We saw this on Guy’s Travel in Tennessee and wanted to keep the information. We also purchased a few products and received this information and did not want to loose it, so we added it to our site for keepsake.
2603 Hwy 411 N. Madisonville, TN, 37354 • (423) 442-5003 • www.bentonscountryham.com
Our bacon, country hams, and prosciutto-style aged country hams are dry-cured, employing a time-honored curing process that preserves the meat while also producing its characteristic strong flavor. Since 1947, we’ve employed traditional, hands-on techniques that historically depended upon naturally occurring outdoor conditions and temperatures for curing ham and bacon without the use of refrigeration. Of course, now we carefully control the temperatures of our meats throughout the curing and drying processes, meeting and often exceeding industry standards for food safety. These are relatively hardy cured meats with a longer shelf life than fresh or raw meat. As a result, we are able to ship our products UNREFRIGERATED anywhere in the U.S. Opened products should be refrigerated, and vacuum-sealed products hold their flavor longer when refrigerated. Freezing unopened or tightly-wrapped opened products should not negatively affect their quality.
Cooking Recommendations
Hams: We do not advise baking our Smoked Country hams, as they tend to turn out saltier and tougher than many folks enjoy. While there are recipes for baking dry-cured country hams, their preparation is unlike baking a honey-cured or fresh ham and can include several days worth of soaking before the ham is ready for the oven. Rather, we encourage you to fry it in a pre-heated skillet! It’s best suited to being sliced fairly thin (between an eighth and a quarter of an inch) and sauteed for less than 30 seconds on each side. Saltiness is a trademark flavor of country hams, but if you find you’d like to downplay that a bit, then try adding something sweet to the pan while frying, like a small amount of brewed coffee with a little brown sugar dissolved in it, cola, or even fruit juice.
Our Aged Smoked Country Hams can be from 12 to 24 months old and are popular sliced extra thin and similar in flavor to European aged hams.
Bacon: We recommend frying our bacon on medium low heat, using a fork to gently press the slices if necessary, and removing it from the pan before it gets crispy. When our bacon is overcooked, the salty flavor becomes more prominent and some bitterness may be noticeable. So, remove it from heat when it can still be bent without cracking for a more balanced, but still quite full, flavor. It will firm up a little while cooling.
Thank you and Enjoy!
2603 Hwy 411 N. Madisonville, TN, 37354 • (423) 442-5003 • www.bentonscountryham.com