Mail-Order Virginia Country Hams

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin

 

very nice analysis 

 

i think you can't go wrong with either , and total price might matter

 

have you tried Broadbent ?

 

the only Applewood smoked bacon Ive had was a ShackShack for their SmokeShack

 

it was terrific and that burger is my all time favorite bar none

 

I fortunate that I can reseal in 3 mil vacuum bags and keep the stuff Fz.  

 

this order will last me , even w give-aways a very long time.

 

i plan on soaking various fatty pieces  in ice water for a bit , and use in my turkey meat loaf.

 

Ive voluntarily restricted my commercial NaCL intake 

 

so I sensitive to large amounts.   Ive also noticed , after several months of doing this

 

just processed salt , that I think my taste buds are far more sensitive to taste than they were before

 

and i was never a heavy commercial salt user.  if the water is iced , a fair amount of salt comes out quickly , and there is plenty of smoke flavor left.

 

BTW  Broadbent sells single 14 oz packs of applewood and maple bacon.

 

shipping is going to very much up that price.

 

I wonder if they would make up a 2 pack of applewood and 2 pack of Maple

 

as a special order and charge a fair price.

 

they person i spoke to a couple of time was very nice !

Edited January 26, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[kayb]

@rotuts

 

Oddly enough, I read this no more than 20 minutes after I pulled a pack of Broadbent's ham seasoning pieces out of the freezer to thaw. Beans tonight! Had not thought about grinding up bacon end pieces to go in meat loaf. Great idea. I'll be trying that.

 

For sliced ham, I've taken to ordering their breakfast steaks and biscuit pieces. Dinner steaks and center-cut slices are just too big.

 

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Thanks, @kayb, those biscuit slices sound right up my alley!

[rotuts]

@kayb

 

I just chop the bits fine , not grind.   keeping them very cold helps.

 

if you choose to adjust the salt content , use ice water and not for very long

 

esp if finely chopped .

 

makes a big difference for me

[Tri2Cook]

I wish I could find a mail-order source for country ham in Canada. Amazon Canada carries one but it's $75 for a 3 lb chunk of ham that has really bad reviews from those who purchased... so I won't be risking that one.

[rotuts]

I decided to do an experiment w my Toasties :

 

I took a 1 " cube of Broadbents bacon ends and sliced it up :

 

 

 

the stuff is very powerful and salty.

 

I decided to soak the strips in ice water , cold as I could get it to keep the fat firm.

 

4 minutes was a random number that popped up.   dried it and sautéed it

 

 

I tasted it before the sautee and it still had good hickory flavor , but much less salt.

 

this went on a tomato and Saint Illtyd cheese

 

https://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article/4532

 

 

the result was delicious , and not overly salty.

 

consider this if you find ' country bacon and ham ends " too salty.

[Kim Shook]

Love it when you post pictures, @rotuts!  That toastie looks lovely!

[rotuts]

thank you

 

@Kim Shook

 

my stuff is on the pedestrian side 

 

these days

 

but often tasty

 

for me.

 

I hope people don't shy away from BaconEnds and trimmings , ham hocks etc

 

from the top country ha and bacon places

 

they are delicious , intense , and very salty

 

but that can be dealt with it seems

 

and although shipping costs are on the higher side

 

a double order of the various ' samplers ' drops that down

 

one then just has to find like minded friends to share the Haul.

 

the stuff has such a large characteristic flavor 

 

one needs to space those flavors out

 

from now on

 

when I make myTurkeyMealLoaf

 

Ill only use ' trimmings ' that Ive diced , and desalted 

 

I want to remember the TML is turkey based

 

with just the right addition of Tasty Smoked Pig

[Kim Shook]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

thank you

 

@Kim Shook

 

my stuff is on the pedestrian side 

 

these days

 

but often tasty

 

for me.

 

I hope people don't shy away from BaconEnds and trimmings , ham hocks etc

 

from the top country ha and bacon places

 

they are delicious , intense , and very salty

 

but that can be dealt with it seems

 

and although shipping costs are on the higher side

 

a double order of the various ' samplers ' drops that down

 

one then just has to find like minded friends to share the Haul.

 

the stuff has such a large characteristic flavor 

 

one needs to space those flavors out

 

from now on

 

when I make myTurkeyMealLoaf

 

Ill only use ' trimmings ' that Ive diced , and desalted 

 

I want to remember the TML is turkey based

 

with just the right addition of Tasty Smoked Pig

When Mr. Kim orders bacon, he gets it for a bunch of folks in his office.  He took some in a couple of years ago and converted a bunch of folks to Benton's.  Now we get this huge, smelly carton once every couple of months.  Best thing is, we get to pick which packs we want before passing them on.

