Taste difference between raw ham & precooked/cured

Ricklesss

Don't know why...but I've still yet to do a ham...
BadI know!
Not minding the extra time/work, but I'm wondering if buying a raw ham would, in the end, taste better then
"just warming up" basically, a pre-cooked/cured ham?
Probably depends on how it's cooked and what kind of cook is cookin' it... but still?
Just warming up a precooked/cured one almost seems like cheating?
Just wondering!
Hope everybody had a great turkey day!

stike

not sure what you mean by a 'raw' ham.

a fresh or green ham is a roast, raw and uncured. if you cut off the thigh of a hog, you have taken off the ham. roasted, it looks like a pork roast, only has some darker meat, and is a tougher cut. the exact counterpart is the upper front leg, where we get the picnic roast and boston butt.

if that cut is then cured (talking a city ham, here, not country ham), it is firmed up and pink throughout. the nitrite cure actually physically changes the meat, and gives it a piquant flavor that salt-curing alone cannot (salt-cured would be like country ham, or even prosciutto, each fine things, but generally handled differently and eaten differently than a 'city' ham). you can then hot smoke (cook) this now-cured but still-raw ham yourself, and serve it (150-155-160 internal, or so)

if it is precooked (like the spirals are), it is essentially the same exact thing, which has further been cooked (and likely smoked) by the manufacturer. ...only you now need to reheat it (140 internal), which you can do with a little more smoke if you want.

now, given that, it raises the question... what do you mean by "buying a raw ham"?

[for ex: a fresh pork loin is a roast. if you cure it, you have cured but still raw pork (akin to the truly raw ham). hot smoke that, and it will be cured AND cooked, "canadian bacon".

and just like canadian bacon, you can heat it up again and then eat it, even though it is already cooked. that is the same thing as heating up a precooked ham]

all three are the same cut, but potentially very different how they hit your plate]

Ricklesss

Hi Stike,
Thank you for that! Very informative write up!
It correctly point's out, I should have Wikipedied "ham", so I would know to ask the correct question!
I guess what it all boil's down to me, even with the note's I've taken in my special BGE notebook, from this very forum, is that "ham's" really confuse me...
I was thinking there were only two, one being
"uncooked, unsmoked, uncured ham", and then the other's "that are cooked, cured, smoked."
It seems there is so much to it, it's definitely a subject that overloads my meager brain with information.

Basically I want to do a ham, "the old fashioned way", truly cooking/smoking it in the egg, and was wondering if doing that way was better then just buying one pre-cooked., smoked.
I'm confused! But thank you!!

stike

if by th "old fashioned way, you mean curing it yourself, THEN smoking it, THEN cooking it... well, yeah.

of course it is better

here're a couple photos of a ham i got from the butcher (it was fresh, 'green', nothing done to it other than taking it off the hog). if i cooked it, i'd have a tough pork roast which just also happened to be the 'ham' cut (but not a 'ham' in the traditional sense)

here's a pic after an injection of cure (pickle) along the bone, and a soaked in the same cure/pickle for maybe 10 days or more. the cure is pinks salts, water, flavorings (maple syrup, sugar, herbs, etc.)



that makes it "cured", but as you can see, still raw (no cooked). think of a slice of bacon, it is cured, but not cooked. fat is white and hard, flesh is pink but raw.

then i COLD-smoked it, which addsa smoke flavor but does not cook the meat.





so. cured, yes, smoked yes, but still not cooked. this makes it a cured, smoked, but still RAW ham.



this still needs to be cooked before it's to be eaten. if i HOT smoked it, it would have also cooked while smoking (just like they do with a "pre-cooked" spiral ham), and would only require re-heating before serving.

or you can skip the re-heat and simply hot-smoke it the day you are eating it (instead of cold smoking then later re-heating, just smoked AND cook at the same time).

i cold smoked though, and then cooked it on easter sunday a week later.

here is a slab of belly which had been cured and THEN cold-smoked but is still uncooked.



as you can see when slicing it (for packaging), it is still raw, even though the cure has pinked it up and made it firm.



after that it is then cooked

Ricklesss

Thank you, again, Stike!
I do look forward to cold smoking hams and especially pork bellies, but for now, just am just curious about the "ham thing". One thing at a time!
I especially like your cold smoking set up with the second egg!
I've long been coveting a small egg, and now see yet another excuse to procure one!
I was just reading about the myriad of types of hams and cut's there-of, here:
http://www.foodsubs.com/MeatcureHams.html
For just being a simple "pig", it's astounding how much can be done with them!
Thanks again!!