Virginia Ham
Ham is a piece of meat that is made of the rear legs of an animal, typically of a hog. It can be purchased fresh or preserved. The preserving procedure is called curing process where the meat is salted, smoked, or dried. Ham is generally considered as a compact source of high animal protein and energy as well as a source of iron and calcium among other nutrients. It was first introduced to American continents by European settlers. Especially in North America, ham curing became a sophisticated tradition during late fall and winter despite high losses due to putrefaction. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to bacteria that could spoil the meat during the curing process, which is why curing agents are added. If they are highly concentrated enough to protect the center of the meat, it ought to be kept at a low temperature. Depending on the ingredients that are used as curing agents and for how long they are applied, the process does not only preserve the meat but also gives it additional flavor. Salt is added to preserve the meat, however, it can affect the flavor of it if too much is added. It turns the lean muscles hard which is not desired. The addition of sugar or honey balances out the detriment and also improves the flavor as well as the texture of the meat. Sugar-cured ham is preferably consumed to the salt-cured meat.1 There are two methods of curing: dry curing and brine curing.
The method of dry curing describes the process in which the cure mixture is rubbed into the meat manually using one's hands. During the brine curing process, the meat is soaked in curing agents and water. With dry curing, it takes two to three days for the finishing product before it can be further processed. For the latter it takes about four days per pound of ham.2
After the curing procedure, the meat may be smoked, canned, or heat processed. Smoking does not only help with preservation, but it also gives the meat its amber color as well as its savory taste. Woods such as sawdust among others is used for the smoking process. Following the procedure, some hams are aged.3
The more known country hams in the United States are those from Kentucky and Virginia (Smithfield).4 The latter one is mentioned in “The Lady's Maid's Bell” when Mrs. Blinder ignores Hartley's comment on Emma Saxon and gets up to go to the kitchen because she needs to “put on the Virginia ham for Mr. Brympton's dinner”.5
Virginia ham was and is still today considered superior to other kinds of ham because of its distinctive savory flavor and sweetness. The fresh meat is cut from razorback hogs that are fed on peanuts and peaches only. In Smithfield in particular, the hogs are fed on acorns, nuts, and corn. So even within the state Virginia, the methods and procedures differ from each other. The curing process for Virginia-style ham remains the same as normal ham, though the length of time of curing is shorter per pound of ham. It ought to stay one and a half days in wooden shelves or bins. To make the meat absorptive to smoke, it is placed in a tub of clean and cold water for one hour to dissolve most of the remaining curing mixture. With a bristle, it is then scrubbed clean, later dried and eventually stored in a 10-15.6 °C environment for roughly 14 days to allow the curing mixture to spread throughout the meat. During that process, the ham shrinks down to 8-10% from its original size. In another version of Virginia ham, the meat is dry-cured for 30-37 days, that is later spiced with black pepper, and then cold-smoked at a lower temperature (roughly 21-27°C) for 10-15 more days. Smoking the ham accelerates the drying process and adds a certain flavor to it. Different kinds of wood fuels are used for the smoking process, but mostly apple and hickory wood fires are used among others (peach, maple, oak, and plum, for example). Fragrant wood such as pine and spruce should be avoided since meat absorbs the flavors of its surroundings; those types of woods give off a resin that affects the flavor and makes it taste bitter. The ham is smoked in smokehouses and hung up so that they do not touch each other. After the smoking process, the ham is aged for 40 to 180 days, depending on what flavor is desired in the end, at 23.9-35 °C in a controlled humid environment of 55-60%. The use of an exhaust fan prevents the ham from molding and excessive drying. The ham loses roughly 8-12% of its original size during this process.67
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1 Encyclopedia Britannica, “Ham”, https://www.britannica.com/topic/ham-meat. Accessed December 28, 2019.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Lewis, R. W. B. The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton. (Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968. 457-474, Print.), 468.
6 Encyclopedia Britannica, “Ham”, https://www.britannica.com/topic/ham-meat. Accessed December 28, 2019.
7 Virginia Cooperative Extension. Publications and Educational Resources. “Dry Curing Virginia-Sytle Ham”, https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/458/458-223/458-223.html. Accessed January 14, 2020.