The holiday ham is the traditional centerpiece for Easter, Christmas,
and other holiday gatherings. Almost any special meal warrants a holiday
ham. Many options are available in choosing a holiday ham and in the
quest to make the choice your holiday ham centerpiece a success. You can
not judge the value of your holiday ham by the price per pound; you
need to look beyond the price for differences in hams that are
available.Nutrition labels are a great place to start your comparisons
of the ham. The nutrifacts gives information about the calories, fat,
cholesterol, protein, and sodium contents of the ham. Generally,
nutrifacts for ham are healthy since ham is a relatively lean cut of
meat before anything is added. When comparing hams, be certain that you
note the serving size that has been used to establish the nutritional
statistics of the ham.
Although nutrition information is very similar
from one ham manufacturer to another, there are several factors that
will present distinguishable differences in hams. These factors may
represent differences in flavor and texture profile from one brand of
ham to another. These factors are bone-in ham versus boneless, slow
curing of ham versus efficient curing, water levels added to the ham,
different methods of smoking the ham, cooking duration, and, of course,
the ingredients included the cure or marinade of the ham.
Bone-in
hams provide 2-3 servings per pound and tend to highlight the added
ingredients. The natural fats of the ham help to enhance the ingredients
that are added to the cure (marinade). Although you may want to trim
the fat away when consuming the ham, cooking the ham with its natural
fat will bring out the unique differences in many spices and sweeteners
used to make the ham. Boneless hams provide 4-5 servings per pound.
Boneless hams usually have all visible fats removed when preparing the
ham for smoking and cooking. Boneless hams are extremely simple, however
if you do not mind trimming away a little fat, you will probably enjoy
the flavor profile of the bone-in ham more than the boneless ham. If
carving is a concern, try a pre-sliced spiral sliced ham with the
bone-in.
Another factor that presents definitive differences in hams
from one brand to another is the method of curing the ham. Ham is made
with a flavorful cure, a marinade of water and brine that gives the ham
its typical taste and appearance. Technology advancements have helped
the ham curing process (adding ingredients through moisture
enhancements) to become a much more efficient process than the early
days of ham processing. Equipment has helped the process of getting the
ingredients into the ham quickly to get the ham to the store quicker.
Although the efficiency factor helps reduce the costs of production of
some hams, it is not always effective in maximizing the flavor
enhancement factor. Whether using new technology or traditional methods,
slowing the curing process will bring out the unique differences from
the added ingredients. Getting the ingredients into the meat is only
half of the process, giving them a chance to work before cooking is the
second half.
Water is the medium in which ham makers use to get
different ingredients into the meat. Over the years, some ham makers
have improved their methods to get more and more moisture into the meat.
Labels will read ham, ham with natural juices, water-added ham, and ham
with X% added water. Obviously, ham and ham with natural juices will
have the least amount of water diluting the natural taste of ham and its
added spices. Adding more and more water will help drive down the cost
of the ham, but generally does little to enhance the flavor and texture
of the ham itself.
The method of smoking the ham will be yet another
factor that creates differences from one brand of ham to another. The
traditional method of smoking ham was to use specially selected logs of
hard woods that would enhance the sweeteners and spices that the ham
maker chose. Soon, processors found that their ham tasted better with
hickory wood, applewood, or even dried corn cobs. One of the newest
technologies is a processed natural smoke that is converted to a liquid
form and is applied to the hams during the cooking process. This process
has helped to shorten the processing cycle of the ham. Many specialty
processors still choose to stay with the natural wood of their choice to
enhance the special blend of spices that gives their ham its unique
flavor properties.
Much like the lengthened curing process of the
ham, many ham processors feel that slow cooking ham at a lower
temperature maintains the natural meat texture and cooks the spice
flavors into the ham. Again, technology has been introduced to shorten
the cooking cycles and reach the safe internal temperatures quicker.
Some argue that the quick process changes the ham texture too much, and
doe not allow the flavors of the ham and ingredients to blend during the
cooking process.
Probably the one area that each ham maker will
argue that his is the best is in the ingredients he chooses for the cure
or marinade of the ham. Each cure has one or two prominent ingredients
that help to give unique taste and aroma properties to a ham. Maple
syrup, honey, and brown sugar are three primary ingredients that
specialty ham processors may choose to build their cure recipe. In
addition to the base ingredient, many other spices may be added to
further enhance a unique recipe preference to cure a ham.
As you can
see, a good centerpiece holiday ham for your Easter, Christmas, or
special celebration meal goes well beyond the price per pound or an
attractive package. There are many ways to make a ham less expensive,
but like any good recipe, if you short cut the cycle and ingredients it
may not taste as good and bring pleasure to you and your guests that you
may expect. Choose your ham wisely, and enjoy one of the best tasting
meal traditions.
You must insist on quality and the distinctive,
elusive, one-of-a-kind flavor in your ham that can never be
mass-produced by machinery or rushed through the curing and smoking
process.
