavor!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Most hams are fully cooked when you get them!. Or smoked at least,you might want to check so you can cook it properly if it is not!. My suggestion would be to roast it like a turkey!. Put it in a roasting pan, add some water in the bottom of the pan and half a cup to 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar!. Baste the ham every 20 min to half hour depending on how glazed you want it!. You only need to cook it long enough to heat it all the way through if it is pre-cooked!. also you can add whole cloves by pressing them directly into the ham, or pineapples though i don't usually add them!. That should turn out a yummy ham that is not too salty!. Good luck!Www@FoodAQ@Com

Country Ham

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Ham I Am

* RECIPE
* COMMENTS & REVIEWS(14)

*
Cook Time

4 hr 30 min
*
Level

--
*
Yield

20 portions

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Times:

Prep
48 hr 0 min
Inactive Prep
--
Cook
4 hr 30 min
Total:
52 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

* 1 country (dry cured) ham
* 1 liter Dr!. Pepper
* 1 cup sweet pickle juice, optional

Directions

Unwrap ham and scrub off any surface mold (if you hung in a sack for 6 months you'd have mold too)!. Carefully remove hock with hand saw!. (If this idea makes you eye your first aid kit, ask your butcher to do it!. But make sure you keep the hock, it's the best friend collard greens ever had!.)

Place ham in cooler and cover with clean water!. (As long as it's not too dirty you can use what southerners call the "hose pipe")!. Stash the cooler in the bushes!. If it's summer, throw in some ice!. If it's freezing out, keep the cooler inside!. Change the water twice a day for two days turning the ham each time!.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F!.

Place ham in a large disposable turkey-roasting pan and add enough Dr!. Pepper to come about halfway up the side of the ham!. Add pickle juice if you've got it and tent completely with heavy-duty foil!. Cook for 1/2 hour then reduce heat to 325 degrees F, and cook another 1 1/2 hours!.

Turn the ham over, insert an oven safe thermometer (probe-style is best) and cook another 1 1/2 hours, or until the deepest part of the ham hits 140 degrees F (approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound total)!.

Let rest 1/2 hour then slice paper-thin!. Serve with biscuits or soft yeast rolls!.

Cooks note: Even after soaking, country ham is quite salty, so thin slicing is mandatory!. If you're a bacon fan, however, cut a thicker (1/4-inch) slice and fry it up for breakfast!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Try this: http://www!.country-ham!.com/recipes!.html#!.!.!.

The Reynolds Roasting Bag also has cooking times/recipes for a ham!. The bags will cut your cooking time in half!.

Check with the manufacturer of your ham!. They usually have a website with recipes!.

Hope this helps: http://www!.recipetips!.com/kitchen-tips/t!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Real simple answer:

-remove the ham from the bone the best you can!.
-add 1ltr!. ginger ale or until 2 inches from the top of the CP!.
-cook for 3!.5 - 4!.5 hours (on med or low) depending on the size cut from the bone!.
-Add the bone back to the pot as the liquid cooks off a bit!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Listen to Libby's answer because it's the correct way to cook a country ham!. She is absolutely correct!. Have you tasted a country ham!? They are very salty and kinda stringy and dry-ish!. It's something you had to grow up eating, I think!. Good luck!!!Www@FoodAQ@Com

We've had great luck with Alton Brown's recipes on Food TV, and also www!.allrecipes!.com!. On that website, do an ingredient search and type in "country ham!."Www@FoodAQ@Com

Go to bbq-brethren!.com/forums

Then search for Dr!. Chicken's ham!.

It turns out better if you smoke it - but it can be made in the oven!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

try tastyrecipe dot netWww@FoodAQ@Com

When you open up your country ham you might not like what you find!. A country ham looks dried up and can be caked in mold!. Sitting around, curing for what might be months causes the mold!. Don’t worry, as long as the mold is on the outside only the ham is fine!. Scrap off the mold and you’re in business!.

The first step to prepare a country ham is to get the excess salt out!. Country hams are salt preserved, meaning that they have been dried in salt!. This makes them too salty for most anyone!. To get the salt out you need to soak the ham!. Consider this a reverse brining!. By soaking the salted ham in water you will draw the salt from the meat but also add moisture!.

Some people say you need to soak your country ham for about 6 to 12 hours!. If you have a small ham, around 4 to 5 pounds this might be okay, but I personally like to soak my ham for a long time, about 2 to 3 days!. You want the ham to stay cold while soaking but not as cold as your refrigerator!. A cooler works great for this because it gives you the space your need but also keeps the temperature in a more controlled range!. Keep the temperature around 40 degrees F!. and your ham will be perfect!. The temperature isn't too important but you want it low to keep any bacteria from growing!.

As the soaking pulls the salt from the ham you will want to change the water about every 12 hours!. This gets the salt out of the way and allows more to come out!. When you change the water you should also give the ham a quick rinse to get any salt off the surface!. The soaking will rehydrate the ham and make it better to eat!.

Once you have soaked your country ham you can now cook it!. While the ham is ready to eat already the soaking process may have exposed the ham to bacteria so cooking it at this point is important!. You will want to cook your ham at a low temperature low enough to get the internal temperature up to 160 degrees F!. While roasting it in the oven is fine the added flavor you get from a smoker or grill makes a much better ham!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Andie's Original Recipe for WPOPFHBH* Ham (Why Pay Outrageous Prices For Honey Baked Ham)

DON'T GET THE SHANK END!. (I personally HAVE used the shank portion, so I'm not sure why the recipe insists not to!?)
For a 12 to 15 pound ham you will NEED the following:

A deep roasting pan, dutch oven or deep baking dish just big enough for the ham to fit into with enough room to let you turn it over!.

An Ice Pick! This is very important!


Maple syrup - buy a quart and use most of it!.
Dry mustard, about 2 tablespoons!. Optional - Whole cloves to stick in the ham, but not necessary!.

Directions:
1!. Trim any skin off the ham but leave some of the fat - less than 1/4 inch thickness!. Score the fat down to the meat in a diamond or tic-tac-toe pattern, your choice!.

2!. Take the ice pick and stab the ham all over, and I mean many, many stabs!. Use up some of your latent aggression!.

3!. Take the dry mustard and massage it into the ham!. If you must, stick whole cloves into the ham, as many as you want!.

4!. Put the ham in the pot!. Pour in the maple syrup until it comes up at least 1/2 way on the ham, a little more won't hurt, it won't be going to waste!.

5!. Place the ham in a COLD oven and turn the temp control to 300 degrees F!. Set timer for 30 minutes!. After 30 minutes reduce heat to 250!. and turn the ham over in the syrup!.

6!. Continue cooking for 3 hours for a 12 pound ham, add 30 minutes for each 2 pounds over that, turning the ham every 30 minutes!. This is a long, slow method that will have remarkable results!.

7!. At the end of the baking time, remove ham from pot, allow to drain on a rack for 20 minutes, then slice!. When the liquid left in the pot has cooled, strain it through a coffee filter and freeze it, you can use it two more times!.
After that it loses a bit of flavor or becomes too salty!.

When the ham cools, you can divide it into the following: ((Or however you wish))
slices (cut the biggest parts into this) shredded (the outer part is best for this, whatever is falling apart) cubed (chop up the small and weird shaped pieces)ham bone for soup!. Package everything in Ziploc bags (double bag it!) or big containers with lids, put in fridge (or freezer if you can't get to it right away) and GO TO BED! You will be tired! (I got several Ziploc gallon bags FULL of meat!)Www@FoodAQ@Com





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