Welcome to the RU-vid Channel of S. Wallace Edwards & Sons! We're a family owned & operated specialty food company that has been producing Virginia hams, bacon and sausage since 1926. Here, you can find videos ranging from recipes on our artisanal meats to inside looks inside our world of country ham. Be sure to subscribe!
How long can you store a ham in a garage? We get extreme temperatures in the winter and summer and have had a ham hanging in there for about 3 years. Is it still good?
If it has a harsh flavor you’re using too much. I mix 1 to 5 ratio with apple juice for my mop on a gas grill and experts can’t tell I didn’t use a smoker
It’s a shame for us non-Virginians why the thinness is ideal. I’m assuming it’s the salt curing process that would make a thick slice overly salty but I just don’t know. Would love to understand why.
Completely shameful...way overcooked...way too small burger patties, and couldn't even be bothered to butter (or even better, garlic butter) and grill the buns. Nothing like gas station burgers with pricey, premium bacon strips on them. Peel the bacon and onion off off...toss the rest in the back of the truck to your dog.
Sorry, but the speaker has very little idea about what he is talking about. He is just parroting their procedure, nothing useful for the hobbyist. Do some research into the EQ curing procedure.
While I agree with you, any information from someone who has done it for years is good information, you just have to pull what you can from it. This wasn't a be-all to end all type of video about curing meat*, but I did find what he said about Mediterranean salt interesting, I did not know that. That's the one thing I learned from this video. That combined with about a thousand other videos I've watched has led me to a pretty good understanding of curing.
This mold is mighty fine, just like cheese mold! Scrub it off but if you eat some don't worry, it is a good mold, a healthy mold that we humans can benefit from. As a food safety professional I know this. Grew up eating this stuff and I am still alive and healthy!
You do not cook it long enough, 😊 I have my great-grandmother sitting here watching right now, and she's been cooking. Country ham her entire life. And she says you don't know what your doing. Don't listen to this man you will get food poisoning
Just for a little clarification, nitrite converts to nitrate. Nitrites are harmful in large quantities to humans fish etc. Nitrates in low quantities are perfectly safe. Hope this helps.
I do realize this video is old but..... I cook mine with some ginger ale, yes, the beverage. as the soda condenses down, the ham gets a crazy ginger glaze all over. And man, I can't get enough.
Salt was so valuable in the past that people were paid in salt. A familiar term still used today has its very origins in this.... Salary! Yup....that's right. The salary was your pay in salt or a portion in salt. That's how valuable it really was.
Long before the 'Inter-Web'... I read a short book about -- Curing -- 1/2 hogs using -- Only -- Hickory wood ash. Packed, smothered.., in hickory wood ash. There was no mention of salt curing. Just fresh meat packed in ash... 🤔🤔🤔 The Pennsylvania Dutch author had a separate wood stove that only burned hickory.., and woe to the backside of any kids that contaminated his "Curing Ash"!! I've been curious about this method for decades, but I never came across any other references... Which brought me to this channel. Now, it sounds like a Pre-InterWeb hoax, unleashed by a common ancestor of today's Trolls... 2 questions: Was there an -- ash-only -- method? And, if so, what would be special about Hickory Wood Ash? The author insisted that any amount of other hardwood ash wouldn't work. 😢
I'm looking for recommendations on traveling with a bunch of cured meat. On foot or in a car and different climates etc. Seems like a good option, but im not sure what are the best storage methods or traditional practices
My Grandmother was born in 1919 in Surrey, Va. Raised and still live in central Virginia. My Mom and Grandma would always start soaking the country ham the night before changing the water every two to three hours. I'm a bit confused about statements saying people don't have those big ablong pots or pans??? The big oblong roasting pans are still available in just about every Walmart. If you've got a pot or pan big enough to cook the ham whether stovetop or oven, you've got something big enough to soak the ham in. My family always used a clear plastic lided storge container for soaking. Personally, I've always favored ovan cooking a country ham. Edwards country hams are excellent, but unless they've changed something in the curing process recently, there's no way I'd cook their ham without soaking and changing the water. I've tried to cut down on the soaking time and number of water changing, resulting in a way too salty ham. So, no I'd stick with the tried and true method. Edward's hams, both country and sweet are better than Smithfield hams. Smithfield aren't bad and I've bought Smithfield country ham when I couldn't get Edwards, but when it comes to sweet ham, purchase only Edwards. Smithfield adds a lot of water to their sweet hams. Never buy any spiral cut hams from anyone, looks fancy and serves well,but they dry out quickly and any leftovers are horrible.
I was born a raised in central and southern Virginia. Edward's hams are good. But I'm a bit confused by her soaking process, because she didn't change the water at all. The ham is still sitting in a salty brine, after the salt as leached out, while soaking. My family and everyone I know would soak the ham overnight, but change the water every two to three hours. We'd soak ours in a big plastic container with a lid, either in the cool air of the garage or on the screened in porch. In the warmer months, we'd use a larger cooler with ice water for the overnight soaking. After soaking the ham would be washed and then baked. I can't ever remember having a glaze on a country ham. Ever Christmas my family would always have a baked country ham, turkey, and a sweet ham. The sweet ham would be glazed, though. The hamhock cut from the country ham would be cooked in the large pot of collard greens for seasoning and in the chicken muddle, aka Brunswick stew.
Old-timers have told me should never go past 36 months on the ageing process and if you are looking for extra flavor to smoke and then age for three months on small hams up to 36 months on large.
I start soaking my Xmas ham on the 24th with frequent cold water changes. Kind of defeats the object to leave your ham soaking in salty liquid....I find. U.K
I just want to thank you for this video. I bout a Wigwam recently and hung it up in my temperature controlled hemp growing area. I recently began carving it to eat like prosciutto. It is excellent! I know this is an "off-label" way to eat this ham, but I can't imagine cooking one. It's quite delicious and as good as any prosciutto I had. Growing up, we had an uncle who made Hungarian smoked meats and we would then age them in our Ohio garage.. Like you said- sometimes conditions were perfect -- other times it was hot as heck and the sausages dripped grease onto the newspapers on the garage floor below. It is really cool that you sell people raw hams on special occasions.. I enjoyed how you let loose some of your times and temps. Some other people would keep that hush-hush for no good reason. I found it interesting that your aging is 85 degrees F. I would have imagined it cooler. Thanks again for sharing your process with everyone!
Would love to see a how-to Video on options for deboning a ham. All the “grandmothers” I know are no longer with us. Mine, when the ham was VERY HOT (my memory may not be exact), donned rubber gloves and made one slice along the femur bone… and wiggled the bone out. I am sure there are other details I am missing. She would tie string around it and refrigerate it. The bone and any scraps were used to make ham soup, and she would save the pot liquor in which would cook greenbeans / cabbage /collards. Mmmmmmm
