FRESH HAM

FRESH HAM

A ham is the cut of meat from a hog’s hind leg. When unprocessed, it’s called fresh ham. A whole ham often is cut into two sections, the shank end and the butt end. The butt end is higher up on the hog and has a complicated bone structure that makes carving a challenge.  But it is marbled with fat which creates a juicier roast. The shank is smaller, tapers to a smaller point, offers easy carving and a tidy presentation.

Fresh hams usually are roasted whole. As it cooks, its marbled fat slowly melts and infuses the meat with flavor. You can augment that flavor with a simple rub. Either shoulder of pork or picnic shoulder may be treated in the same fashion as a leg of pork. They have different bone structure, of course, and will not carve as well, but the meat is excellent in flavor and texture.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABO SSAM
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACHILI BRINED FRESH HAM
Pork, fresh ham with cracklings and pan gravy (Irish) 1FRESH HAM WITH CRACKLINGS AND PAN GRAVY
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFRESH HAM WITH MAPLE BALSAMIC GLAZE
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPATRICK’S LECHON SA HURNO
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAPERNIL AL HORNO