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When I was a child, I remember going to my grandmother’s and granddad’s house and it just seems like everytime we visited, one meal always consisted of a very large baked ham. I hated that dinner (sorry Grandmother) because the gargantuan ham had rings of pineapple stuck strategically all over the skin, along with whole cloves that dotted the entire ham. Bleahh. And of course, it was accompanied by canned peas. Oh my. How I hated canned peas. To this day, I will not eat a pea if it is from a can. Give me fresh or frozen or even in a soup, but not on my plate as a mushy, squishy, round, green thing. You know what’s even ten million times worse? Creamed peas made with a white sauce and canned peas. They are the very picture of the pun of Miss America’s desire for “Whirled Peas”. My memory still nurtures a picture of a 14 year old me, sitting all by myself, at my grandparents’ dinner table with an all but empty plate – empty except for a pile of peas. My grandfather watched until I choked down the last pea, and then allowed me to leave the table. I wonder to this day where my parents were. Maybe they were secretly in on the plan to force me to like this canned excuse for a legume. Well, I showed them. I still hate ’em!! But back to the ham. I have never understood why anyone would want to mess with the simple and delectable flavor of a smoked, fully cooked ham – the kind that comes in that thick, plastic package, surrounded by a cloudy brine and sold as whole, shank or butt. I know, some people pour Coca Cola over theirs, and others use pineapple juice with brown sugar or some such syrup, but I am a purist. I want my ham as ham. If I want a sweet sauce, I’ll dip the ham in it as I eat. Just give me plain ol’ baked ham. The beauty of leaving a ham in the buff is that after serving it for a meal, you can process the rest in jars to have later on. I try to can ham twice a year – once for winter and once for summer. It is wonderful for ham salad, for omelettes, for eggs benedict, for casseroles and just as a side for eggs and biscuits or for dinner. I buy ham on sale and freeze it until I am ready to bake it, serve it and then can it. Tonight I did just that. I baked a 10 1/2 lb shank ham, served it with green beans and a wonderful hash brown casserole that I will post later. I bake my hams in brown-in bags which makes the cooking go faster. Baked at 325º, I usually average about 20 minutes per pound. Below, you’ll find how I then can the leftovers.  When using a brown-in bag to bake a ham, shake about 2 tbsps of flour inside the bag, place the ham ino the bag and then cut a 1″ slice into the plastic to allow steam to escape,  After 3 1/2 hours at 325º, this ham is succulent served with green beans and cheesy hashbrowns.  Once we’ve eaten, I take all of the meat off of the bone. When cooked in the brown-in bag, the meat just literally falls into your hand. Not much cutting required. And the beauty of it is that the fat falls off as well, so that you get very lean pieces.  The ham is placed into pint jars to about 3/4″ head space and the ham bone is frozen in a freezer bag for later use in a huge pot of pinto or navy beans. The juices can be evenly divided between the jars of meat or left out completely. The juices will darken the ham a little bit. Notice that in the bowl, all that is left is some fat, some skin and the plastic bag.   Boiling water fills the jars to within 1″ of the top of the jar rim  Using a knife or canning spatula, release air bubbles by forcing the utensil around the sides of the jars  Wipe the rims of the jars with a warm, wet, soapy dishcloth. This is very important because the grease from the ham can splash onto the rim and keep the lids from sealing in processing.  Have the lids ready in water that has been brought to a near boil. I like to place my lids alternating rubber ring up – rubber ring down, so that the lids do not stick to each other.  Using a canning wand or tongs, place lids onto jars and add rings. Tighten and then just barely back off the ring (loosen) You want the ring on tight, but not too tight.  Different canners require different numbers of quarts of water, but I use the rule of thumb of 2″ of warm water in the bottom of the canner.  Place the jars into the canner base making sure that there is space between them. Put lid in place. Process on 10 lbs for and hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) for pints and and an hour and a half (90 minutes) for quarts.  Once the jars have cooled, wash the rings and jars in hot, soapy water to remove any oils. Dry and then replace rings when they are totally dry.  The jar on the left has been canned with the juices and boiling water and is still warm. When it cools, the fat will separate to the top as in the jar to the right. The jar to the right has been canned with just boiling water. I’ll be posting some recipes for you to use with your canned ham. |
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