# Finally found a raw ham for Xmas. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595 "2014-12-18T18:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/1 "2014-12-18T18:26:44Z")
I have no clue why this is so hard to find. Many butcher shops I talk to can’t believe I would even want such a thing, like the idea of not curing but still smoking my own meat is a foreign concept. Well I found what I want in Denver and pick it up Tuesday. So I’ll marinade it for 48 hours in bourbon, fresh ginger and brown sugar and then throw it in my smoker about noon on Christmas Day with oak and maple or apple chunks. That will be our Christmas ham. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/2 "2014-12-18T18:37:33Z")
Sounds like those shops should put scare quotes around butcher! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/3 "2014-12-18T18:47:46Z")
But … did they still spiral-slice it for you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/4 "2014-12-18T18:53:31Z")
You are aware that will taste nothing like ham, right? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/5 "2014-12-18T19:31:51Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You are aware that will taste nothing like ham, right? Why? 90% or more of the taste is from the curing and that’s what I’m getting, a cured, uncooked, unsmoked ham. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/6 "2014-12-18T19:40:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > … like the idea of not curing but still smoking my own meat is a foreign concept… OH. Between calling it “raw” and the snippet above, I thought what you purchased was neither smoked NOR cured. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/7 "2014-12-18T20:02:15Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > OH. Between calling it “raw” and the snippet above, I thought what you purchased was neither smoked NOR cured. That’s why I call it raw ham. Uncured would be raw pork roast and what’s so special about that? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/8 "2014-12-18T20:08:13Z")
That’s probably why you were having so much trouble finding one… generally speaking the ‘ham’ is the back leg of a pig, so a “raw ham” would literally just be the back leg, not cured or cooked or anything. An uncooked cured ham would be a cured, but uncooked/unsmoked ham. These are probably pretty rare; while I’ve seen raw hams before, I can’t remember seeing an uncooked, but cured ham before. Most people opt to either cure and smoke it themselves entirely (what I do), or outsource it completely and get it precured and presmoked (grocery store/Honey Baked Ham style). ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/9 "2014-12-18T20:10:31Z")
My mom would always order our Christmas ham from a place in Arkansas and have it shipped to her. I’m pretty sure it was [Petit Jean Meats](http://www.petitjeanmeats.com/). She once (many years ago) called the company and spoke to the owner because they trimmed too much fat off the ham they shipped her and made it hard to keep it moist when she prepared. The owner (or CEO?) agreed with her, but that if there was too much fat on there people felt they were getting ripped off. He then selected one and shipped it to her just the way she liked it. ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/10 "2014-12-19T16:32:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You are aware that will taste nothing like ham, right? I roasted one years ago and was surprised how much the meat tasted like ham. Not salty or smokey but the flavor of the cut is for lack of a better description…ham-ish. I expected a mild loin flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/11 "2014-12-19T17:25:20Z")
Is this the same thing as a “fresh” ham? Our farmshare sometimes includes slices of “fresh ham,” which is uncooked, but tastes at least lightly smoked. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/12 "2014-12-19T17:36:55Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > That’s why I call it raw ham. Uncured would be raw pork roast and what’s so special about that? That’s what most people mean by a raw, or “green” ham. What so special about them is that they are absolutely fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![PlumBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@PlumBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlumBob)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/13 "2014-12-19T19:36:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Why? 90% or more of the taste is from the curing and that’s what I’m getting, a cured, uncooked, unsmoked ham. I missed this post. So it’s like salt pork but a whole leg. :smack: My bad. Bourbon, ginger & brown sugar + smoke sounds great to me ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/14 "2014-12-19T21:03:27Z")
I haven’t had ham in a long time and just wanted you to know that your post inspired me to pick one up today. Most of my own cooking is confined to the barbecue, roasts, and some specialty dishes and I myself wouldn’t try anything like smoking my own ham, but you sound like you know what you’re doing and I’m sure it will be wonderful. I was just doing some shopping and I thought of your post when I noticed that the store had a vast pile of honey-baked spiral-cut hams, and they were on sale. I’m sure you will scoff at this ready-made type of stuff, but it’ll probably be pretty good – most of this store’s own products are. I just noticed that it comes with a separate packet of glaze which will give it that authentic touch. I was also delighted to find vac-packed smoked duck breast which can be sliced into wonderful hors d’oeuvres and is sometimes hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2014, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/15 "2014-12-19T21:56:36Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > OH. Between calling it “raw” and the snippet above, I thought what you purchased was neither smoked NOR cured. Same here. To me, the ham is just the rear leg cut of pork. When I say “raw ham,” I just mean the cut (which is available at the packing houses here and some butchers and sold simply as “ham” or [“fresh ham”](https://www.paulinameatmarket.com/?p=shop&cid=pork).). But I guess (judging by this thread) that people do refer to cured, uncooked ham as “raw ham,” too. Otside of things like prosciutto or serrano and the like, I’m not entirely sure I’ve seen a cured but unsmoked ham being sold. I may be wrong, though–it’s not something I’ve looked for. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/16 "2014-12-20T03:47:42Z")
I know I’ve seen (and bought) fresh hams, and the usual cured, smoked/cooked hams, but I haven’t seen a cured but unsmoked or cooked ham before. Probably because the curing is pretty much trivial. So much so that a recipe is published in the AARP website. [http://recipes.aarp.org/recipes/american-style-brown-sugar-glazed-holiday-ham](http://recipes.aarp.org/recipes/american-style-brown-sugar-glazed-holiday-ham) (and FTR, this is the exact same one as in “Charcuterie” by Ruhlman and Polcyn, which is a serious cured meat cookbook/reference book). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finally-found-a-raw-ham-for-xmas/707595/17 "2014-12-26T02:52:39Z")
So how’d the ham turn out, **Saint Cad**?