Country Ham

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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.

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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.

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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.

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This recipe was great!!!!! I found it too late to soak it for 2 days but it still turned out wonderful, juicy and tender and good flavor. This is the 2nd Alton Brown recipe I have used and he hasn't failed me yet. Way to go Alton!!! You make this less than average cook look like a genius.

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I cooked a country ham using this method and the end product made this southern gal proud!!!

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True country ham has as many recipes as there are family traditions. I come from a 3rd generation, where we always slowly hot-soaked/boiled ham first, then finished it in the oven. Mr. Brown has--no surprise to me with his background--come up with a marvelous way to simply bake the ham straight through. Well done Alton!!!

I did two hams, about a month apart. First Mr. Brown's, as prescribed. Second, I soaked the ham a bit longer and leached more of the salt out prior to my heated soaking/boiling approach. Then I made up a 3 generations old glaze made with orange juice and rind, brown sugar, a small handful of other "top secret" family seasonings and finished the ham in the oven until the glaze was well adhered and carmalized. Because of my history, it too was marvelous. In fact, with the Dr. Pepper cooking liquid, I may have fancied it a bit more than our usual approach.

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I have used this recipe twice and am so totally happy with it, and our guests, that our last guest is driving 894 miles this New Years so that she and her husband can have it -- with our black-eyed peas, slaw, potatoe salad, etc., etc. etc. and beers. It really takes a good quality ham to make it work....cheap imitation country hams should be used as catfish bait.

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We cannot eat country ham, up North here, our blood pressure won't tolerate it! I have soaked country hams and boiled them and they are still too salty! SO, we substituted a regular bone-in ham sugar cured in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. This recipe works great with that too. In fact, it is always a request at Christmas and whenever we bake a ham. There is something about the Dr. Pepper flavor that enhances the flavor of the ham to perfection. It is incredibly easy too. I would recommend it to even a novice cook (using a regular ham that doesn't require soaking for that first big family dinner. They won't be disappointed!

I still put a brown sugar, clove, dry mustard and pineapple juice paste on it in the last half an hour for that wonderful crispy crust. The only caveat is that you cannot make gravy with the pan drippings. We just get a ham base (a demi-glaze if you will from the butcher and use that to make gravy.

This ones a keeper!

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For me this ham came out a little too salty. Also, I had trouble knowing how to cut it. I think this recipe works better to put in soups or hashes, and not so well with just eating for Christmas.

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Being born and raised in the south, I can tell you that country ham is a staple of our diet. Okay, we don't eat it every single day like our parents did, but we always have ham in the freezer! We buy one, have part of it sliced thin leave part of it for a good sized whole ham and of course ALWAYS save the hock and have it cut into several pieces. (The hock makes the best bean soup ever not to mention seasoning greens. Anyway, when we get home we put the ham
that we aren't getting ready to cook into zip lock freezer bags with wax paper in between the slices and put them into the freezer for future cooking. The slices can be used to bake in the oven, to fry, or to grill. IF the ham is a very salty one you will be able to tell by how white the ham is before you put it into the freezer. These can always be boiled ahead of time to remove much of the salt. Once in a great while we'll get one that is so darn salty that it is almost inedible. All county hams are not created equal. I don't know what causes this, but we eat 2-3 whole hams per year and this happens about every 4 years or so, so you do the math. Usually they can be saved by boiling, but sometimes we just go ahead and use these for seasoning veggies, soups, whatever. So...
if you are one of the unlucky ones to get a VERY salty ham, don't give up. Try it again. It is very unusual to get one that's too salty after soaking. Of course, I am from the south and have been eating salt cured country ham slices since before I could walk. We don't usually soak the slices or anything before frying or grilling, but I do sprinkle with a little brown sugar, left over coffee and water
and simmer on the stove. It's to die for.
Anyway, if it's too salty for you soak, then boil the ham for 30min or so, then move onto the cooking method adding brown sugar to the water. I would use about 1 cup or so.
You might just love it like we southerners do!