# Country Ham?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Anyone ever cured or cooked a country ham?
If so, how did you do it?

My son is doing a 4-H Country Ham project this year, and needs to write a speech. Topic this year is how to cure and cook a country ham.
So I thought as I start helping him research I'd ask here in the off chance anyone has ever made one?

I don't know a thing about them. The kids got their hams last month, and started curing them in a salt/pepper/red pepper/brown sugar cure. Each of the kids have 2 hams. They have to do their speech in July then at the state fair in August. I'm not sure when the next step for curing the ham will be, I know it's quite interesting that you can only do a country ham in certain parts of the world.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I honestly don't know the difference between a country ham and a regular ham. is a country ham those emaciated salt cured dried things that look for all the world like good murder weapons to me?


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I seem to remember Alton Brown on the food network did an episode on hams. The show is called good eats, and he gives a lot of info about the science involved. It would be worth it to look it up. Good luck!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Leslie - that's probably them lol They are cured different ways, but salt is the main ingredient. They are the dry hams that are teardrop shape hanging in the meat dept. at the grocery stores. I know your supposed to soak them several times in clean water before you cook them to get the salt taste out.



milk and honey said:


> I seem to remember Alton Brown on the food network did an episode on hams. The show is called good eats, and he gives a lot of info about the science involved. It would be worth it to look it up. Good luck!


Thanks! I think the 4-H leader actually has that on a pamphlet she gave all the kids! So we'll check it out for sure!

The Country Ham project is one of the biggest/most popular 4-H projects in our state. The kids spend most of the year curing 2 hams, and writing a speech that they give at the state fair. Then the kids can auction off their hams at the ham & livestock auction in Sept. I think last year they had around 20 hams in the live auction <top state fair finishers>, and about 8-10 silent auction.
I believe the top selling ham went for over $2,000.
Seems there were over 600 hams at the state fair last year.


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