You might notice that our boneless hams cost a little more than the brands you find in the supermarket. There is a reason for that, and it has to do with the quality of our ham production. To better explain what we mean by that, we are going to unpack the three T's of a Stoltzfus Meats Boneless Ham, and how those three factors impact the customer experience.
Type
The ham is from the rear leg of the hog. It is prized for its lean muscle. Each ham starts the same way: skin on, bone-in, with a hock (also called a shank) attached. First, the skin is removed. Then, the hock is cut off and saved for curing and smoking separately. Lastly, the ham is de-boned.
There are two bones in a ham, the aicht bone and the femur. After the ham has been deboned and laid open, you are left with three interconnected muscles: the knuckle muscle, the outside muscle, and the inside muscle. Of these three muscles, the inside muscle is the leanest and tenderest. For this reason, we use only the inside muscle for our boneless ham.
Texture
A lot of supermarket boneless hams not only use all three muscles from the ham, they also chop them up and reform them before smoking. In contrast, here at Stoltzfus Meats our boneless hams are comprised of whole muscle only. This results in an eating texture that is natural. You can literally see, taste, and feel the shape and texture of the lean muscle. A whole muscle ham also retains its natural moisture and flavor better than a reconstituted ham, which leads to the final T of a Stoltzfus Meats boneless ham:
Taste
Unlike most other boneless hams, we do not pump any extra flavorings or water into our hams to add taste and moisture. The incredible taste profile of our hams is achieved entirely from the natural juices of the whole muscle and the curing and smoking process. Our cure (primarily comprised of salt, sugar, and seasonings) is designed to accentuate the muscle's natural flavorings. Our hams spend the right amount of time in the smokehouse to ensure a full and robust flavor throughout. And we never add artificial smoke flavoring, gluten, carrageenan, autolyzed yeast extract or other additives to our hams.
The three T's of a Stoltzfus Meats Boneless Ham make a huge difference in terms of quality and taste. Try some today and let us know if we got it right.