Ham is a favorite at Easter
With Easter just around the corner, have you thought about what you will serve for dinner? If you are planning to have family members, and you have a large family, you may be thinking of serving ham. At my house, ham is the traditional meat served on this special holiday.
Hams are sold in several varieties, including boneless, canned, bone-in and countrystyle. Packaging may be canned, plastic wrapped, or vacuum packaged. Country hams usually come with a cheesecloth like covering. It is important to refrigerate plastic wrapped and vacuumpacked hams. Read the label for refrigeration instructions.
There is a wealth of information on the label. The “use-by” date is the last day in which to cook the ham. The “sell-by” date is the last allowed date of sale. The ham should be cooked within one week of the sell-by date or frozen properly for use later on.
Maybe you are confused about what size of ham to buy to feed your dinner guests. If you are serving a boneless ham, you can expect to get onefourth to one-third pounds per serving. Your bonein hams will yield one-third to one-half pounds per serving. Therefore, if you purchase a ten-pound bone-in ham, you can expect to feed about twenty people. This is based on standard serving size, not portion size. You will need to think about how much your family will eat. Some people may eat more than a standard serving size. If so, a ten-pound ham may only feed 8-10 people.
With a bone-in ham, you will be able to use the bone later to make stock or use as a seasoning in other foods. Once Easter dinner is over, take the bone and put it in a freezer bag, label with the date and put it in the freezer. Ham bones will last about three months in the freezer for best quality.
To get the most value, look at the yield and cost per serving. The cost per serving equals price per pound divided by the number of servings per pound. You may be able to determine the best buy using unit pricing as a guide.
Once you have purchased your ham, you will need to store it in the coldest part of your refrigerator for two to five days or you can store it in the freezer for up to eight months for the best quality.
Before preparing, check the label for the words “fully cooked” or “cook before eating.” “Fully cooked” hams will need to be heated to an internal temperature of 165 F. “Cook before eating” or fresh hams should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 F. Most labels will say to allow 15 minutes per pound for cooking.
So, you will need to allow a minimum of 2 ½ hours to cook a ten-pound ham. The only way to really determine if it is cooked to the correct internal temperature is to use a meat thermometer and check. Cook the ham in an oven set no lower than 325 F.
What about the popular “spiral cut” hams? If you want to reheat them, you should cover the entire ham or portion with heavy duty aluminum foil and heat at 325 F for about 10 minutes per pound. You will need to check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer to assure it reaches 145 F.
If you are interested in learning more about cooking foods safely, contact the Saline County Extension Office at 501303-5672 or visit our office located in Benton at 1605 Edison Avenue, St 15.
You can also go online to the USDA Food and Nutrition site to learn more about preparing your ham safely at www. fsis.usda.gov/food-safety. Have a Happy Easter!