We offer the finest meats.  You'll find you like our tastes and they are all available at a reasonable cost.  In the meat line, we have Sugar Cured Country Ham, Honey Glazed Spiral Sliced (pictured), Virginia Baked Boneless and Honey Ham.  We offer fine turkey products like Boneless Turkey Breast in mesquite, honey-pepper and premium white oven roasted.

Other meat items we are well known for are sausage, bacon, chili, hot dogs, bologna, and more.

Our country hams can easily be shipped as a gift to your friends as "no refrigeration is required".

COOKING OUR SUGAR CURED COUNTRY HAM
"Less Salty Than Most Brands"

NO REFRIGERATION REQUIRED

Preparing A Country Ham For Cooking

During the aging process, mold often forms on good country hams, much like that found on fine aged cheese.

Don't panic!
This is not a sign of spoilage!

Mold may continue to develop even during storage and shipping.  To clean before cooking, place ham in sink, scrub with clean scrub brush using white vinegar (do not use soap), and rinse all residue from ham with running water.  Whole Country hams can be soaked in water overnight before cooking to further reduce salt content.  Ham hock may need to be removed if ham is too large for cooker, roaster, or kettle.  Now you are ready to cook your ham!  You can cook it in water, Apple cider, or mix in a cup of brown sugar, sorghum or honey.

Cooking your country ham.

ELECTRIC COOKER METHOD
Put whole ham into large electric cooker, and cover it with 1/2 to 2/3 water.   Cover and set cooking temperature to 260 degrees.  Cook until internal temperature reaches 155-160 degrees or approximately 28 minutes per pound of ham.  Turn off and let cool in cooker.  Remove skin and excess fat.  Glaze if desired.  Slice and serve hot or cold.

OVEN COOKING
In roaster pan with skin side up, immerse in liquid of your choice.  Cook slowly at 260 degrees until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 155-160 degrees or about 28 minutes per pound of ham.  Ham doesn't need to be completely covered in liquid. Let ham cool with liquid in roaster. Remove skin and excess fat. Glaze if desired. Slice and serve hot or cold.

SIMMERING METHOD (Old-Fashioned Way)
Place ham in large kettle or pot.  Completely immerse in liquid. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes per pound of ham. Remove from heat and let stand in cooking liquid until cool enough to handle. Remove skin and excess fat. Glaze if desired. Slice and serve hot or cold.

FRYING COUNTRY HAM SLICES (for uncooked ham slices)
A Time-Honored, Time-Saving Way!
Heat heavy iron skillet.  Rub fat from edge of a ham slice over bottom. Lightly brown slices on both sides on medium-high heat. Cook until there is a golden-brown sear on both sides. Turn frequently to prevent overheating. Do not cook till dry or hard -- only about 3 minutes. For milder flavor, ham may be soaked a few minutes in lukewarm water before frying. You can also add water or a mixture of half water and half soda pop -- either cola or lemon-lime, just to the top edge of the ham slices as they begin to fry. (For "real country style", serve with biscuits and red-eye gravy!)

RED-EYE GRAVY
(Do not use additional liquid while frying.)
Remove ham from skillet. Leave pan over medium-high heat and immediately pour in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water or freshly brewed coffee. Scrape and stir to release the crust that formed in the skillet during frying. Pour over ham slices or biscuits for a real treat.

GLAZING
Glazing preferences vary, so use your favorite family recipe.  For a simple glaze, mix brown sugar and pineapple juice (other juices are fine, too) to a paste that will cling to the ham. Spread on ham and place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until glaze is golden brown.

SLICING YOUR HAM
For proper tenderness and most efficient use, refer to the diagram to the left. For frying, slice ham perpendicular to the bone about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Slice cooked ham approximately 1/8 inch thick in the same manner for maximum tenderness. Most grocery store meat departments will gladly slice your ham for you.

STORAGE AND HANDLING
Caution must be used when storing your ham for extended periods of time.  Your country ham leaves our smokehouse during peak flavor, so we recommend using it as soon as possible.  Whole, uncooked country ham requires no refrigeration; however, you may refrigerate or freeze it up to six months to reduce or eliminate continued aging. If stored unrefrigerated, select a dry place free from rodents or insects that may use your ham as a new home. NOTE: extended aging can develop strong flavors undesirable to most people. If stored refrigerated, do not wrap in plastic wrap. Your ham needs a good air flow to limit exterior mold growth.

HISTORY OF COUNTRY HAM
Country ham is different from fully cooked "city" ham with which you may be familiar. Quality country ham requires more time and labor to produce. Each ham must be hand-rubbed with the salt and sugar cure, then hung up and allowed to age naturally, and finally hardwood smoked with natural wood. The cure consists mainly of coarse salt, a small amount of sugar, sodium nitrate (saltpeter), and sodium nitrite, although many farmers added other ingredients, and handed down their own family recipes through generations. The whole process takes almost four months.

While country ham itself has ancient roots going back to China a few thousand years ago, the basic methods of curing have not varied greatly since the first ham was preserved in salt so long ago. More recently, Colonial Americans brought with them their knowledge of preserving meat by salting (curing), and also brought along domestic pigs. When their ham-curing practices were combined with native Americans' practice of smoking meats (traditional wild game), the process of today's smoked country ham was born.