This was a lesson in never making assumptions. Last week someone I knew passed away. The family couldn’t afford much in the way of a funeral or a luncheon. I told them I had a ham in the freezer that had been given to me and I would cook it for them for the dinner after the service. It came from a pig that a friend had raised and butchered. Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped the ham from the and discovered that it was uncured!
I thawed it as quick as I could and ended up smoking it overnight instead of baking it in the morning as I originally planned. I didn’t do a lot to it, just a basic pork rub and then finished it with an apple juice/brown sugar based glaze. Since it was an impromptu spur of the moment effort, I wasn't real sure how it would turn out. It ended up better than expected, so I was relieved!!
As long as I had the smoker going, I added a chuck roast. Ended up slicing it thin and mixing it with sautéed onions and peppers. The family ended up with ham and pepper steak sandwiches. Between the ham and the roast I think we ended up with almost 50 sandwiches on hamburg buns. Someone else brought the buns. If it was up to me, I would have used Hawiian dinner rolls. The bottom line is that the family was pleased with the results!
Anyone else had a last minute surprise, just before getting ready to cook?
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Topic: How do you cure a ham, if you didn’t even know it was sick? (Read 447 times)