Remember to take out the ham to thaw on these days.
If you have Christmas ham on your Christmas table, remember that you should start thawing the frozen Christmas ham as soon as possible.
Pork has entered the Finns’ Christmas table in the 20th century, when pig farming was more developed than in the previous century. of the Suomen Ruokatieto association according to that, even in the 1920s and 1930s, there could still be fried lamb shoulder on the table at the party place.
Ruokatieto says that ham is apparently a cross between two different traditions. On the one hand, it combines the way reserved for the nobility to eat pig, and on the other hand, the way of the people to eat the fried hind leg of the animal.
Thawing the ham
First of all, when choosing a ham, it is good to estimate the number of people eating at the Christmas table and relate the size of the ham to this. Lihatalo Snellman advises that the appropriate average for Christmas ham is around 200 grams per diner. According to the K group’s website, it is good to reserve 1 kilo of Christmas ham per adult and about 500 grams for children.
– The amount may sound large, but remember that Christmas ham loses up to 30 percent of its weight during cooking. In addition, in bone-in hams, the share of bone in the weight of an uncooked Christmas ham is about 1–2 kilos, The K group gives instructions.
Marta advises that the best result when thawing ham is achieved when the ham is allowed to thaw slowly in an unopened package in the refrigerator.
Ham belongs to many people’s Christmas table this year as well. Eeva Paljakka
According to Martto, a 2–4 kilo ham thaws in the refrigerator in 2–3 days, while a 6–8 kilo ham requires 3–4 days. If you have purchased a 10–12 kilo ham, then the thawing time is up to 4–5 days.
Bone-in ham melts more slowly than boneless ham.
– After the ham has been allowed to thaw in the refrigerator, it is good to let it sit at room temperature until the internal temperature is 8–10 degrees. For this reason, you should put the meat thermometer in the ham already at this stage, Marta instructs.
What about iced ham?
HK Scan has also tested the frying of frozen ham. According to product development, it was easy to fry frozen ham, and according to the test group, the end result was no different from thawed ham.
– Based on our own experiences and the numerous feedbacks we have received from consumers, we can still recommend frying the ham frozen, if the purchase of the ham is left to the last drop or if you don’t remember to thaw it in time. The end result is equally good with both manufacturing methods, says HK Scan’s product development chef Sami Lamminaho in a bulletin published a few years ago.
However, the total frying time is then about twice as compared to “traditional” ham frying, i.e. about two hours per kilo of ham.