Ham - which one is not too salty?

[wishesuponastar]

We want a ham for Thanksgiving and last one I bought for Easter was very salty. It was Cook’s half shank with bone.

can you please recommend a ham not salty?

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Did you soak the joint before cooking?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We want a ham for Thanksgiving and last one I bought for Easter was very salty. It was Cook’s half shank with bone.

can you please recommend a ham not salty?

Not specifically, but you can look at the nutritional info on the ham before buying it. Compare several and see which has lower sodium in it.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Did you soak the joint before cooking?

Oh no I didn’t know to do that.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Not specifically, but you can look at the nutritional info on the ham before buying it. Compare several and see which has lower sodium in it.

I will check that out when I go see which ones my store has.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Oh no I didn’t know to do that.

So here, we soak ham joints for between 8 and 24 hours to reduce the saltiness. Just soak it in cold water and leave in the fridge. Change the water every 6 hours or so.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We want a ham for Thanksgiving and last one I bought for Easter was very salty. It was Cook’s half shank with bone.

can you please recommend a ham not salty?

The last ham we cooked (at Easter) was Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Ham with a bone. It tasted fine -- not too salty. And the price was great! We've also baked hams from Niman Ranch which were very good and not salty, but those were smaller and more expensive.

 

[lynxstch]

The last ham we cooked (at Easter) was Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Ham with a bone. It tasted fine -- not too salty. And the price was great! We've also baked hams from Niman Ranch which were very good and not salty, but those were smaller and more expensive.

Same here..we get Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Hams with a bone from Aldi's. Usually the best price around, and the best tasting ham we have come across. Not salty at all.

 

[mrodgers]

Organic or local raised and it won't be injected with salt water. It will cost a LOT more, but will be meatier, less spongy, and less salt water injected. I can't stand processed, injected, cheap factory processed hams.

 

[NAB]

I don’t find ham salty after cooking it the first time but I cook mine with ginger ale and a can off chunk pineapple.

Now every time you reheat it after it gets really salty so I usually eat leftovers cold.

 

[Christine]

I can no longer eat the regular hams (not spiral) due to saltiness. Just awful, IMO. About 20 years ago there used to be a brand called Mash's that specialized in low-salt hams and they were delicious. I think they don't exist anymore. I've had to just go the way of Honeybaked Hams and the like--those don't seem salty to me.

 

[SteveH]

Most of your average hams will have 850mg to 1350mg of sodium per serving! You want to look for a ham that is labeled at low sodium and should be around 450mg of sodium per serving. One brand I've heard talked about when it comes to lower sodium is Frick's the other one to check is the Kirkland brand at Costco, though you need to look for ones that specifically say low sodium. When I look online the Kirkland still comes in at 850 which is still way better then 1350mg and that is one I've enjoyed and didn't find overly salty.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The last ham we cooked (at Easter) was Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Ham with a bone. It tasted fine -- not too salty. And the price was great! We've also baked hams from Niman Ranch which were very good and not salty, but those were smaller and more expensive.

Same here..we get Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Hams with a bone from Aldi's. Usually the best price around, and the best tasting ham we have come across. Not salty at all.

Another Aldi convert here. Ours has the ones in the foil which are the double glazed brown sugar hams. These best flavored and the most expensive at 1.89 per pound. Then they have the spiral glazed at 1.49 which are still quite good and then the plain ole spiral hams for .79 I haven't tried the .49 you cut em up hams.

 

[lynxstch]

Another Aldi convert here. Ours has the ones in the foil which are the double glazed brown sugar hams. These best flavored and the most expensive at 1.89 per pound. Then they have the spiral glazed at 1.49 which are still quite good and then the plain ole spiral hams for .79 I haven't tried the .49 you cut em up hams.

Ours has never even had those. But I totally agree with you on the 3 others!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Ours has never even had those. But I totally agree with you on the 3 others!

We also have a boneless one this year. But I've not tried it either. We actually get the .79 one for lunch meat. It cuts easy and the hock can be used for soup. It sure beats the $5 a pound lunch meat at some other stores and it's less than 1/5 the price.

 

[low-key]

salt me baby

 

[AustinTink]

One brand I've heard talked about when it comes to lower sodium is Frick's

Our local supermarket carries Frick's. I have one of their carver hams in my fridge right now waiting for turkey day.

