I had made another brine for the ham as well. This one contained some molasses in it as well as bay leaves, juniper berries, and rosemary. I put the ham cut in the brine on butchery day (Monday) and took it out on Thursday to put in a pot of water and simmer for a few hours with apples, celery, carrots, onions, bay and parsley. I simmered the ham till it was fully cooked in the center. I took it out of the pot (and had a nice stock left over), let it cool for a minute, removed the skin then scored the fat. I made a brown sugar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper glaze and rubbed it all over the top of the ham. I put it in the oven at 350 degrees F and cooked it for about an hour and 15 min till the glaze was brown and bubbling. I took it out and let it sit till it was ready to be cut into!

We ended up using pig head broth to make the gravy and ham stock to add to the stuffing. It was my first time making my ham and took a few hours of research and a little faith that it would come out great with this cooking method. Since most hams you buy at the store are already fully cooked through smoking and such, most recipes don’t consider fresh hams. I found a good one in The River Cottage Meat Book and stuck with it. This one called for simmering since I brined it as well.

It stated In the Charcuterie book I read that American Guinea Hogs are “known for their streaky bacon and succulent hams”. They were spot on with that. This ham was not dry whatsoever and the at least an inch thick of fat on top was rendering over the meat while it was baking in the oven. The sweet honey cut with tangy mustard made the flavor delicious. Although, I did enjoy the ham on its own without the rich glaze.