Hoptown Chronicle editor Jennifer P. Brown has been cooking country hams for her family (and some lucky friends) since the mid-1990s.
The slow-cured, salty tradition has crept into other homes over the years — from West Virginia to Wisconsin. (You can read more about the process, and how a country ham finds its way up north, in a column we published last year.)
“My process involves bourbon and brown sugar — and a lot of patience,” Brown wrote. “I don’t have a recipe. It’s more like a kitchen narrative in three acts. Sometimes there is drama, like the year a chemical reaction between the sugar and alcohol caused a small explosion that blew open the oven door with a loud ‘bang!’
“A country ham takes time. It’s a commitment.”
The prep for this dish can take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours. It’ll cook for about six hours.
But the lingering scent of a smoky distillery and the heaps of tender meat perfect for picking make it worth the effort.
Baked Country Ham
INGREDIENTS
- A country ham (good size is 13 to 16 pounds)
- Brown sugar
- Bourbon
- A can of pineapple rings
- Whole cloves
Plus, you’ll need an extra large disposable roasting pan and plenty of aluminum foil.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Soak ham for 18 to 24 hours in cold water, changing the water two or three times to pull out some of the salt. (If you don’t have time to soak the ham, it’s OK.)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use a very large disposable roasting pan. Put the ham in the pan, dump two cups of brown sugar on top and rub the sugar into the meat a little. A lot of the sugar will fall into the bottom of the pan; that’s fine. Pour 1 cup cheap bourbon over the ham. Add 1 cup water to the bottom of the pan
- Use lots of aluminum foil and seal up the ham. You want a tight seal.
- Bake the ham for one hour. Lower heat to 275 degrees and cook for an additional 20 minutes per pound. (So, if you have a 15-pound ham, you’re looking at six hours in the oven, then three to four additional hours for cool-down and final prep.) … If you hear what sounds like little explosions in the oven when the ham is cooking, don’t worry. It’s just a reaction between the sugar and alcohol. It won’t hurt anything.
- When the baking time ends, turn off the oven and leave the ham in there for a couple of hours. Remove ham from oven and let is rest, sealed, on top of the stove another hour, then remove the foil. When it’s cool enough to handle, lift the ham out of the pan and put it on a surface where you can work on it. A baking sheet covered with foil works well.
- Begin to peel away the rind and the layer of fat on top of the meat. Once you’ve done that, transfer the ham to an oven-proof dish, like a large meat platter.
- Pour off 1/2 cup of juice from pineapple can and mix that with 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar to make a paste. Spread the paste on the ham. Take several pineapple rings and place them on the ham, using a few cloves like nails to attach them.
- Put the ham back in the oven and bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
- After the ham has cooled, slice and serve.
