Smithfield county hams, by law, have to made in a certain way, and
nothing in that code would allow a "low sodium" ham. You have to dry
salt the ham, and age it until it ends up as a Smithfield Ham. Some
sneaky little bugger outside the county line injected your "low sodium"
ham with a bit of brine, and then proceeded to make it like a Smithfield
by dry curing it following. A true Smithfield ham is very hard to
desalt, as Julia Child says in many of her writings.
Kent

jmcquown wrote:
>
> Kent H. wrote:
> > I have tried to cook a number of Smithfield hams unsuccessfully,
> > including soaking for 24 hours in the basement with several changes of
> > water to desalt before cooking, and it has never worked quite right.
> > What do you and what does mother and father do to make it right?
> > Thanks
> > Kent
>
> This was a bone-in large ham, lower sodium so no soaking necessary. They
> simply put it in the large roasting pan on a rack (it barely fit!) and baked
> it for 5 hours. I've never cooked a ham like this myself so I really
> couldn't tell you if there is a secret to it, but I suspect there isn't.
> Not sure why yours don't turn out.
>
> Jill
>
> > jmcquown wrote:
> >>
> >> I ordered a 1/2 Smithfield lower sodium (due to Mom's diet
> >> restrictions) EZ Slice ham for my parents, along with some "Buster
> >> Bones". Buster Bones are fully cooked meaty ham bones which are
> >> either treats for large dogs or may be used in cooking. My dad
> >> likes to use a ham bone like that when he makes his navy bean soup.
> >> I alerted my parents to expect the package.
> >>
> >> I got a phone call from my parents asking me, "Why did you send us
> >> dog bones?" When I finished laughing I explained. Mom said, "Oh,
> >> then I guess I'll tell your father to stop gnawing on that one." LOL
> >>
> >> A couple of days later (Saturday) I was talking to Mom and mentioned
> >> what they could do with the leftover ham. She said, "Why do you
> >> keep talking about a ham? We didn't get a ham." "Well I sure as
> >> heck was charged for one! Gotta go make a call, Mom."
> >>
> >> Smithfield is closed on weekends. So I sent them an email. Then I
> >> called to follow-up on Tuesday (when I remembered!). They said the
> >> ham had been shipped that day for overnight delivery and gave me a
> >> tracking number.
> >>
> >> Wednesday evening my parents called me. Delivered was a 15 POUND
> >> ham. WHAT?! I didn't order you a 15 lb. ham! (At least it was
> >> lower sodium.) It was pretty comical listening to them describe how
> >> it barely fit into the turkey roaster.
> >>
> >> The mystery was solved when I signed on tonight and checked my email.
> >> Apparently Smithfield was out of the half ham I'd ordered. When
> >> they got my email and realized the problem, customer service took it
> >> upon themselves to send a whole ham at no extra cost, priority
> >> overnight delivery. Now THAT is service!
> >>
> >> My 79-year-old parents cooked the ham the same day. And Dad has yet
> >> another ham bone. They're going have to package up and freeze a lot
> >> of it and give a good bit of it away to neighbors. Even with that,
> >> they're going to have ham for a loooong time!
> >>
> >> Tonight, Dad said, they're quickly heating a couple of slices in a
> >> skillet and having ham & eggs for dinner
> >>
> >> Jill

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 03:50:06 GMT, "Kent H." >
wrote:

>Smithfield county hams, by law, have to made in a certain way, and
>nothing in that code would allow a "low sodium" ham. You have to dry
>salt the ham, and age it until it ends up as a Smithfield Ham. Some
>sneaky little bugger outside the county line injected your "low sodium"
>ham with a bit of brine, and then proceeded to make it like a Smithfield
>by dry curing it following. A true Smithfield ham is very hard to
>desalt, as Julia Child says in many of her writings.
>Kent

I am not sure if it is the cure that is all important, but the area in
which the hams were made. I think they have to be cured in the
Smithfield area: I seem to remember a certain radius which was the
defining line. And the hogs had to have a certain diet, which was
characteristic of the the area.

