How Do You Purchase A Holiday Ham?
Ham can take on myriad flavors, including honey, bourbon, pepper, apple and maple. No mere pork leg, ham is either wet-brined in a mix of salt, water and sugar or dry-cured with salt, herbs and sugar, then aged for several weeks and smoked. Dry-cured hams require 48 hours of soaking to remove the salt, hours of poaching, and finally baking. Step 1 Tally up your guest list. A bone-in ham will provide three to four servings per pound, while a boneless ham will yield four to five. Factor in extra for leftovers; there’s nothing like a honey-baked-ham sandwich or country-fried ham and eggs. Step 2 Order as far as three weeks in advance. Ask your butcher or grocer’s meat department how to place an order for holiday ham. Step 3 Browse Web sites and gourmet catalogs, but factor in extra time and money for shipping. Savor a Honey Baked Ham (honeybaked. com), the Starbucks of the ham business. Presliced, these hams range from about $50 to $120. The Holiday Ham Company (holidayham.com), Williams-
