Country ham — a whole hind leg of pork, dry-cured with salt (and sometimes sugar, black pepper, and sodium nitrate), hung in a smokehouse for weeks to months, and aged for 3 months to 2+ years — is the American South's most prestigious cured meat and the technique that connects Southern preservation to the European curing traditions that produced prosciutto, jamón serrano, and Westphalian ham. The Appalachian country ham tradition — concentrated in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina — descends from the English, Scotch-Irish, and German settlers who brought their salt-curing knowledge to the mountains, where the cool winters and warm summers provided the natural temperature cycle that drives the curing and aging process. Allan Benton (Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams, Madisonville, Tennessee) and Sam Edwards III (Edwards Virginia Smokehouse, Surry, Virginia, since 1926) are the contemporary masters.
A whole pork leg, rubbed thickly with a dry cure of salt (the primary preservative), sometimes with added sugar, black pepper, and sodium nitrate (for colour and flavour). The salt draws moisture from the meat over 30-45 days of curing at cold temperatures (1-7°C — the winter months). The cured ham is then washed, sometimes pepper-coated, and hung in a smokehouse (cold-smoked over hickory for days to weeks in some traditions, or simply hung to age unsmoked in others). The ham ages for a minimum of 3 months (the USDA minimum for "country ham"); 6-12 months produces a more complex, drier product; 18-24 months produces a ham approaching the depth of European aged hams. The finished country ham is deeply red, firm, intensely salty, and dense with concentrated pork flavour — it is sliced thin and eaten in small quantities, not carved in thick slabs.
On a biscuit. Pan-fried with red-eye gravy (AM5-08) over grits. Sliced thin as a charcuterie-style appetiser. Diced into beans, greens, or eggs.
1) The salt cure is the foundation — the salt must penetrate to the bone to prevent spoilage. The ham is rubbed with salt (approximately 4-5% of the ham's weight in salt per application) and the cure takes 30-45 days, with the ham re-rubbed and turned periodically. 2) The equalization period: after the salt cure, the ham hangs in a cool environment for 2-4 weeks while the salt distributes evenly throughout the meat. This prevents the exterior from being salt-crusted while the centre is under-cured. 3) The aging climate: the natural temperature cycle of the Appalachian seasons drives the aging. Cool winters allow the salt to penetrate slowly; warm summers cause the fat to "sweat" and begin the enzymatic breakdown that produces the cured ham's complex flavour. This seasonal cycle is the same process that produces Italian prosciutto in the Po Valley. 4) Smoking (in some traditions): cold-smoking over hickory for days to weeks adds a smoke flavour layer. Benton's hams are smoked; Edwards hams are traditionally unsmoked (or very lightly smoked). Both approaches produce world-class hams. 5) Slice thin — country ham is intensely salty and intensely flavoured. Thick slices are overwhelming. Paper-thin slices, eaten with biscuits or cornbread, are the correct serving.
Allan Benton's hams — aged 12-24 months, cold-smoked over hickory — have become the most celebrated country hams in America. David Chang (Momofuku) credited Benton's ham with opening his eyes to American cured meat. The ham is used by fine dining chefs across the country as an American equivalent of prosciutto di Parma. Country ham on a biscuit (AM2-14) is the definitive Southern breakfast: a thin slice of salty, smoky ham on a tender, buttery biscuit. Nothing else needed. Country ham is an ingredient as much as a protein. Diced small and added to beans, greens, or eggs, it provides the same concentrated salt-smoke-pork that tasso (LA1-11) provides in Louisiana.
Cooking country ham like fresh ham — country ham is cured and can be eaten without cooking (like prosciutto). If cooked, it is sliced thin and pan-fried briefly in a skillet — the rendered fat becomes red-eye gravy (see AM5-08). Not soaking before cooking — whole country ham (if being baked whole) must be soaked in water for 12-24 hours to reduce the salt to a palatable level. Unsoaked country ham baked whole is inedibly salty. Slicing too thick — the salt concentration demands thin slices.
Ronni Lundy — Victuals; John Egerton — Southern Food; Allan Benton — Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams