Kentucky vs. Virginia ham

[alacarte]

Is there a distinction between Kentucky and Virginia ham -- other than the obvious geographic difference?

Is there a difference in the way the pigs are raised, the smoking of the meat, the spices used, the preservation methods?

[kendrabail]

I am not too familiar with Kentucky style country ham, but Virginia ham is salt-cured ham. The best comes from Smithfield, Virginia and it will raise your blood pressure is a matter of minutes.

It's great stuff on a biscuit with a dollop of sawmill gravy :)

The Accidental Chef

[Zeb A]

Smithfield Ham

What? Pork with a pedigree. "This is the great American contribution to the world of ham," David Rosengarten wrote in The Dean & Deluca Cookbook. The rich, salty Smithfield ham is cured in both salt and sugar for six months to two years. Legally, only hams produced in the town of Smithfield, Virginia (which devised the curing process) may be called Smithfield hams, although producers often get around the law by labelling their product "Smithfield-style." In American Cookery, James Beard gave exacting instructions for making a sandwich using Smithfield ham: "The flavor... seems to be best enhanced when served on homemade bread, preferably white, with whole wheat or Graham being next in preference. The bread should be cut thin and the ham not too thick. No other additive is required except a bit of mustard. Pickles accompany it extremely well." Rosengarten, however, begged to differ. "This very dry, almost stiff ham is not pleasant on sandwiches," he wrote, "but it does add great flavor to cooked food."

from James Beard website

[dls]

Though I'm certainly not an expert on this subject, I do recall hearing the following:

1. Both use sugar and salt, along with other spices and pepper in the cure. VA uses primarily salt. Ky is primarily sugar.

2. In the past, VA pigs subsisted entirely on a nut diet, primarily peanuts. Today they're grain fed. KY pigs eat a mixture beans, acorns, and clover. Finished the last few weeks on grain.

3. Both cure from 6 months to over 2 years. Overall, KY hams are cured longer than VA.

[bbq4meanytime]

In addtion to what dls says, I'd add the following (from the Virginia Tech publication on Dry Curing Virginia hams):

After the cure process, the hams undergo "cure equalization" whereby the cure adjuncts (salt, spices, sugar, saltpeter, as the case may be) are allowed to be distributed throughout the hams. Thereafter, in southeastern VA (i.e. Smithfield), most hams are cold smoked (at a temp below 90 degrees over hardwood). After cure equalization in southwestern VA (my guess, more akin to the Kentucky style) the hams are not smoked but rubbed with a mixture of black pepper, molasses, brown sugar cayenne and saltpeter. Both types of ham are then aged.