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Tuesday, January 8, 2019

What To do With a Spiral Cut Ham!


Over the past several weeks we've run across hams on really good sales while we were out and about and altogether, purchased three.  Each weighed in the 10 -12 lb range and that's a lot of ham.  There is no way we could eat that much ham, even if we wanted to!  

Here's what you can do with ham, after it's cooked, instead of eating it until you're tired of it …  (I wrap the ham in aluminum foil and bake it on this kind of  baking sheet.)

Remove the spiral cut slices and freeze them in meal size portions.

The bigger chunks can be bagged and frozen to go in beans, soups, casseroles, etc.  You can also can ham chunks.  

The smaller chunks/pieces can be diced into small pieces for use in omelets, frittatas, salads, etc.  They can be bagged and frozen into 1/2 cup portions or larger.

The liquid that cooked out of the ham can be frozen in ice cubes, bagged and used for seasoning purposes as needed.

The ham bone can be added to a pot of beans or a pot of greens while they're cooking.  All the remaining meat will come off the bone and add to your pot of whatever.  

Can you think of other ways to use/preserve a spiral cut ham?


 patsi

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27

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16 comments:

  1. I boil the bone with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. There is always a surprising amount of meat on the bone. Makes a type of New England boiled dinner.

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    1. Cheri, That sounds good, there is a surprising amount of meat left on the bones!

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  2. Patsy, we don't usually buy the spiral cut hams. We prefer the small, pre-cooked, smoked hams (black forest, honey, etc.), which don't have a bone. Using our meat slicer, we cut them into ham steaks or shave into luncheon meat. Sometimes I dice the leftover ends and package for use in casseroles, etc. If you don't have a meat slicer, you can still do this with a good, sharp knife. I freeze the meat in usable portions for future meals.

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    1. I have a meat slicer but we have not been able to find those type hams that are not sliced about a quarter inch thick. It is frustrating because why do they assume we all want it sliced that way?

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  3. A ham that is not spiral sliced can be cut into roast size pieces and frozen and then baked one by one over the coming months. We like the ham cooked like a NE boiled dinner, too. I cut my spiral hams without baking them. I do packages of slices and diced for future meals. I have two hams left to process at this point. Lidl had hams for .49 a pound the week before Christmas and Hubby gave me the evil eye when I mentioned the price. He said there was no. more. room. for. more. hams. LOL! We do have plenty of ham for two people!

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    1. Lana, that's a good idea to buy the unsliced ham, cut it into roast size pieces, freeze it then cook it as needed. The next time we come across one on sale I'm going to do that! You mean there is such a thing as too much ham!!! LOL!

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  4. I was cleaning my freezer and found 2 ham bones. I pulled them out, put them in the stockpot filled with water, added some onion and set it on the woodstove. The next day, I strained it and canned the broth. I love to make ham and bean soup in the instant pot and use a pint of ham broth as part of the water.

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    1. Judy, I still have one ham bone and I'm going to make and can broth with it! Great idea!

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  5. I love ham and a ham can feed our family and others for a week!

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  6. We do not buy spiral cut hams as we find the slices far too thin and they dry out easily. I like to be able to cut big chunks off a regular ham so that when it is sliced when needed it seems much more moist. We use the ham in omelettes, frittats, pies, in place of bacon for breakfast and casseroles.

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    1. Janice, I hadn't noticed our ham being dry but now that you've mentioned it I'm going to try what you suggested and see if we can tell a difference. Thanks for the tip, we do like moist ham slices!

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  7. I like to grind the scraps off a ham with mayo, sweet relish and chopped hard cooked eggs for ham salad. Yum!

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    1. Anonymous, that sounds delicious and is a way to use the smallest ham scraps!

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