Old-fashioned Country Ham

One of our Christmas traditions is to buy a country ham each year. (For those of you who don't know, a country ham is salt cured ham) We generally have half of it sliced to fry Christmas morning when Mom's family comes to breakfast and cook the other half for Christmas Eve when we have Dad's family for dinner. We have cooked ham lots of different way in the past, but we have gone back to the old-fashioned way in a lard stand because it is simple and delicious! Both of my great-grandmothers used to cook hams like this along with several of my family's friends.

I begin by washing our old lard stand really well (since we only use it once a year) and then fill it with enough water to cover the ham when I put it in. The lard stand gets placed on the stove and I wait for the water to boil. (This takes a while) While waiting for the water to boil, I clean the ham really well, scraping the mold off. (A country ham is NOT bad if it has mold on it, just scrape it off and wash the ham. DO NOT throw the ham out) Some people will soak the ham overnight to get some of the salt out. I usually don't do this because I think cooking the ham in the water takes some of the salt out. After the water begins to boil, place the ham in the lard stand and put the lid on. Turn the heat down a little and let it boil 5 – 10 minutes per pound. I usually boil our half ham for an hour.

After an hour, the lard stand comes off the stove and gets wrapped in several quilts or wool blankets. Twine is then tied around it to ensure that it stays wrapped up. I usually put the bundle in a box (a paper box works really well) and leave it alone for anywhere from 12 – 24 hours. I will usually wrap another blanket around the box just for some extra insulation. The ham cooks in the boiling water overnight. (Sorry I didn't get any pictures of this)

The next day, the lard stand is unwrapped and the water is drained off the ham. Believe it or not the water will still be quite hot. I usually do this outside so the greasy water doesn't go down the drain. Then, the ham comes back in and gets some of the fat sliced off while it is still warm and easy to cut. (You don't have to do this but we try to be a little bit healthier these days!)

This is my favorite time because I usually slice a bit off to see how good it tastes!

If it is not time to serve the ham, wrap it up and refrigerate it until time to glaze and serve.



To make the glaze, I combine pineapple juice, ginger ale, brown sugar, a pinch of dried mustard, and sorghum (I prefer this over molasses) in a sauce pan. I let this come to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Sometimes I will add some crushed pineapple if I have some. While the glaze is simmering, I prepare the ham. I place the ham in my roaster and put pineapple slices all over the ham, securing these with toothpicks. I then take the glaze and pour some over the ham. Then the ham goes in the oven at about 350 for 30 minutes or until warm, basting with the glaze as necessary. Sometimes if I am not running low on sorghum I will drizzle some over the ham before it goes in the oven. (I have a tendency to be stingy with my sorghum because I always run out before late summer)


At my house we like the ham at room temperature, not warm from the oven so I will let the ham sit for a while to cool off. If there is any glaze left I will serve it for anyone who wants it on their ham. I also usually garnish the platter of sliced ham with the pineapple slices. The left over ham makes great sandwiches after Christmas!

(I was so busy with Christmas Eve dinner that I didn't take any pictures after I sliced the ham. Sorry, but trust me it was delicious!)