MELODY LAN is a member of THE NIBBLE editorial staff.

• Page 1: Overview
• Page 1: What Is Ham?
• Page 2: History Of Ham
• Page 3: Ham Cuts
• Page 3: Ham Types

• Page 3: What To Look For In A Ham
• Page 4: Favorite Hams, Part I
• Page 5: Favorite Hams, Part II
• Page 6: Favorite Hams, Part III
• Ham Glaze Recipes

Here at THE NIBBLE we have trouble envisioning a more perfect ham than the hams from Ham I Am! Their hams are ham the way it should be: tasty, tender and easy to slice. The meat is consistently good from one side of the ham to the other, and we never find ourselves guzzling gallons of water to wash out the salty taste. We also aren’t getting our eight glasses a day from the watery reconstituted meat that other companies try to pass off as ham.

Whole Hickory Smoked and Peppered
Ham (half size also available).

Ham I Am! hams are delicately smoky throughout and don’t need any accompaniments to bring out their naturally delicious flavors. Their Whole Hickory Smoked and Peppered Ham, an award winner at the International Fancy Food Show in New York, is hand-rubbed with a simple mixture of brown sugar and cracked black peppercorns and then smoked. The result is a ham so flavorful that we just cannot wait for the next holiday for an excuse to serve it. Read our complete review of Ham I Am, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

For more information, visit HamIAm.com.

Those who love their ham with a smoky, caramelized outer layer and a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture will find bliss in every bite of Nueske’s ham. Their Old Fashioned Boneless Ham is as addictive as any meat we’ve had; we couldn’t stop ourselves from having seconds, thirds, even fourths. The Spiral Sliced Boneless Ham is also a great choice: all of the flavor, none of the labor of slicing the ham at the dinner table—the ham slices practically fell onto our plates. And the flavor is all ham, not water and salt.

Old Fashioned Boneless Ham.

Nueske’s hams are smoked using a generations-old European method of smoking meats with applewood. The applewood-smoked aroma lingers on the roof of your mouth after you’ve swallowed a bite of the ham. While this is by far the smokiest ham we tasted, the sweet, chewy rind offsets any bitterness that customarily accompanies such smokiness.

For those cooking for a smaller group, Nueske’s also makes a Petite Ham, but we would rather have plenty of leftovers for soups, sandwiches and stir-frys.

For more information, visit Nueskes.com.