Can you eat country ham raw

Even cured ham must be refrigerated at a temp of 40 degrees Farenheit or below. The exception is if the ham is canned or dry-cured, then it would be able to be stored at room temp. Country ham and prosciutto are examples of dry-cured ham. Most hams are safe to keep three to five days days in the refrigerator, and three to six months in the freezer, but specific times can be found online as there is some variation. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming.

For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures. Trichinella Spiralis is a parasite found in pork, but its presence is minimal because processing plants must follow USDA guidelines to kill the parasite.

Regardless, Michigan State University Extension recommends that proper food safety practices should be followed when handling ham. This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. From over-the-top breakfast sandwiches to supereasy croutons, here are seven awesome ways to use country ham. Breakfast Sandwiches. These tender biscuits have a terrific, salty edge.

Deviled Eggs. Upgrade the classic appetizer by topping it with delicious country ham. Soak ham overnight in water to remove salt. Then, wash with warm water and a stiff brush to remove mold and pepper. Traditional Method: Cook the ham in a low oven in a covered roasting pan with just a quart of water. You can also place ham in a pot and cover with fresh water. Soak it in water. If your ham is too salty, dilution is a great way to remove some of the salty flavor.

Take the ham and place it in a container of fresh, cold water. Cover the container with a lid or aluminum foil. Then place the container in the refrigerator for at least hours. Directions Preheat the oven to degrees F degrees C. Shaved country ham with melon and prosecco. We agreed that the ham was smooth, pleasantly porky and not too salty. All four wines we sampled with it, Prosecco, Cava, Malbec and Pinot Noir, complemented the ham nicely. None overpowered the ham, nor were they overpowered by it.

By the way, we ate the ham raw. Yep, you read right. We did not cook it, because Mother Nature, using salt, smoke and time had, in her fashion, already cooked it for us. That lovely prosciutto you've had wrapped around a slice of melon in Tuscany or perhaps hugging a spear of asparagus at a party on this side of the Atlantic is in fact precisely the same thing as those country hams that are soaked, sliced thick and cooked to death here at home.

Nathalee Dupree, goddess of Southern cuisine, chimed in that trichinosis was conquered in the United States decades ago.

It may be a non-issue among most culi-narians, but try convincing someone of this who grew up in the days of cremate-your-pork-or-die-an-icky-death. The tendency in America is to take a country ham, soak it to remove the excess salt, rub it down with brown sugar or Coca-Cola and bake it or fry it until its as difficult to chew as a catcher's mitt. In fact, cooking the moisture out of a ham actually increases its saltiness. Such practices cheat diners of much of the ham's full range of flavors and textures.

You'd never want to eat city ham without cooking it first. And ham was originally smoked to keep the insects away.