Mild but Tasty

My country ham tournament of champions continues.

I have tried hams from Newsom’s, Meacham, Broadbent’s, and, today, Penn.

Newsom’s is just about perfect. I wish it were not. It’s expensive.

Meacham is very good, but it has a little bit of unique flavor that is not exactly like the hams I ate as a kid. It’s hard to say whether Newsom’s or Meacham is better.

Broadbent’s hams are very salty. The flavor is just okay. I received two packages. The first slices were too tough, salty, and lacking in flavor for me. The second bunch were not as tough or salty, but they were still saltier and tougher than I would have liked, so Broadbent’s is out.

A package from Penn Country Hams arrived. I ordered a half ham. What I really got was between three and four pounds of big boneless slices in vacuum bag inside an insulating bag with one of those synthetic ice pack things in it.

The meat was already warm, but they tried.

I ate plenty of country ham when I was young, and I believe I know what a quintessential Kentucky ham tastes like. As an adult, I used to get them from outfits named Gatton Farms and Scott Hams, and they were pretty much like the hams my grandmother and great uncle cured. That’s the kind of ham I want. The best? That’s subject to debate. It’s what I like. It’s what my grandmother and her brother liked. It’s good.

When I cut the bag open, the ham gave off kind of a barnyard smell. Some hams are like that. It’s almost like manure. In some cases, it’s a great deal like manure. I won’t eat Smithfield-brand hams because the manure smell is about all you get.

It also smelled sort of like peanuts.

A sticker on the bag says “8 Months Old.”

I fried a Penn slice. I didn’t bother with water or bacon grease.

This ham is pretty tender for country ham. It also has a fair amount of fat, although I would say Newsom’s and Meacham probably have more.

Newsom’s falls apart in your mouth like aged steak. I like that. This ham was easy to chew, but it was not the same.

On the salt scale, I would say it’s similar to Newsom’s. Just fine.

The flavor is milder than Newsom’s and Meacham. A good ham has an acidic umami flavor nothing else seems to have. Newsom’s hams nail it. Meacham is close. The Penn slice had less of it.

The ham had a peanutty aftertaste my wife and I both noticed.

I believe this would be a great ham for someone who is scared of real country ham. It’s the real thing, but the move from city ham to this ham is a little less jarring than it would be for other hams.

The verdict: delicious, but not quite what I’m looking for. Newsom’s is a bullseye. Meacham is close, and I think the quality is the same, but it also has that signature Meacham scent. Not bad, but not quite what I’m used to. I’m not just looking for great ham. I’m looking for nostalgia.

This is excellent ham. Eating it is not exactly a hardship. I won’t buy it again, though, because Newsom’s and Meacham are closer to what I want.