Most hams that you find in grocery stores are already cooked and cured. What could go wrong when you reheat this holiday favorite? As it turns out… quite a lot!
There are many mistakes that can cause dry-out and lackluster hams, such as cooking at an sarma recept excessive temperature or scoring the ham incorrectly. If ham is a staple on your holiday menu, you have to be careful.
We spoke to chefs and butchers to learn about common ham errors people make when cooking at home. And we also got some great tips on how to make succulent, delicious hams.
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1. Make a mistake: Not understanding the differences between ham and other hams
Many of the hams you will find in shops are pre-cooked and cured. There are also uncooked hams, such as country ham and prosciutto. There are a variety of hams: bone-in, boneless, and hams with a middle bone. These hams are typically pre-sliced.
Weaning suggests that you talk to the butcher at the meat counter to resolve the problem. According to Weaning, depending on your holiday hosting situation and the type or meal you are trying to serve, butchers can help you choose the right ham. For example, while it may be simpler to cut boneless hams than bone-in hams, they tend to retain more flavor.
2. Make a mistake: Too thick slices of country ham
Christian Graves, executive chef at Citizen Rail, Denver, Colorado warns that if you choose to cut country ham slices too thickly, it will result in hard, salty pieces of meat endangering people’s plates.
How to fix it Graves loves country-style ham. Graves’ serving suggestion? “Slice it thin for win!”
3. Make a mistake: Buy hams with higher water content
Hams with higher water content tend to be more expensive, but they will have less flavor.
It’s easy to fix: Only buy hams labeled “ham”; avoid hams with labels like “ham, water added” (or “ham and water product”).
4. Make a mistake: Not looking at your ham carefully.
“Most supermarket ham is vacuum packed. If there is any cloudy liquid, it means that the ham is old,” warns Dave Lang, a meat expert with over 40 years of experience.
Lang suggests that you avoid buying a ham with cloudy liquid. Lang suggests that you rinse the ham under cold water to remove any salty residue after you bring it home.
5. Make a mistake: You buy hard-to-carved cuts
It is important to have a ham that is easy to slice so you can quickly serve everyone, even while it’s still warm.
How to fix it: A shank-end, spiral-sliced, ham is best for easy carving. Morgan Bolling, assistant food editor at Cook’s Country, and America’s Test Kitchen meat expert, explains how you can do this. She explains that a whole ham is the entire back of the pig. However, it’s sometimes split and sold as the “butt” or “sirloin” portion.
She says that the butt portion is more rounded and has irregular-shaped bones which makes it harder to carve. The shank is located lower down on the leg and has a simpler bone structure. Look for roasts with conical shapes and a pointed, tapered end if they aren’t labeled.
