The center of this year's Christmas dinner was ham. A nice, big, fresh ham we purchased at the local Amish Market. For those who may not be familiar, a fresh ham is not cured, smoked or boiled, like the "ham" you see on Grandma's Easter table or in deli sandwiches. A fresh ham is a large, bone-in, skin-on pork roast cut from the leg of the pig.
In the oven - I peeked. Can't resist!
Our Christmas ham was a thing of beauty. 16lbs for 8 people. Sounds like a lot, but when buying you have to consider that about 1/3 of that weight is bone, skin and fat. Oh, oh! I said the eff-word! Trust me - any huge chunk of pig that is going to roast away in the oven all day needs a hearty layer of fat. That fat will render and pour down the sides continually basting your roast, without you having to open the oven door once. And long, slow cooking (325 degrees F for about 4 hours) achieved this, as well as slowly crisping and browning the thick layer of skin on top. Were it not for the fat and skin (say, if this was a lean, mean pork loin) a pork roast cooked for that long would just dry and shrivel up into shoe-leather.
Done, rested and ready to carve!
A word about prepping our ham. To achieve optimal flavor, moistness and seasoning I brined it. If you have never tried brining, start now! A brine is a water and salt solution, about 6 parts water to 1 part salt. You can go with just salt and water, or you can add other flavors like garlic, herbs, spices, sweets (honey, brown sugar). To prepare the brine mix the salt, water and other flavoring agents in a large pot. Bring to a boil just long enough to dissolve the salt completely. Then cool the brine completely to room temperature. Place the raw meat in the brine, cover, and store in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Brining time depends on the thickness of the meat being treated. I brined this ham for 2 days. If you are brining a thinner cut of meat like a pork chop or chicken breast, 2-3 hours is probably sufficient. When ready to cook, remove from the brine, pat dry and cook as you normally would. It's not necessary to season with more salt, since all that seasoning has already diffused throughout the meat. I promise that although the brine itself is exceptionally salty, the meat comes out not too salty, but well-seasoned. And ironically, brining preserves moisture in the meat throughout the dry cooking process.
I roasted the ham slowly to an internal temperature of 135 degrees F. Yes, you need an instant read thermometer for this. After removing from the oven it has to rest for at least a half hour before carving. During the cooking process all of the juices are pushed out to the edges. Resting allows 2 things - it lets the roast complete cooking fully due to the heat it contains, and it lets the juices redistribute throughout the meat. I always time the cooking so I'm removing it from the oven shortly before my guests arrive. It rests while we're greeting everyone, exchanging gifts, nibbling on apps and getting all the side dishes ready for the table.
Mmmm - the side dishes! Coming soon. Another post for another day.
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