I recently I found myself within range of Hemp's Meats in Jefferson Maryland. In a moment of unbridled enthusiasm, I bought an 18 lb unsmoked country ham. It is definitely a dry cured country ham, just a very big one. The cut edge is hard and dry as one would expect. In their shop the hams are just hanging on hooks on the wall - no paper, no cloth, no netting. There isn't any packaging or labeling either. It was just put in an open plastic bag for transport. I have it (mostly) wrapped in a tea towel and a paper bag right now. I've never been there before, but I had read at least one enthusiastic recommendation somewhere. While I will be sharing this ham with other family members, that is still a lot of ham so I am not inclined to cook it whole.
I've read a lot about country ham here on EG and elsewhere on the internet, but I haven't found much on how to break down a whole ham and store pieces of it. Family members have told me they used to just cut off what they needed, re-wrap the rest and hang it up again. Of course people used to do a lot of things that are no longer recommended. I listen to Cooking Issues and am well aware of Dave Arnold's view that one should just slice it thin and eat it raw. In this case I am reluctant to do that. It is tempting and would probably be safe, but this seems like a worse than usual time to possibly end up very ill (for future reference, due to increasing COVID-19 cases).
I have a saw, so I'd like to cut in half, take a few slices/steaks, then use the 2 halves as roasts - or maybe cut one in half again so I can try cooking it various ways (traditional, smoker, and maybe sous vide - possibly before a short spell on the smoker). From a storage perspective, cutting before soaking the whole ham seems best, but I am wondering if soaking pieces with a large cut surface would be problematic in any way. If I cut it up without soaking it, I guess I should still scrub and dry it first? Should I freeze the pieces I won't be using for a while or can/should I just keep them in a refrigerator? I have more room to refrigerate than to freeze. Is there any reason not to vacuum seal them in either case? I've read that you can cover the cuts with lard/shortening and they will be shelf stable, but I am reluctant to do that.
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
