Ingredients
- 1 country (dry cured) ham
- 1 liter Dr. Pepper
- 1 cup sweet pickle juice, optional
Directions
Unwrap ham and scrub off any surface mold (if you hung in a sack for 6 months you'd have mold too). Carefully remove hock with hand saw. (If this idea makes you eye your first aid kit, ask your butcher to do it. But make sure you keep the hock, it's the best friend collard greens ever had.)
Place ham in cooler and cover with clean water. (As long as it's not too dirty you can use what southerners call the "hose pipe"). Stash the cooler in the bushes. If it's summer, throw in some ice. If it's freezing out, keep the cooler inside. Change the water twice a day for two days turning the ham each time.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place ham in a large disposable turkey-roasting pan and add enough Dr. Pepper to come about halfway up the side of the ham. Add pickle juice if you've got it and tent completely with heavy-duty foil. Cook for 1/2 hour then reduce heat to 325 degrees F, and cook another 1 1/2 hours.
Turn the ham over, insert an oven safe thermometer (probe-style is best) and cook another 1 1/2 hours, or until the deepest part of the ham hits 140 degrees F (approximately 15 to 20 minutes per pound total).
Let rest 1/2 hour then slice paper-thin. Serve with biscuits or soft yeast rolls.
Cooks note: Even after soaking, country ham is quite salty, so thin slicing is mandatory. If you're a bacon fan, however, cut a thicker (1/4-inch) slice and fry it up for breakfast.
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By saral718
on February 20, 2012
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This recipe was great! The meat is very moist, and the flavor is fabulous. My family thought that it turned out to be one of the best country hams that they had ever tasted. I know that I will definitely use this recipe again.
By thjones86
VA
on December 26, 2011
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We purchased our 20lb ham at a little shop in Culpeper, VA, called Calhoun's, their hams have been served at the White House. We soaked our ham for 3 days due to its size to add moisture and I followed Alton's recipe for cooking but chose to let it sit for a day, removed the rind, leaving at 1/2 inch of fat, I then chose to add a glaze just to give the ham a little zip and some color. I scored the top in a diagonal pattern, added whole cloves made a glaze of 1 sm can of crushed pineapple, 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup of dijon mustard and one cup whole cranberries, cooked for about 10 minutes then added 1/4 cup kentucky bourbon.(Woodford Reserve Took my immersion blender to the glaze to smooth it, cooked for about 10 mintues more, then brushed all over the top of the ham. My mother-in-law raved about the ham, my husband said it was the best he's ever had. It might be a long process but the flavor, aroma and smiles on faces was so worth the effort.
By mrush91
on December 13, 2011
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This was a excellent recipe. I liked it. My family LOVED it! Preparing the Ham took forever, but at least it was a good way to take the salt out. Your recipe was a hit on Thanksgiving, and I'll make sure it stays a hit on X-mas.
Read all 32 reviews