 

[Imzadi]

I have a related ham question I hope you guys will help me with. I HATE ham. Have done so since I was a kid and I've tried a few. Maybe I've always had the kind of hams some PP have nemtioned here, which are horrible.

Anyway, I am getting ready to make some split pea soup. Of the split pea soups I've had that others made, they do NEED some ham (or ham bones?) in them for flavoring. (I'm not into vegetarian split pea soups.) I don't even begin to know how to BUY ham, except going to the deli dept and getting some pre-sliced for sandwiches. I do NOT need a full, big ham. I'm not having it for dinner, too. I just need a hunk for flavoring a pot of soup while it cooks.

WHERE do I find appropriate sized ham for this? Do I get it uncooked? But then, does it come pre-seasoned and smoked? Does it come pre-cooked in small amounts, which I can cut up into some small chunks? Will that flavor the soup enough? I also don't want one that's too salty. Although, I know I can use it to salt the soup that way.

There is a local supermarket here, where, next to the uncooked, steaks & pork chops, I've seen they have a couple ham hocks, wrapped in cling wrap on styrofoam trays. Should I get those? Or something else?

I don't want to spend a couple hours cooking split pea soup and in the end it is missing that ham flavoring that makes it a perfect split pea soup.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I have a related ham question I hope you guys will help me with. I HATE ham. Have done so since I was a kid and I've tried a few. Maybe I've always had the kind of hams some PP have nemtioned here, which are horrible.

Anyway, I am getting ready to make some split pea soup. Of the split pea soups I've had that others made, they do NEED some ham (or ham bones?) in them for flavoring. (I'm not into vegetarian split pea soups.) I don't even begin to know how to BUY ham, except going to the deli dept and getting some pre-sliced for sandwiches. I do NOT need a full, big ham. I'm not having it for dinner, too. I just need a hunk for flavoring a pot of soup while it cooks.

WHERE do I find appropriate sized ham for this? Do I get it uncooked? But then, does it come pre-seasoned and smoked? Does it come pre-cooked in small amounts, which I can cut up into some small chunks? Will that flavor the soup enough? I also don't want one that's too salty. Although, I know I can use it to salt the soup that way.

There is a local supermarket here, where, next to the uncooked, steaks & pork chops, I've seen they have a couple ham hocks, wrapped in cling wrap on styrofoam trays. Should I get those? Or something else?

I don't want to spend a couple hours cooking split pea soup and in the end it is missing that ham flavoring that makes it a perfect split pea soup.

Depending on the amount of soup you will be making, one or two ham hocks should work fine. I've done that many times. (Get mine from Whole Foods or the German butcher/deli.) Trader Joe's used to sell very small (maybe 1-2 lb.?) hams from Niman Ranch -- those would work well for this -- cut into chunks. And ham can be frozen, so you could cut up what you don't need and freeze it to use for soups later. Bacon works, too -- use a nice bacon that isn't too smoky or too salty. I use Niman Ranch brand or the bacon ends from Trader Joe's.

 

[AustinTink]

I have a related ham question I hope you guys will help me with. I HATE ham. Have done so since I was a kid and I've tried a few. Maybe I've always had the kind of hams some PP have nemtioned here, which are horrible.

Anyway, I am getting ready to make some split pea soup. Of the split pea soups I've had that others made, they do NEED some ham (or ham bones?) in them for flavoring. (I'm not into vegetarian split pea soups.) I don't even begin to know how to BUY ham, except going to the deli dept and getting some pre-sliced for sandwiches. I do NOT need a full, big ham. I'm not having it for dinner, too. I just need a hunk for flavoring a pot of soup while it cooks.

WHERE do I find appropriate sized ham for this? Do I get it uncooked? But then, does it come pre-seasoned and smoked? Does it come pre-cooked in small amounts, which I can cut up into some small chunks? Will that flavor the soup enough? I also don't want one that's too salty. Although, I know I can use it to salt the soup that way.

There is a local supermarket here, where, next to the uncooked, steaks & pork chops, I've seen they have a couple ham hocks, wrapped in cling wrap on styrofoam trays. Should I get those? Or something else?

I don't want to spend a couple hours cooking split pea soup and in the end it is missing that ham flavoring that makes it a perfect split pea soup.

How about some pancetta? I think that would work nicely.