Questions about cooked ham

[rotuts]

@TdeV 

 

if the ham is cooked

 

simply slice it thinly for your sandwich

 

then a brief soak in ice water them pat dry

 

5 - 10 minutes or less

 

I do this all the time w my SV  commercially corned beef  after SV

 

and freezing

 

I use ice water to keep the fat firm.   salt will come out based on surface area

 

it doesnt take long and the taste improves to the taste of

 

Ham , Beef , w/o the salt burn.

 

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

Does this help at all?

 

Food Lab's Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Hams

 

Even if it doesn't, it's a good read.

[kayb]

Country ham is, by its nature, salty. I generally slice it thinly,  soak briefly in cold water, then fry. Yes, it's excellent in beans. 

 

Think of using it the way you would proscuitto. One doesn't cut a big slab of it for a sandwich, but uses it more as an accent to other things. It's marvelous with pimiento cheese, or with good sliced tomatoes and lettuce (an HLT, if you will, vs a BLT). It's good chipped up on a pizza or sprinkled over pasta. It's great in a salad, and I've had deviled ham that's pretty awesome. But I think my very favorite is on a biscuit with some sorghum molasses and scrambled eggs on the side.

 

[rotuts]

@kayb 

 

excellent thinking !

 

its very true , that the better , well aged USA county hams

 

are very close to European Parma like hams

 

fro very thinly sliced 

 

proscuitto

 

Id not so much , having no experience 

 

put those thin slices in a ice-bath.

 

make sure if you do this

 

keep as much fat as you can , and you can thinly slice off the 

 

exterior 

 

but if you want full Ham Flavor 

 

slice our slices   w what ever your thickness is appealing to you

 

and do the Dip in ice water , then apt dry

 

you will taste Ham , not the Big Burn of salt

 

is you want to take that Ham  and cook with it ?

 

do the same thing before you cook with it

 

now Im just saying

 

but Ive thought about it

 

why are you leaving the Salt of your Ham to 

 

some One  else ?

Edited December 19, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[eugenep]

I eat my country ham raw and try to slice it thinly. 

 

It's supposed to be safe to eat this way (based on internet research) 

 

But - one thing that bothers me - is that when I put sliced country ham in the fridge over a month or so, there's this bitter taste. 

 

More googling said it's the sulfites or something similar in it that turns bitter when in the fridge (so don't refrigerate your country ham it said) 

 

I though cooking it would make it super salty and dry. This happens when I wrap chicken in prosciutto and pan-fry it. 

[lindag]

On 12/17/2019 at 4:40 PM, lindag said:

Uh oh.  I ordered one of their petite hams...I hope it’s not that salty, I’d be very disappointed.

I hope you get a solution.

About this ham;
First time I used any of this ham.  I cut thin slices and made up sandwiches with fresh baked biscuits.

I’m so disappointed; the ham was dry and chewy and relatively tasteless, also a bit salty.

 

I wish I’d listened to @MetsFan5 when she spoke of her experience with this product.

It sure turned me off any other of their meats.
Now my dilemma is what to do with 2-1/2 lbs. of this stuff.  

Any ideas?  

[Smithy]

30 minutes ago, lindag said:

About this ham;
First time I used any of this ham.  I cut thin slices and made up sandwiches with fresh baked biscuits.

I’m so disappointed; the ham was dry and chewy and relatively tasteless, also a bit salty.

 

I wish I’d listened to @MetsFan5 when she spoke of her experience with this product.

It sure turned me off any other of their meats.
Now my dilemma is what to do with 2-1/2 lbs. of this stuff.  

Any ideas?  

 

I'm sorry the results were so disappointing. I've no experience with this ham, so I'm just throwing out some ideas based on what I've been doing with a very dense, very dry (but tasty) summer sausage: cut it into fine chunks and use as a seasoning in a sauce (mac and cheese, for instance) or as an accent in some low-meat dish. Lately I've been using that sausage - there was a pound of it, and it's much too tough to chew in large chunks - on salads, like this:

 

 

I could also imagine cutting it into a fine dice, giving it a quick fry and tossing it over omelettes or other egg dishes.

 

Final question: is there any sort of satisfaction guarantee that would allow you to get your money back from the company? 

[blue_dolphin]

On 1/17/2020 at 1:13 PM, lindag said:

About this ham;
First time I used any of this ham.  I cut thin slices and made up sandwiches with fresh baked biscuits.

I’m so disappointed; the ham was dry and chewy and relatively tasteless, also a bit salty.

 

I wish I’d listened to @MetsFan5 when she spoke of her experience with this product.

It sure turned me off any other of their meats.
Now my dilemma is what to do with 2-1/2 lbs. of this stuff.  

Any ideas?  

 

How disappointing!  I see on the Edwards website that they have a 100% satisfaction guarantee if you call within 14 days of receiving the order.  Do you still have time for that? 

My own experience with country ham is pretty limited to the biscuit slices I ordered from Broadbent.  Compared with a city ham, it is indeed drier, chewier and salty, though I have not found it to be tasteless.  To me, it's kinda like a super-lean, no-fat bacon and should be very flavorful and not tasteless.  I hope you can get a refund or maybe have them send you some bacon instead. 

 

I generally soak the slices in cold water for a little while to temper the salt before blotting them dry and putting them into a hot skillet with bacon drippings for just long enough to give them a bit of color.  I've used them that way on various breakfast sandwiches. 

Here's one on focaccia where you can see that these are fairly thick slices I'm getting.

 

Alternatively, I've used them as @Smithy describes, dicing the meat and including it in scrambled eggs.  Here's one I posted earlier this month:

 

If the ham you have is truly tasteless, this isn't going to help, but my first impulse on reading your post was to recommend that you cut it up into smaller pieces, stash them in the freezer and pull them out to use it as "seasoning meat" where you'd use a smoked hock in beans, collards or the like. 

[Kim Shook]

I am so surprised to hear of one of the Edward's Petite hams being sub par.  Our local grocery store carries them and we always have one on hand.  We've never been unsatisfied with them.  We cut them fairly thick and never soak them and they are never tasteless, over-salty or dry.  You definitely should contact the Edward's folks, if you haven't already.  

[TdeV]

On 12/18/2019 at 2:17 PM, rotuts said:

[...]

if the ham is cooked

simply slice it thinly for your sandwich

then a brief soak in ice water them pat dry

5 - 10 minutes or less

I do this all the time w my SV  commercially corned beef  after SV

and freezing

I use ice water to keep the fat firm.   salt will come out based on surface area

it doesnt take long and the taste improves to the taste of

Ham , Beef , w/o the salt burn.

 

@rotuts, thanks. My country ham came encased in fat.

Do you use the fat? Do you de-salt it by the same method (ice water)??

[rotuts]

well

 

if the fat is tasty

 

then dig in.

 

Id de-salt the entire slice

 

and then see eat

 

taste the fat after that

 

tasty ?  gobble up

 

its sooo easy to reduce fat

 

in High End  precessed food

 

pos report you results if you can

 

Happy Cooking

 

  --- J Pepin

 

Good Eating 

 

-----  me