Goodnight Brothers Whole Country Ham 16 - 18 lbs

 Goodnight Brothers has been specializing in the art of dry curing hams since 1948. This whole bone-in country ham comes in a cotton bag and detailed cooking instructions on the back.  

Weight of each ham will vary slightly.  

Aging and Enjoying

Goodnight Brothers has four seasonal rooms that are temperature-controlled for each stage of aging. In the winter room, hams arrive just three days from the farm and the cure mix is applied by hand to each ham. The room is chilly, staying at 40 degrees, so the salt and sugar can penetrate and stabilize the meat. Once they come out of this room, the hams are pressed and rounded out, then hung in nets. “We really pay attention to detail when pressing our hams in order to get the most yield,” Tony said.

The spring room is warmer and lower in humidity to allow the cure mix to equalize the ham. They stay here for about 14-18 days. They then move to the summer room, where the temperature is maintained at a sweltering 90 degrees. Here, the heat gives the ham a nice golden brown color and after spending 12-16 days here, it is considered cured. The ham is fully finished in the fall room, where the internal salt content of the ham ends up around five to six percent.

When Southerners enjoy country ham, it’s usually a part of breakfast. It pairs wonderfully with scratch-made buttermilk biscuits, in shrimp and grits and added to gravy. But don’t be fooled – country ham is also making it’s way into the charcuterie ranks as a tasty accompaniment to the usual cheese, crackers and salami. It’s slowly emerging as a favorite way to consume pork outside of the South, and that’s something we can celebrate!