Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Kentucky Country Hams

Now that the chicoms are total owners of Smithfield, I have been looking for a U.S. owned country ham source. I found this Kentucky family owned business, that has been around since the 1600s in America. Their cure process is structured after the world renowned Spanish jamon serrano. I was thinking Bristoe or some of you other Kentucky boys might have some recommendations on this company and their hams.

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I have gotten a couple from Broadbent Hams in Western Ky. They were really good. Not too on price either.


But for everyday country ham, just over the state line is Paris is Clifty Farms. It’s less than $3 a lb in most local stores here. We get a couple in the fall and winter.

Always get ours sliced. So we can have it for biscuits and eggs

I have no use for a big hunk of roaster pan baked ham. Unless you got 20 people to feed.

My mom being from far SE Virginia and raised by a small independent grocer, I've been exposed to country ham all of my life.
Grandad always said "Smithfield" was way over-rated as well as over-priced.
He never carried their hams, just R.M. Felts hams

Been in this place a few times over the years.
https://www.groupon.com/biz/south-suffolk-va/r-m-felts-packing-co

Another good one:
https://cliftyfarm.com/

I love fried country ham, but we sometimes buy one and don’t have it sliced. If you’ve never eaten boiled country ham, you haven’t lived.

What about the Cure 81 hams from Hormel...?

I keep kicking myself for not paying more attention to my grandfathers smoke house . There was a time when everyone cured their own meat .

I usually cook them whole, then cut in to large chunks then use my slicer.
How one is sliced is important.

Never have tried or even heard of the Spanish 'country' hams before but used to have this processor send my sister one of their hams at Christmas when she lived in Connecticut.

https://www.newsomscountryham.com/

Just got through eating a couple of country ham and biscuits for lunch. Wife cooked one Monday, a Clifty Farm country ham that my son had won as door prize a year ago, He'd left it hanging in his shop, and it had continued aging. We boiled this one for about 4 hours and it's some good eating. Normally, I prefer the ham to be sliced and fried, but we wanted something different.

Broadbent hams are good, probably a better ham than Clifty Farms. Then there is Harper Hams in Clinton, Ky, another very good choice. Most people that are not locals know very little about the process involved in curing a country ham. Here's a little info.......
https://youtu.be/HRFVAXJOPgU

Comparing a home smoked ham to a Clifty Farm is like comparing Ruth’s Chris to McDonald’s.
I keep putting off building a smokehouse. I need to do that.

^^^^THIS^^^^

I'm from south central Kentucky. My favorite is Penns, but I would like to try Newsoms someday. PM me your address and I'll send you some Penns slices, assuming the local grocer still has them in stock.



https://www.penncountryhams.com/

When frying salt cured country ham I've found that adding some cola and water mixed about half and half to the frying pan takes away a lot of the excess salt and makes it real tender. Best to not fry country cured ham too long as it can get too stringy and tough to chew.

Does anyone eat it "uncooked" as do the Spanish? That's the way I like it.

No. Would never dream of it.

Smoked vs. salt cured I suppose?

Yup

For a while I was thinking clifty was doing a chemical job on them because I had gotten a couple very-mediocre ones that seemed blah and rushed. One even had a lot of blood still around the bone.

But we must had just been unlucky. The last 3 or 4 seem ok. Again ok for a daily driver.

I do

Last week with the a freshly sliced one. But I wont go more than a 1/2” in from the rind.

Mrs slumlord raised hogs and they did hams and smoke them and sausage. The salt boxes and smokehouse are still up in the woods near deceased grandma’s house.

I found a set of logger’s snaking tongs hanging in there.

Plus we have two iron kettles they rendered lard in.

I have a deer stand about 80 yards behind it.