For value and flavor, Burnt My Fingers readers would agree Benton’s Country Ham can’t be beat. The only question is which ham to buy. Whole Hickory Smoked Country Ham Deboned and Trimmed (item HSCHDT) gives you one magnificent chunk of whole boneless ham, plus separate packages of skin and bone with a lot of extra meat that can be opportunistically sliced off and popped in your mouth while you’re making beans or whatever. While Whole Hickory Smoked Country Ham Deboned & Sliced (item HSCHDS) gives you the same skin and bone packages, but the ham itself is cryovac’d into multiple packages (usually 3 of them) of thick individual ham slices.
The first time I ordered I got the ham slices because they seemed more versatile, but the downside was the lack of pieces with a large crossgrain surface area to be sliced for a charcuterie board. So I bought the whole deboned ham next time and, after the side packages were used up, stared at the main piece for several months because I was intimidated by the prospect of cutting it.
Now reader Chuckeye Dave (his nom de plume or, as Dave would have it, his nom de BMF) has solved this dilemma for us by showing how to break down the whole ham into usable pieces to freeze and defrost as needed. Let’s take a look.
Here’s the ham after removal from its shipping box. As I recall, the hams arrive at my home in upstate New York just slightly cool, indicated they were frozen or very cold before shipping. They’re packed in butcher paper, not in a cooler.
A closer look at the main package of ham in its cryovac. Looks like it is actually three separate pieces which might be something new Allan Benton is doing to make the whole ham less intimidating.
Now Dave is breaking down the ham pieces for freezing. Looks like the big piece is pretty much intact but others have been cut into smaller pieces so there will be something to fit any use… to slice and serve, or chop and incorporate in a dish.
Here are the skin and bones, ready to be made into wonderful piggy juice. Dave, you left a lot of meat on those bones. Hopefully you will retrieve it and do something afterward like put it in a pot of beans.
Aromatics and spices have been added to the bones and skin to make a really rich and delicious stock. (When we made our own ham juice we were purists and used nothing but the piggie parts.)
And here’s what is left over after the skin and bones were properly rendered to produce rich stock.
Benton’s ham stock, ready to go in the freezer for a future meal. Thanks for sharing, Chuckeye Dave!
BONUS! Here’s the info sheet that is packed with each order of Benton Ham,
This is my second Benton’s and I’m learning piece by piece.
Just one hunk of ham in the cryovac. If unrolled it could have been
reassembled with the skin, bones and shank for a 3D ham puzzle.
Forgot the quartered shank, which has a sculpted marble appearance.
Would have made nice pictures. Oh well.
The ham scrapings were used in ham salad and western egg.
Out of sheer laziness I threw out the skin. My bad.
I should have made cracklings, or as I think of them, pseudo chicharrones.
I do this with smoked pork shoulder, AKA daisy ham, or ham hocks after
boiling. Dry the skin a bit then roast to render and get crispy. There
is a lot of popping and splatter as the water cooks off. Don’t let them burn. A
nice garnish.
The packaging was a cardboard box, smelling faintly of smoke, which was
a mild disappointment. The last one smelled like it was smoked with the
hams! The box and contents were ambient temperature, as was the last one in
June 2021.I’ve seen packaged ham pieces in southern supermarkets in racks like beef
jerky, or sliced salami, so no big concern to me unless the shipment got
lost in the summertime.
Very nice. I’m glad you posted these. The world is a better place
without me starting Chuckeye Dave’s Amateurish Meatcutting and
Photography blog.
Chuckeye Dave, thanks for sharing the pics and thanks for adding your further explanations. It had not occurred to me to make chicharrones with the ham skin but now I’m going to have to do it. With pork belly at least, I’ve found the key to avoid sputtering and popping is to scrape every last bit of fat off the inside of the skin using the edge of the spoon, then deep fry and watch it puff up.
Dave also shared this search result with lots of videos about Allan (spelling corrected) Benton: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bentons+ham+vimeo&t=ffsb&ia=web
Another slice of Benton history.
https://our.tennessee.edu/2022/the-king-of-country-ham/
“The first time I visited the food tech professors, it was an epiphany… “The first ham that had an unpleasant odor, I went in to the Food Tech Building, and within minutes Curtis Melton and Marjorie Penfield were assuring me what I needed to do to fix it. It was a combination of not quite enough salt and lengthening out the time and
equalization…” “…“I know my products are served in Europe,” says Benton, “more in
France than anywhere else. Friends tell me they see my products on menus
in Paris…”
Lovely story. Thanks for sharing.