Ham

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Hi everyone,

Today's post would be all about *drumroll* HAM. Yes, it's gonna be all about ham. Though I personally find this a really vague topic but I'll try my best to cover the basics.

Ham is used very commonly throughout the ages and throughout the world. It ranges from
China to Europe and people used it commonly. In China, people used ham for "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall". Their ham is different from the western ham that I love and I know many do too. They used dry-cured hams or known commonly to us as Jin Hua Ham ( Huo Tui) .

Besides China, a really large number of European countries use ham in their daily cooking. Countries like Germany and France have different ways of preparing the ham. France produce Bayonne Ham which is an air dried salted ham that takes its name from the ancient port city of Bayonne in the far South West of France. Germany produce hams like the Black forest ham which is made by being seasoned, dry cured, then smoked over sawdust and fir brush.

And since it's going to be Christmas, I'll talk about Christmas Ham a bit. A Christmas Ham or Yule Ham is a traditional dish associated with modern Christmas, Yule and Scandinavian Jul. The tradition is suggested to have begun amongst the Germanic peoples as a tribute to Freyr , a god in Germanic Paganism associated with boars, harvest and fertility. Isn't that nice?

Information From : www.wikipedia.com

Anyway, my post won't be published without a recipe for all of you to try out so here's a real nice recipe for all to try:

Honey Glazed Smoked Ham

You'll need:

16 pound/Around 7kg "ready to eat" ham
1 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
30 minutes Prep. Time
6 Hours Cooking Time

Steps:

The night before you smoke the ham, mix together the pepper, paprika, sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon of dry mustard and cayenne.

Rub over the surface of the ham, wrap in foil and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning remove the ham from the refrigerator and let it sit for 1 hour.

Remove foil. In the meantime prepare the smoker.

You will be smoking at about 210 degrees F./ 100 degress C.(98.89) for 6 hours.

Mix together the chicken stock, 3/4 cups of pineapple juice, vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard, and cloves.

Warm over medium heat until completely mixed.

Place ham in smoker and baste with sauce once every hour.

While the ham is smoking prepare the glaze by mixing together the honey, 1/4 cup on pineapple juice, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and a pinch of ground cloves.

Brush generously with glaze a couple of times during the last hour of smoking.

Recipe from : http://bbq.about.com/od/hamrecipes/r/bl81128a.htm

And that pretty much wraps up my post and see you guys next time. =)

Pieces Out XD