Ham or cured pork shoulder?

[foodie67me]

I am on a budget and making a Christmas dinner list. At the supermarket I see fully cooked ham for about $35 (half size) and fully cooked cured pork shoulder for about $20 (half size). Would I look like a cheapskate if I bought the cheaper cured pork shoulder? Do any of you folks buy cured pork shoulder instead of ham for Christmas? Does it taste the same essentially?

 

[Morning Glory]

I'm not sure I understand what the cured pork shoulder is exactly. Is it ready to eat or do you need to cook it? It may that it is cheaper because you need to cook it at home.

I'll leave it to our American friends here to answer...

 

[Mountain Cat]

I like pork shoulder better than ham, but I've also never had the shoulder cured. I'd personally lean towards the shoulder for flavor reasons (based on how both cuts taste to me when uncured). It doesn't sound like "cheapskate" at all to me.

 

[TastyReuben]

Ham (like spiral cut ham) can be expensive, but that always says "low effort" to me, because all you really need to do is heat it up. Nothing wrong with this, we're having one New Year's Day, but it's the easiest one to do.

An uncured pork shoulder (sometimes called a fresh ham, or a picnic ham...we really need to standardize names in the US, but that's another subject), if it's like around these parts, will need to be cooked/roasted. There are a variety of ways to do it, from oven to slow cooker, but like with anything uncooked, it's your canvas to do what you want, and how you want to glaze it (or not), etc.

As usual, the internet is full of preparation ideas. Just google "uncured pork shoulder," or "picnic ham," or "fresh ham," and dive right in.

 

[Mountain Cat]

I have an acquaintance who, over the past couple years, has asked me to help him with increasing his Christmas music repertoire, so I recorded a few quick ones for him, and thought I'd share them here in honor of the season:

View: https://youtu.be/temEzphS0LA

View: https://youtu.be/DIc63q9FIu4

View: https://youtu.be/gmXhgQsWXgo


Don't judge my voice too harshly - a severe bout of pneumonia a couple of decades ago destroyed any breath control I had and now I generally don't sing publicly, but this was for instructive reasons.

Ham (like spiral cut ham) can be expensive, but that always says "low effort" to me, because all you really need to do is heat it up. Nothing wrong with this, we're having one New Year's Day, but it's the easiest one to do.

An uncured pork shoulder (sometimes called a fresh ham, or a picnic ham...we really need to standardize names in the US, but that's another subject), if it's like around these parts, will need to be cooked/roasted. There are a variety of ways to do it, from oven to slow cooker, but like with anything uncooked, it's your canvas to do what you want, and how you want to glaze it (or not), etc.

As usual, the internet is full of preparation ideas. Just google "uncured pork shoulder," or "picnic ham," or "fresh ham," and dive right in.

I believe Foodie said he/she has a source for cured and cooked pork shoulder. Thus it would only need to be heated up.

 

[Morning Glory]

I believe Foodie said he/she has a source for cured and cooked pork shoulder. Thus it would only need to be heated up.

Indeed - it was my fault in the reply post I made above for the confusion. So they are both already cooked.

With ham we always eat it cold in the UK. So no need to heat up! Do you always heat the whole ham in American cooking?

 

[medtran49]

Just wondering why you wouldn't buy it raw and cook it yourself? The raw cuts are usually cheaper than cooked cuts, unless it's a REALLY good sale. Pork shoulders are easy to cook.

 

[CraigC]

Ham (like spiral cut ham) can be expensive, but that always says "low effort" to me, because all you really need to do is heat it up. Nothing wrong with this, we're having one New Year's Day, but it's the easiest one to do.

An uncured pork shoulder (sometimes called a fresh ham, or a picnic ham...we really need to standardize names in the US, but that's another subject), if it's like around these parts, will need to be cooked/roasted. There are a variety of ways to do it, from oven to slow cooker, but like with anything uncooked, it's your canvas to do what you want, and how you want to glaze it (or not), etc.

As usual, the internet is full of preparation ideas. Just google "uncured pork shoulder," or "picnic ham," or "fresh ham," and dive right in.

Shoulder is from the front legs and hams are from the back legs.

 

[TastyReuben]

Shoulder is from the front legs and hams are from the back legs.

Which is why we need to standardize names here. I sorted through a whole freezer of pork products yesterday at Kroger, and some were labeled "pork shoulder ham."

Google "picnic ham" and you'll see plenty of recipes for "Picnic ham (pork shoulder)."

 

[TastyReuben]

With ham we always eat it cold in the UK. So no need to heat up! Do you always heat the whole ham in American cooking?

Either way, really. Fully cooked spiral hams (and fully cooked whole hams) usually come with a sugary glaze that can be rubbed on and heated up.

Personally, I've never liked spiral sliced ham heated up. Because it's pre-sliced (and thinly), it separates in the oven and dries out.

...and yet, that's precisely what we're having New Year's Day.

 

[caseydog]

I'm not sure I understand what the cured pork shoulder is exactly. Is it ready to eat or do you need to cook it? It may that it is cheaper because you need to cook it at home.

I'll leave it to our American friends here to answer...

I'm a bit lost, too. A pork "shoulder" is made of two parts. The lower part is called a "picnic" here, and is what ham is usually made from. The upper part is the "butt" or "Boston butt," and is what you would braise uncured, or smoke uncured for BBQ. I would never make a ham from a butt, personally.

So, I don't know what "cured pork shoulder" means, either. Perhaps it is a cured "picnic," that has not been smoked???

CD

 

[Mountain Cat]

There's chestnuts in all the stores here now, have been for at least a couple of weeks.

I'm a bit lost, too. A pork "shoulder" is made of two parts. The lower part is called a "picnic" here, and is what ham is usually made from. The upper part is the "butt" or "Boston butt," and is what you would braise uncured, or smoke uncured for BBQ. I would never make a ham from a butt, personally.

So, I don't know what "cured pork shoulder" means, either. Perhaps it is a cured "picnic," that has not been smoked???

CD

The pork shoulder is indeed in two parts, one of which is named the picnic cut, the other for an arcane reason I have to look back up, is the butt.

Both of these cuts come from the foreleg of the animal.

The hind end, back leg, is the typical ham, and is what is usually cured (although you can cure ANY part of the animal you desire.) Neither the picnic nor the butt are typically sold cured and cooked however. I've never seen any part of the forelimb being referred to as the "ham".

 

[caseydog]

The pork shoulder is indeed in two parts, one of which is named the picnic cut, the other for an arcane reason I have to look back up, is the butt.

Both of these cuts come from the foreleg of the animal.

The hind end, back leg, is the typical ham, and is what is usually cured (although you can cure ANY part of the animal you desire.) Neither the picnic nor the butt are typically sold cured and cooked however. I've never seen any part of the forelimb being referred to as the "ham".

Hmmmmm, I've always known the picnic to be the part used to make ham. But, it's not like I've never been wrong before. I've never actually cured and smoked my own ham, so I never got that deep into it.

CD

 

[rascal]

Hams here are all back legs. Eaten from cutting into a sammich or I cook about 4 a year by warming and a glaze over top, served warm in a sammich. I'm doing one New Year's Eve. The one at Easter.

Russ

 

[Mountain Cat]

Hmmmmm, I've always known the picnic to be the part used to make ham. But, it's not like I've never been wrong before. I've never actually cured and smoked my own ham, so I never got that deep into it.

CD

I haven't either... but having purchased half a pig from a local farmer, he needed to know how I wanted to cut the beast up before cryofreezing it. So they send the info about what the possibilities are.