Thanks, just ordered the smoked aged ham and some bacon. Having regrets right off, wish I'd gotten boneless. Last Serrano ham we had was a bitch to slice around the bone. Even with a holder and a Spanish slicing knife. $41 for shipping seemed high, but I'm not walking there from here any time soon:-)

Can anyone who’s had both compare the flavor of the aged smoked to the unsmoked ham?

Tracking number arrived today...

Going to be a while before I can eat it but it will be sublime when I get to it...

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Originally posted by cparktd:

quote:

Originally posted by 10X-Shooter:
I live fairly close to Benton’s.

Have you been in the business. I ask them via email but no response so far if the products are available retail for walk-ins. It does not mention it on the web site so it may require preorder...

Yes, I’ve been inside the business but not since COVID-19. Here in TN their business should be open since almost everything else is open for business with limited seating spaces apart. You can walk-in and buy products. They don’t strike me as very active on modern technology. They stay busy keeping the smoke going 24 hours a day. Passed by there within the past week and they were open.

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Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:

quote:

Originally posted by marksman41:
Order placed for one aged smoked ham and 4 lbs. of bacon.

Me too. I ordered boneless.

Next order will be for the boneless.

And thanks to Corsair for the sandwich suggestion. Not going to sully this ham with mediocre bread - baguettes and Amish butter all the way, baby!

Synchronicity:

Added the "Eater" channel to my YouTube subscriptions today. Looked at the list of their most popular videos and saw this one.

How Benton's Turns 12,000 Pounds of Pork Belly into Bacon Every Week.




Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVNSNGXzmO4

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My favorite bacon is the Nueske's Applewood smoked bacon.

This. Try it if you haven't. I always go back to it.

My order for a smoked ham (bone) and bacon came in last week. I think the bacon is fantastic but I'm not crazy about the ham.

The flavor of the ham is great but I didn't realize just how hard the flesh is on a aged ham. It has the consistency of jerky whereas I was expecting it to be more like a regular cooked or Honey Baked ham. Lesson learned and I don't regret trying it.

Another lesson to impart to others: definitely take the advice in the pamphlet included with the ham and have a butcher slice it up for you. If I had followed that instruction a lot less would have gone to waste as I got frustrated with the time and effort (lots of that!) in getting what I did 1)cut off the bone and 2)separated from the thick, hard layer of fat. I am not practiced in the art of carving meat so I'm sure that had a lot to do with my results.

The bacon, though, is a different story. Although the strips are not the thick-cut type you can get at the local grocery store, they don't need to be because they don't shrivel up to 1/4 their size like the grocery store bacon does. What goes into the pan is pretty close to what comes out of the pan - I'd say less than 1/3 shrinkage. And the smell is terrific, if you're a fan of the smell of hickory smoke (and I am). Cooking up three pieces of bacon infused the whole main floor with that wonderful smell all day. Close your eyes, take a breath, and you can imagine yourself at a lodge in the Rockies.

I'm glad for the recommendation. I got to try something different, learned something new food-wise, and came away with my new favorite for bacon.

^^^^
Thin slices, cured meat has all the water removed but, leaves all the flavor. Thin slices. Carving is definitely an art, I think I watched about an hour's worth of videos of Spanish guys slicing jamon to get an idea of what to do.
When I got tired of all the ham, I started cutting off hunks and diced it into cubes then freezing it. During winter time, I'd pull out a shrunk-wrapped pack of ham and added it to mac n'cheese and various soups.

You kept the bone right? Gotta keep the bone (freeze it) and use for making soups: ham hocks, bean soup, chili, etc...

Country ham is to the USA as prosciutto is to Italy. It must be sliced thin for a sandwich, cracker or by it'self.

A thicker cut is possible but needs to be heated in a cast iron skillet while you slave over a pot of grits and some over easy eggs....