[rotuts]

My sister sent me Benton's bacon many years ago

 

I would have never bought this sort of thing, dummy that I am

 

she read about it in a local newspaper in TX , where she was living

 

she sent me ' 3 ' 

 

she didn't realize that that was 3 x 4 !

 

she didn't mind   I have at least 2 of those still tightly sealed and frozen

 

Benton's does not sell ends and trimmings to Us

 

very nice people , I asked them about it.

 

nice chuckle on their end

 

they sell all of that stuff to various restaurants and big deal eating establishments

 

consider 

 

if you can share w folks

 

and they understand how to deal with the various trimmings

 

salt etc

 

a couple of orders from 

 

https://www.broadbenthams.com

 

this one

 

https://www.broadbenthams.com/Seasoning-Sampler_p/productinfo/527/

 

call them

 

they are very nice , as the people at Fathers are

 

its well worth it

 

a double order of Broadbent's sampler

 

is probably 8 lifetimes worth

 

so you share.

 

cheers

[blue_dolphin]

After @kayb mentioned Broadbent's biscuit slices, and wanting to get an order in before the weather gets too hot (after an order from Father's arrived with grease soaked clear through the box), I placed an order with Broadbent's to give them a try:

My order:

A slab of applewood smoked bacon (labeled 4-5 lbs, measured weight = 4 lbs 14 oz), 3 packs of the biscuit slices @kayb mentioned and their bacon sampler with a package each of hickory, maple, apple and hickory-pepper bacon.

It seems the package of seasoning ends & pieces is a freebie.  Nice.  

While the box was pristine, it still smelled pretty good:

You may also have noted the paw in the upper left corner of my first photo.  These guys were VERY interested!

Sadly, it is the first Friday of Lent so no meat for me today 🙃

 

[kayb]

I'm telling you, those biscuit slices will change your world. Fry up the whole package, make a big ol' batch of biscuits, and wrap and freeze the extras. You will thank me. You can either add a fresh-cooked egg or slather one with jelly, wrap in a paper towel, and toss it in your purse to eat on the road. I have done both. And highly enjoyed them. They benefit tremendously from the cso vs the microwave, but they ain't bad in the microwave.

 

Love me some Broadbent's.

 

[rotuts]

C**r*a**P

 

I don't even know what biscuit slices are

 

I can guess

 

Ham , nicely trimmed ?

 

expecting me to make the biscuits ?

 

no matter , I understand the enthusiasm.

 

looking forward to 

 

@blue_dolphin

 

evaluation of the Apple Smoked Bacon.

 

Ive had ASB  only at ShakeShake on their 

 

SmokeShake burger

 

worked very very very well on that Prep

 

learned that there were Cherry Peppers

 

and they were nice too.

[kayb]

Just small slices, about the right size to fit on a biscuit.

 

Broadbent's sells packaged slices of, in ascending size order, biscuit slices, breakfast slices, and dinner slices. All about 1/8 inch thick.

 

[btbyrd]

 

Made a dream come true this Mother’s Day with Benton’s finest. Admittedly, it was my dream... but the crowd seemed to like it too. Carving the ham Spanish style, because why not?

[tikidoc]

One of Benton’s kids is a doctor, who I taught when he was a medical student around 10 years ago. Super nice, very bright young man. He missed fresh farm eggs so I traded a couple dozen (we had a bunch of chickens back then and always had a surplus) for some of his dad’s famous bacon. Wonderful stuff.

[Kim Shook]

@blue_dolphin – I think that our next ham/bacon order will be Broadbent’s.  Mr. Kim was very impressed!

 

@btbyrd – that is absolutely gorgeous!  Benton’s is our go-to bacon.  Which of their hams is that one?

 

I know this thread is for mail order hams and this was purchased in a store.  This will frustrate folks who must resort to mail order.  Anyway, I thought I’d share our last experience with an Edward’s petite country ham.  We treated ourselves to one when we were at Wegman’s last time:

They are a great deal at either Wegman’s or Publix.  We got this one for $10.99/lb.  It was much more than that at the Edward’s shop in Surry and the website has a 2-3 lb. one for $64.  This one was 2.75 lb. and we quartered it and are freezing 3 of the quarters (we’ve done this before and it freezes very well):

 

We love this ham because, while it is definitely a country ham, it requires no soaking and isn’t tongue numbingly salty. 

[rotuts]

I decided to put this ideas here , but its about Country Seasonings Meat.

 

in this case Broadbent's Bacon Ends

 

https://www.broadbenthams.com/Seasoning-Meats/products/82/

 

https://www.broadbenthams.com/Hickory-BaconpSeasoning-Pieces_p-p10-1-Lb-Pkgs_p/productinfo/114/

 

I like to pre-cook a package ( 1 lbs ) at a time , and refrigerator or even freeze the results

 

for use in Soups , pasta dishes etc

 

 

 

one random 1 pack , frozen and opened.  Both Sides to get a general representation .

