Ham Dictionary

AGING:  Also see curing.  The time a ham spends curing under strictly controlled conditions.  In the days prior to refrigeration aging could take between one or more years.  Today with improved technology and modern processing plants (and old family secrets), a fully cured country ham can be produced in 6 to 12 months.  The longer it ages the more refined the taste, similar to cheddar cheese.  

"BONE-IN OR OUT:  While there always exceptions most bone out or boneless hams are precooked and water/cure added.  Country hams are normally bone-in.  Removing the bones takes place after the cooking process.  As in the precutting like spiral cutting, this exposes more of the ham to the possibility of air drying if not eaten immediately.  When buying a boneless ham you are paying someone else to partially cut your ham and, most importantly, denying yourself the best possible flavor enhancer for many of the bean, soup and lentils recipes.   Usually boned hams are not as flavorful as bone-in hams and often require extra additives for taste.

CANADIAN BACON:  It is from the lean eye of the loin in the middle of the back.  It is cooked and smoked with varying spices. We carry Boar's Head finest.

COLOR:   The color of the meat is impacted by the curing compounds.  Fresh pork leg is a pale pink.  Nitrates or nitrites provide the base color (reddish pink)  and cure for hams. 

DRY CURING:  Dry cured hams are cured without water injection.  They may or may not be smoked.  We use only fully smoked. Ham It Up Hams are cured when they arrive in our store. 

FLAVOR:  Flavor is what gourmets call the combination of aroma and taste.  It is developed during the curing process.  Dry cured ham flavor is as complex as fine aged wines and just as diverse.

HAM CUTS: There are three primary cuts of a whole ham.  They include the lower section called the shank half, the upper section called the rump or butt half and the center cuts prepared as slices also called ham steaks.

HAM IT UP GLAZING:  Ham It Up Glazing mix is a closely guarded secret and very delicious. 

HONEY GLAZED:  The finishing touch applied to a ham immediately following spiral slicing.

IRIDESCENT COLORING:  It is a common coloring seen on cut surfaces caused by incomplete or uneven proteolytic phenomenon.  It may have a metallic appearance.  It is insignificant in dry cured products.  

MOLD:  The aging process for hams and cheese produce a mold.  This mold is not harmful and is quite normal.  Mold is easily removed by washing with hot water and a vegetable brush.

NUTRITION:  3.4 ounces of extra lean ham will contain approximately:  145 calories, 21 grams protein, 5.5 grams fat, 53 mg cholesterol, 4.6 mg thiamine, 3.5 mg niacin, 2.5 mg iron, and .18 mg riboflavin.  The "bad" cholesterol has been bred down to about half of the "old days".  The majority of the non-saturate fats consists primarily of mono-saturates which is the beneficial type found in olive oil.  (from Istituto Nazionale della Nutrizione).  See FSIS link.

READY TO EAT: The only hams produced in the USA that can be listed as ready to eat must be cooked to FSIS standards. A dry cured ham produced in most European countries may be listed as ready to eat. Europeans normally age their hams much longer than the majority of USA hams. A USA dry cured hams can be legally produced in as little as 3 months while Parma hams are required to cure in the second phase for 400 days before allowing export which pushes nearly 2 years of curing.

SLICING AND SERVING:  Use a paring knife around the center bone to release the spiral slices, or a pair of tongs to just pull slices as you go. To serve smaller sections at a time, cut from the top of the ham down the natural seam lines. Once you reach the back-unsliced portion of the ham, you may carve the remaining ham from the bone. The spiral slicer operates around the center bone of a whole ham only, always leaving uncut portions at either end of each half ham. This can be saved to make incredible beans or soup! If you have not served your ham within 4 days, we recommended freezer bag. This prevents thawing and refreezing over and over again. Once froxen it should last up to 45 days without losing its' flavor. Freezing could turn your glaze white, but re-heating would revitalize your glaze. A note to our conscious customers: According to the Pork Council, pork is the "other white meat". Just like chicken, if you avoid the fat always found seam lines and around center bone, you will dramatically reduce the fat content of your serving. Although HAM IT UP takes special effort to trim all our hams outer fat, we must leave a slight portion on top to hold the glaze and seal in the flavor that has make our hams so famous nation-wide. Glaze will not adhere to a ham without some fat. We want to thank you for the opportunity to serve you, your family and friends and hope you enjoy your HAM IT UP HONEY HAM as much as we enjoy making it for you!.  

SMOKED:   Ham It Up Hams are slow cured and smoked for 18 hours.

SPIRAL CUT:  Our hams are sliced fresh on location at Ham It Up, in Tulsa.

STORAGE:  All cooked hams must be refrigerated unless label indicates otherwise. 

VEGETARIAN:  A Native American word for lousy hunter.

WATER ADDED HAM:  Most common cured ham found in grocery stores, Although some very high quality hams are water added. Reconsider your purchase if label says ham and water and the percentage of water is over 10%. Ham It Up has no added water.