Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 2 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Ham | 100g cooked | 145 |
| Meat | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- one ham can be cured to better advantage than
- two grades of hams
- one piece of meat taken from the hog will make any better pork than that taken f
Directions
(Copyrighted; Reprint Forbidden.)
There seems to exist some doubt in the minds of butchers as to whether one Ham can be cured to better advantage than another, basing their opinion upon the fact that all packers have two grades of Hams, one of which is called of superior quality. Doubt has been expressed as to whether one piece of meat taken from the hog will make any better pork than that taken from another. This doubt should not obtain and could hardly exist in the minds of anyone who has carefully inves- tigated the modern methods of packing. If such a person were to stand by the side of a Ham trimmer in a packing house and examine each Ham as it comes from the trimmer, he would be at once convinced as to the error of his opinion. There would be noticed a vast differ- ence in the quality of Hams, even in their fresh state. Many Hams are of very coarse grain, especially those that come from boars, stags and old sows, while many other Hams are large and too fat. Those that come from poor, scrawny hogs are too small and thin, and this differentiation exists regardless of the grade or the experience in buying different lots of hogs. Per- haps there is no animal which varies so much in qual- ity and condition of meat as the hog,' and he fully represents or reflects the quality of the food from which he is made, or the results of wise or unwise feeding. Furthermore, Hams will vary in quality even after they have been graded; some medium size Hams, which is the size usually picked for the finest cure, are of much better quality than others. This will be readily admitted when it is remembered that a Ham may be of proper weight, but it can also be too fat for its weight, it can be too lean, ' it can have a coarse thick skin, the
A fourteen to sixteen pound Ham from a young bar- row with a fine, thin, white skin which is not too fat or not too lean, and possessing a nice, fine grained meat is fully up to grade and is taken for the superior qual- ity of Hams. Therefore, a Ham of this description is superior in quality even before it goes into the brine for curing, and it is very easy to understand that when such a quality of Ham is carefully cured, for just the proper length of time, it will be far better than the ordinary run of Hams. Furthermore, the quality of the Hams may be deteriorated in many ways. For in- stance, the fourteen to sixteen pound Ham is fully cured in from sixty to seventy days, but if a packer has put up a large quantity of better grade Hams which gives him a surplus, he will hold them in the brine from ten to twenty days longer after they have been fully cured, and if they are thus kept in the brine for this additional period, they may become too salty and their fine flavor is lost. . Under such cir- cumstances the Hams must be taken out of the brine and smoked, or must be stored in a low temperature for ten or twenty days longer, but the moment they are kept beyond the full curing time they are not as good as when taken out of the cure at the moment they are fully cured. Furthermore, if a large quan- tity of the superior quality of Hams have been smoked and they are not disposed of rapidly enough, they begin to lose in appearance, and must again be culled and sold with the cheaper grade of Hams. If they are kept in brine longer than is necessary, they must also go into the cheaper quality.
It is, therefore, plain to be seen that what is known as the superior quality is the best Ham that the packer can turn out. As stated, the Hams are superior before they are cured. They are properly kept all through the process of curing, and the moment they are fully cured they are taken out, smoked and sold. It is only by handling Hams in this manner that it is possible to' maintain a grade of superior quality. All Hams can- not be handled in this way, owing to the fluctuation of supply and demand, but the packer aims to keep them fully up to superior grade by a frequent and dis- criminating culling. This should convince anyone in doubt upon this question that they are erroneous in supposing that all hams are alike, and that all hog meat is high grade pork, when, in fact, it has various grades of quality.