 

the packs vary a bit re the amount of fat.  but I dont mind. That's a Granton Chefs knife , more about it later in the post;

 

I freeze over night the pack.   this stuff is very slippery and you should consider this sort of work when

 

you have the time and no distractions .   as you work , and it doesnt really take long , the bacon warms up

 

and gets even more solitary .  You probably want Short Pork.   but if you dont have a very sharp thin knife 

 

you might have some Long Pork bits in there if you are not careful.

 

 

 

 

I do the dice this way :  Slice , the cut the slices into strips , then dice . this stuff thaws fast.  did I mention its

 

' slippery ? '

 

 

 

I soak in cold water , 30 min or so.  sometime I use ice , sometimes not .  doesnt seem to matter a lot

 

if its hot , Id use ice water.

 

 

note the Fat Rises.   

 

 

yucky pic , but that's what doesn't.   I preheat my 12 " T-Fal non-stick pan , a series of pans that are my favorits

 

 

I start out w a fairly hot pan , and give it some time to brown on the bottom only.  the stir and lower the heat

 

 

here the process is done.   I want color on some bits , but I also want a bit of " Flab "   ie fat thats a bit flabby

 

it makes for a larger flavor profile when I use this in soups , pasta etc

 

 

drained and waiting to cool and placed in the refrigerator in a plastic oblong container , ready to use

 

its easy to separate this when Fz also.

 

the knives :

 

 

Granton Edged Knives , Granton GB

 

http://www.granton-knives.co.uk/granton_edge_knives.html

 

Ive found it odd they do not have a D/L .PDF.   email , and they will send  you their catalog

 

hopefully some day.

 

red handles are the Very Best 

 

they have a lot of colors , and these knives are used a lot I hihnk in the food industry.

 

Id think twice about a green handle .  might reming you of a GBP.  that would be very bad.

 

they are not overly pricy , I think the steel is fine  ( for me )   they are thin and can be sharpened

 

to a razors edge.

 

they have a few knives w a plain edge.  This is the true Granton Edge , I think their patent 

 

the scalloped part goes down to the edge of the knife.

 

please note the large Chef , and ' Chinese ' cleaver '   these are in the catalog only w a plain edge

 

I asked if they could put the Granton edge on them , and they said sure , total extra cost $ 5 UDS. )

 

note on the two knives the scallop does not always go to the edge.  they probably did this by hand

 

on a hand operated machine..

 

I love these knife .  I have quite a few.   I have three ' boning " knives    this is the one I use most of the time

 

for finer work.   I love it and all of these kn ives

 

I cant really say that the Granton edge matters , but I think it might a lot w the bacon as its

 

" sticky "  I used the clever before doing this process , but the chopping motion does not work

 

as well as the Slicing one w the Chef's knife

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Bought another Edward's petite ham at Wegman's:

They are $10.99/lb. at Wegman's and $22-$33/lb. at Edward's website.  Crazy.  Cut into pieces for the suck machine and freezer:

 

With some of it I made the deviled ham from Ian Boden at The Shack in Staunton VA that @kayb recommended:

 

[rotuts]

@Kim Shook 

 

looks like you made out like a bandit !

 

the hm looks delixous

 

nd you did not have topayshipping !

 

congrtulations !

[lemniscate]

I just got down to the bone on my Edwards ham (the old saying, eternity = ham).   I vac'd and froze it for winter soup someday.  Some of the scrap meat was labeled as seasoning meat for future *whatevers*.    Owning a huge country ham and using it is certainly a book with multiple editions.

[chromedome]

50 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

I just got down to the bone on my Edwards ham (the old saying, eternity = ham).   I vac'd and froze it for winter soup someday.  Some of the scrap meat was labeled as seasoning meat for future *whatevers*.    Owning a huge country ham and using it is certainly a book with multiple editions.

Yes, but...

 

 

[kayb]

22 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Bought another Edward's petite ham at Wegman's:

They are $10.99/lb. at Wegman's and $22-$33/lb. at Edward's website.  Crazy.  Cut into pieces for the suck machine and freeze

 

With some of it I made the deviled ham from Ian Boden at The Shack in Staunton VA that @kayb recommended:

 

 

 

How'd you like the deviled ham?

 

[Kim Shook]

25 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

How'd you like the deviled ham?

 

We both loved it.  Mr. Kim had it for breakfast this morning.  I'm thinking on crackers with a drink tonight, if I can manage my time.  

[TdeV]

On 6/17/2020 at 2:08 PM, Kim Shook said:

With some of it I made the deviled ham from Ian Boden at The Shack in Staunton VA that @kayb recommended:

 

Kim, that devilled ham looks delish! Do you have a link to a list of ingredients?