Brine Injected Ham - Know What You are Purchasing

Knowing what your buying when it comes to ham is important, just as with buying any food product. So, knowing what the label means is a must when going out to purchase a ham. How hams are cured and injected will have a big impact on the final product. Make sure you understand how they are injected and what you are buying.

There are many ways of curing hams, but for the most part they are all injected with a solution. This solution consists of brine salts, sugar, and nitrates. With these injections will come a weight gain to the ham. Differing amounts of injections will of course increase the weight of your ham by differing amounts.

If you've gone to your local super market and seen a ham labeled "ham with natural juices", this is a ham that has gone up in weight by 8% from the injections. Now on the other hand if you find a label on your ham that reads "water added" this means that the ham's weight has increased by more than 10% from the injected brine solution.

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Is Cured Ham Already Cooked?

Is cured ham already cooked? This is a question a lot of people ask when looking to buy a ham. This is especially true around the holiday season when more and more people are looking to get a ham. It is a very valid question for someone who has never purchased a ham before.

Cured ham is pork that has gone through a curing process to preserve the meat. There are many ways of curing meat, but for the most part the ham you purchase at your local grocery store is more than likely wet cured and smoked. The ham is soaked in a salt water brine as well as being injected with other ingredients such as sugar and sodium nitrate. Often times they are smoked as well.

Most of these cured hams are ready to eat and will be prominently label as such. They will have the cooking instructions right on the packaging as well. To prepare your cured ham you will just want to add a glaze and heat it up to 140 degrees.

So, for the most part, cured hams are pre-cooked and just need to be heated to 140 degrees, if they are not pre-cooked they will be label stating "cook before eating".

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