Want a Small Ham

[PianoAl]

We want to get a real nice ham for Christmas. We like the fancy spiral cut hams, but there's always way too much, and we end up discovering freezer-burned chunks of leftover ham in the freezer around Easter.

How could I get some good ham that comes in a small size (just a few pounds)? I can do the cooking and slicing myself.

Thanks,

Al

 

[Andy M.]

We want to get a real nice ham for Christmas. We like the fancy spiral cut hams, but there's always way too much, and we end up discovering freezer-burned chunks of leftover ham in the freezer around Easter.

How could I get some good ham that comes in a small size (just a few pounds)? I can do the cooking and slicing myself.

Thanks,

Al

You can get whole, half and quarter spiral cut hams.

 

[Dawgluver]

Al, we always get a free big ham from DH's work, and find that ham freezes really well in the Foodsaver. Just whack off the right size hunk, cook, and Foodsaver the rest. Or cook the whole thing and FS the leftovers.

 

[Aunt Bea]

“Eternity is two people and a ham," wrote Irma S. Rombauer in the original Joy of Cooking.

I think ham is a great choice for Christmas, it can be part of a formal dinner or it can start out as part of a breakfast buffet and wind up as a platter of cold cuts with some rolls, potato salad, chips, etc... for a casual lunch.

I have never had a bad ham so I usually pick up an inexpensive one at Aldi's. The spiral cut hams make great cold cuts and breakfast slices if frozen in small one pound packages, the trimmings from the bone are great in soup or scalloped potatoes. One year I bought an official HoneyBaked Ham, it came with more paperwork than my last new car and IMO it was not any better than a generic ham. This year the one I have is seven pounds enough for a nice dinner and some small packets for the freezer. Give it another try, keep the leftovers near the front of the freezer so a package falls out on your foot every week or so during the winter!

 

[dragnlaw]

I know this doesn't solve your problem but I have an ancient upright freezer which I just love. Although food can still disappear under the jumble at the back of a shelf - it is still far easier to find things. I will never get another chest freezer!

I do try to be little organized with fruit/vegies/baking on certain shelves and meat/fish/seafood on others, plus individual meals near the front - where ever they will fit in!

I also double wrap/bag the food. Small portions in a zip sandwich bag then all the little bags into a bigger zip. (and yes, I'm stingy, wash and reuse a lot) I try to squeeze out as much air, even use a straw, works quite well.

Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. They are a heavier plastic, quite sturdy.

Don't have a lot of ham myself but when I have, and frozen it, find the ice crystals have enlarged the meat and it looks really weird. It does disappear with cooking... but still difficult to use as cold cuts.

 

[MrsLMB]

You might ask your butcher to cut the ham into smaller portions.

 

[Addie]

Have you considered a canned ham? They can be doctored to be very tasty and pretty for a presentation at the dinner table. Scored with cloves and pineapple rings with a cherry in the middle of each ring. Or a syrup of crushed pineapple and brown sugar as a glaze over the scoring with cloves. And they are easy to slice at the table. And you have no bone to contend with.

 

[pacanis]

I have no idea of your location, Al, but here in NW PA and surrounding areas Smiths Provisions is "THE" ham to buy. And I've purchase small end cuts right there in Walmart in the meat cooler.

 

[GotGarlic]

You might ask your butcher to cut the ham into smaller portions.

+1. The butcher at any good grocery store should be able to cut one to size for you.

 

[Mad Cook]

We want to get a real nice ham for Christmas. We like the fancy spiral cut hams, but there's always way too much, and we end up discovering freezer-burned chunks of leftover ham in the freezer around Easter.

How could I get some good ham that comes in a small size (just a few pounds)? I can do the cooking and slicing myself.

Thanks,

Al

Go and visit your local independent butcher (not the supermarket meat counter). Do you want to cure it yourself before cooking or buy it ready to cook? In either case follow the above advice.

 

[Mad Cook]

I know this doesn't solve your problem but I have an ancient upright freezer which I just love. Although food can still disappear under the jumble at the back of a shelf - it is still far easier to find things. I will never get another chest freezer!

I do try to be little organized with fruit/vegies/baking on certain shelves and meat/fish/seafood on others, plus individual meals near the front - where ever they will fit in!

I also double wrap/bag the food. Small portions in a zip sandwich bag then all the little bags into a bigger zip. (and yes, I'm stingy, wash and reuse a lot) I try to squeeze out as much air, even use a straw, works quite well.

Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. They are a heavier plastic, quite sturdy.

Don't have a lot of ham myself but when I have, and frozen it, find the ice crystals have enlarged the meat and it looks really weird. It does disappear with cooking... but still difficult to use as cold cuts.

"Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. "
One hates to gloat but in England we still get our milk in glass bottles delivered to the door. We wash and leave the empties out for the milkman. I expect that sounds really quaint to all of you.

 

[Andy M.]

"Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. "
One hates to gloat but in England we still get our milk in glass bottles delivered to the door. We wash and leave the empties out for the milkman. I expect that sounds really quaint to all of you.

"Quaint" is a good choice of word. With the advent of supermarkets here in the US (and elsewhere) home delivery of milk became anachronistic.

 

[GotGarlic]

"Quaint" is a good choice of word. With the advent of supermarkets here in the US (and elsewhere) home delivery of milk became anachronistic.

As did local independent butchers, for the most part. But there are good butchers in good grocery stores. I've had ribs and roasts cut in a non-standard way, leg of lamb boned, and my knives sharpened by supermarket butchers. They know what they're doing.

 

[dragnlaw]

Hate to say this as I would really rather support my local butcher, but.... money talks. I have to look where the dollar is.

The good butchers that you are talking about probably have hired on to the supermarkets because they've lost their independent stores... as in can't compete! Only they still need a job and "bring home the bacon".

Today I did just walk into the large butcher department and asked if they could do this (or that, or whatever)... and they did. Don't have to only look in the display case!

 

[Kayelle]

Have your grocery store butcher cut the shank off of a shank ham. You can wrap that up for your freezer for making fantastic soup or beans and/or ham stock for more yummy cooking.
With the larger portion, you can bake as needed for serving Christmas dinner. I always send "care packages" of food home with guests. I bet you won't have too much ham left, maybe even less than you want.

As far as spiral cut hams are concerned, I'll never buy another. By the time they get hot in the oven, all the moisture is gone with those thin slices. Nope, not for me.

 

[Addie]

"Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. "
One hates to gloat but in England we still get our milk in glass bottles delivered to the door. We wash and leave the empties out for the milkman. I expect that sounds really quaint to all of you.

Not in the least. I had a milkman bringing me glass bottles until my youngest was walking. And that was in the 60's. We do have a dairy on the North Shore and I have two of their glass bottles. One holds the silver change and the other one the pennies. They still do house deliveries on a limited area. And I don't live even near that area. But if you are in the area of the farm, you can still buy their milk in glass bottles. And there is still a five cent surcharge for the bottle.

 

[Addie]

"Here in Quebec we can get our milk in plastic bags. I also save, wash, reuse them too. "
One hates to gloat but in England we still get our milk in glass bottles delivered to the door. We wash and leave the empties out for the milkman. I expect that sounds really quaint to all of you.

My sister and I were both pregnant at the same time. I was further along than she was. She had an old phone with the bell box on the wall. The wire ran from the base of the phone to the box. It was right next to their table. She was sitting down at the table.

I was in the bathroom taking a shower. I heard a loud bang and she called me. I came running out of the bathroom sans any clothing. Big belly sticking out, no clothing on, dripping wet and my sister on the floor (her foot got caught on the phone wire) when she stood up. In walks the milkman. He looks at the both of us, put the milk bottles on the table, and then helped my sister up. Asked her if she was all right, she was, and he walked out the door without saying another word. He never mentioned it again.

When her husband got home from work, she told him what happened. He was more upset because now he had more work to do in putting the bell box back on the wall. Never did asked if she was all right.

 

[Oldvine]

Honeybaked Hams show they have 1/4 hams (3-5 pounds). You might have to talk face to face with a butcher to get a smaller piece of ham. Hams are decided by the size of the pig and most pigs go to market at a certain size.

 

[Addie]

As did local independent butchers, for the most part. But there are good butchers in good grocery stores. I've had ribs and roasts cut in a non-standard way, leg of lamb boned, and my knives sharpened by supermarket butchers. They know what they're doing.

So true GG. I have a butcher that does a land office business. It is a small store that specializes in meats. They have the standard array of meats in the meat counters. But you can ask for any cut, and no surcharge for the extra labor. I used to live just three doors away from them. Every morning starting at six a.m., the trucks coming in from Chicago pull up to their back door and start to unload carcasses. No precut meats here. No sleeves of pre-ground hamburger. Go there just before Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day, you can't get in the door. All summer long there is a line with carts filled with meats. Every worker in the back room is an experienced butcher. They have a large window where you can watch them working all day long. Each worker has a carcasses hanging there that they are working on. As fast as they cut and put it out for the meat counters, it flies out the door. Once a month Spike takes me there to shop for my meats for the month. If I ask for a strip of suet, they ask, pork or beef. And I get it for free. I love my butcher shop!

 

[dragnlaw]

If I ask for a strip of suet, they ask, pork or beef. I love my butcher shop!

Bless you Addie... you are one lucky lady!!!