A question on the preservative quality of ham...

[maillemaker]

Instead of Peperoni. A good country ham is great. All you have to do is cook it up. A country ham can last over a long period of time without refrigeration. When you buy one, keep it out, do not refrigerate it. It can last months. Once you cut it up, it still good for a week.

From here:
http://www.cwreenactors.com/forum/sh...istory-9-15-16

Could someone elaborate on how this works? Is it a cooked ham that can last over along period of time without refrigeration? It says you can buy one and keep it out for months - is this buying a pre-cooked one?

I remember seeing living history displays at the Atlanta History Center and such with hams hanging out in food storage shed of some kind, and they said they got a little moldy on the outside but you just cut it off.

How does this work? Is it the salt that preserves it? Does it dry out? Is it really safe to eat?

Steve

[Provost-ADC]

Yes, yes and yes.

Raw fresh hams are buried in non-iodized salt for a period of months, and one must turn them, break up the salt and rebury during this period. By summer they are removed, wrapped in cloth, and hung, going through an additional process called 'the June Sweat ' as final dampness evaporates.

Salt permeates the meat and preserves it. The exterior may mold. The more fastidious will cut that layer off, but the more greedy will wash the outside of the ham with vinegar to remove the mold. Once cut, the ham will keep for a week or so.

This meat can be eaten raw. Personally, I don't care for it, but a hungry army on the move is not picky.

More appropriate though is the traditional method of cooking--soaking in water or milk to draw out the salt, boiling through two changes of water to remove more salt, and proceeding with a hearty soup, or frying slices.

These hams can also be smoked, but not all smoked hams are salt cured.

[maillemaker]

This is cool. I've always heard of salt-cured ham but never really knew how it was done. I just googled it and also found this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4728870_salt-cure-ham.html

Somehow I never made the connection that this "salted ham" is still raw pork and has to be cooked afterwards. Somehow I always assumed that cooking was part of the preservation process. But really, this is just dried, salted, raw meat.

Is it important to use non-iodized salt?

Steve

[maillemaker]

I just found this neat article also:

http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G2526

When it talks about "smoking" the ham here, I'm guessing this is part of the curing process to add flavor, and is not actually cooking the meat as I tend to think of in a modern "smoker"?

Steve

[maillemaker]

Another great article on salt-cured ham. Sorry for spamming; I think this is fascinating.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/print....aspx?id=71592

Steve

[S.D.Swart]

Steve.

You can find a good country ham at any large grocery store. Talk with your butcher at a Kroger, or other grocery store. IF they do not have it right there, they can order it. You can cook it in many ways. I found just boiling it 20 minutes per pound in a solution half and half, water and vinegar works well. Also when you get the ham. Please read the directions that comes with it. Do not refrigerate it, that will cause the mold to build up. (the mold can not hurt you however). Also if you not handy at cutting it up yourself, the butcher can do it for you at your direction. I have kept raw country ham wrapped in muslin for a weekend the field with no problem, even a week without refrigeration.

Shawn

[Rob Weaver]

It's not going to matter if the salt is iodized or not. Iodine was added to salt in the early 20th century to combat some decifiency (I'm having a senior moment and can't remember which one off the top of my head.) Salt is salt is salt. Make sure it's a real country ham, and not one of our modern flavored concoctions. The latter won't be preserved and it will spoil like any meat.
However, I'd have a backup plan for your scouts. They may be game for all kinds of things, but balk at meat that's been handled in a way that we simply don't anymore. You're asking them to break all the rules of modern food safety. Some may back out based on that. As well, kids are picky. A kid who says "I don't like ham" and simply won't eat it is going to be out of a big chunk of calories for the day. Some may be vegetarians, or have religious limitations on meats. Have a plan B for any of those contingencies.

[billwatson2]

FWIW, I have found country ham - real country ham, dry and salty - more in the South than in parts of the North where I shop, ie, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is a distinctly different creature from "regular" ham. As Rob notes, make sure you're getting real country ham and not some marketing label on "regular" ham. (Calling it country ham is harmless enough marketing unless you're depending on it going without refrigeration. Then it could be an issue. As noted, "real" country ham is salty enough that a good soaking or boiling is a really good idea.)

[Julius]

It's not going to matter if the salt is iodized or not. Iodine was added to salt in the early 20th century to combat some decifiency (I'm having a senior moment and can't remember which one off the top of my head.) Salt is salt is salt. Make sure it's a real country ham, and not one of our modern flavored concoctions. The latter won't be preserved and it will spoil like any meat.
However, I'd have a backup plan for your scouts. They may be game for all kinds of things, but balk at meat that's been handled in a way that we simply don't anymore. You're asking them to break all the rules of modern food safety. Some may back out based on that. As well, kids are picky. A kid who says "I don't like ham" and simply won't eat it is going to be out of a big chunk of calories for the day. Some may be vegetarians, or have religious limitations on meats. Have a plan B for any of those contingencies.

Salt is not salt. Iodized salt will turn your meat grey and nasty. Use the period correct method of salt curring meat and you will not have any problems. Pickling salt or kosher salt should be used. But if you like grey slimy meat go ahead and use iodized salt.

[Regular3]

My dad was a Vo-Ag teacher and FFA advisor, and growing up we cured and smoked hams and bacons every winter for FFA and 4-H. I still remember the formula: 8 pounds of salt + 3 pounds of sugar (we used brown sugar) + 3 ounces of saltpeter for every 100 pounds of meat. We traditionally butchered the hogs around Thanksgiving and let the meat cure from then to around February, turning the meat and reapplying the mixture at regular intervals. After curing, we smoked them, which adds flavor but I'm not sure it boosts preservation. My father-in-law still cures hams and leaves them in the curing room -- we call it a smokehouse although he doesn't smoke his -- unrefrigerated. We just cut and cooked some a couple of weeks ago, and I like carrying home-cured ham in my haversack when I can get it ... There's a reason why boys on both sides found smokehouses such tempting targets when foraging.

Rob: Iodine is added to salt to help prevent goiter and other thyroid problems.