I could be totally wrong on this, but somehow this rings a bell in me,
about the definitions of what goes into being a Smithfield ham. The
cure could be a part of it too, but I don't remember that.

Christine

In article >, Christine Dabney
> writes:

>"Kent H." >
>wrote:
>
>>Smithfield county hams, by law, have to made in a certain way, and
>>nothing in that code would allow a "low sodium" ham. You have to dry
>>salt the ham, and age it until it ends up as a Smithfield Ham. Some
>>sneaky little bugger outside the county line injected your "low sodium"
>>ham with a bit of brine, and then proceeded to make it like a Smithfield
>>by dry curing it following. A true Smithfield ham is very hard to
>>desalt, as Julia Child says in many of her writings.
>>Kent
>
>I am not sure if it is the cure that is all important, but the area in
>which the hams were made. I think they have to be cured in the
>Smithfield area: I seem to remember a certain radius which was the
>defining line. And the hogs had to have a certain diet, which was
>characteristic of the the area.
>
>I could be totally wrong on this, but somehow this rings a bell in me,
>about the definitions of what goes into being a Smithfield ham. The
>cure could be a part of it too, but I don't remember that.

Methods cannot be protected by law unless they are patented, and therefore made
public record (it's not possible to patent a method for food preparation). The
only real way to protect proprietory method is to keep it secret, but that in
no way ensures that others can't replicate the process. The name "Smithfield
cannot be copyrighted. But placing the words "Smithfield Ham" on a cured ham
is protectected by law, only in so much that "Only a ham cured within the
Smithfield town limits can bear that prestigious name."


---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On 10 Nov 2003 14:26:05 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

>Methods cannot be protected by law unless they are patented, and therefore made
>public record (it's not possible to patent a method for food preparation). The
>only real way to protect proprietory method is to keep it secret, but that in
>no way ensures that others can't replicate the process. The name "Smithfield
>cannot be copyrighted. But placing the words "Smithfield Ham" on a cured ham
>is protectected by law, only in so much that "Only a ham cured within the
>Smithfield town limits can bear that prestigious name."

Smithfield is a *brand* name. "Genuine Smithfield Ham" is the
protected name. They can, and do label their wet-cured hams
(non-country Hams) with their company name. Specificially,
"Smithfield Premium Ham, Ready to Cook".

Although they do make a "Genuine Smithfield Ham", their wet-cured hams
are made slightly outside of Smithfield, but still bear the
"SMithfield" name on the label. They do not say "Genuine" though.

-sw

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 13:53:41 GMT, Christine Dabney
> wrote:

>On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 03:50:06 GMT, "Kent H." >
>wrote:
>
>>Smithfield county hams, by law, have to made in a certain way, and
>>nothing in that code would allow a "low sodium" ham. You have to dry
>>salt the ham, and age it until it ends up as a Smithfield Ham. Some
>>sneaky little bugger outside the county line injected your "low sodium"
>>ham with a bit of brine, and then proceeded to make it like a Smithfield
>>by dry curing it following. A true Smithfield ham is very hard to
>>desalt, as Julia Child says in many of her writings.

>
>I am not sure if it is the cure that is all important, but the area in
>which the hams were made. I think they have to be cured in the
>Smithfield area: I seem to remember a certain radius which was the
>defining line. And the hogs had to have a certain diet, which was
>characteristic of the the area.
>
>I could be totally wrong on this, but somehow this rings a bell in me,
>about the definitions of what goes into being a Smithfield ham. The
>cure could be a part of it too, but I don't remember that.

"1926 To protect the good name of Smithfield products, Virginia
enacted a law defining Genuine Smithfield Meats as peanut-fed hogs
raised in Virginia or North Carolina and cured in the town limits. In
1968, it was amended to include hogs raised elsewhere."

From the Smithfield Foods web site. The deciding factor is being cured
and processed in Smithfield, Virginia.