VALDOSTA —
It would be difficult for the untrained eye to tell the difference between the 50 smoked and cured hams laid on the white tablecloths at the 62nd Annual Lowndes County Ham and Egg Show and Sale at the Lowndes County Civic Center.
The reddish brown hue on each entry was only part of the uniformity between each hindquarter. Each weighed about 20 pounds and included the entire pig leg. Some were slightly damaged on the exterior from handling, while others were smooth like the palm of a baseball mitt.
With two metal probes and a lifetime of knowledge and experience, Dr. Glenwood F. Hill, retired extension program leader of agriculture and natural resources of Fort Valley State University, demonstrated the difference between the selections over several hours Tuesday morning.
He would stick various pressure points in the hams, pull out the metal probes and give each a long sniff. He spent upwards of 15 minutes on each ham; studying the skin, the odor and the consistency of the product to find spoilage or determine the curing method.
Ham skin was expected to be firm, otherwise the fat had been heated too much, causing the product to feel rubbery.
“This was a way of life several years ago and of course, we go through a cycle,” said Hill. “You’re beginning to see more and more people that want to produce their food at home again.”
With people returning to their own land for food production, they will go to the Internet for resources on curing hams. Hill stated that there are many recipes and remedies available online, but usually the most basic options were the most effective.
According to Hill, each state has a variation of its own. For example, the Georgia recipe uses ten pounds of salt per 100 pounds of meat. The North Carolina rendition uses eight pounds of salt instead.
The salt is used to kill micro-organisms such as trichinosis, which are larvae of roundworm which can be present in pork or other wild game that is undercooked or not handled properly.
Potassium nitrate is used in modern times instead of sodium nitrate, which can be used to make explosive weapons, but the technique remains similar.
“If you’ve got a 20 pound ham, you know up front that you’ve got at least 30 days for that ham to cure,” said Hill. “Take it out any sooner and you’ll get spoilage and any longer you’ll have a salty product. A good country-cured ham needs to age about 4 to 6 months.”
While many shoppers see mold as a sign of a rotting food product, Hill said a good country-cured ham will have mold appear on the outside.
When James Hill was a young boy, the Ham and Egg Show was an event that he looked forward to all year long.
“It was a great day when all this was going on,” said James Hill. “Our parents would bake, some of the men would barbecue something... It was just a great day. We learned a lot over the years. Refrigeration knocked a lot of this out. A smoked ham will keep fresh forever at room temperature.”
He remembers the first time he ever ate store-bought bacon was when he left for college in the early 50’s. His parents had a farm, but after graduating college, he never returned to the farm life.
“Between 1950 and 1960 there was a complete revolution in how our food was produced,” he said.
The second part of the show took place in a dark closet across the hall from the ham judging portion.
Inside, Kathryn Bennett and Judd Birdsong, compliance specialists at the Georgia Department of Agriculture, examined about 70 dozen eggs with a candling light to determine the highest-quality egg.
Most were two or three days old, with small air cells. Many of the eggs purchased at a grocery store are weeks old and have much larger air cells. Each individual egg is checked for cracks, unborn chickens and rotten yolks. One bad egg in a dozen could be disqualification for the whole lot.
Both inspectors grew up on farms, but admit today that they get their food from grocery stores.
“A lot of people live in the city and you can’t really have chickens running around in the city,” said Bennett. “In the past, women were able to stay at home as housewives. Now, both people are working and you just don’t have time.”
Even though they don’t currently have farms at their homes, they both have plans to teach their children about where their food comes from.
“Programs like 4-H teach kids responsibility, leadership and all the efforts that go into producing their food,” said Bennett. “Education needs to be there so the kids know where the food comes from. Some adults can’t even tell you. It’s a necessary part of life.”
Founded when farming was more the way of life than a trade, the Ham and Egg Show and Sale was originally held to encourage black farmers and 4-H members and to promote the best agricultural practices.
The first Ham and Egg Show and Sale was coordinated by Otis Samuel O’Neal at Fort Valley in 1916. In 1950, John Saunders and the Black Farm Bureau established the first Ham and Egg Show and Sale in Lowndes County.
Lunch for the contestants will be served from 12:30-1 p.m. today, followed by the auction of ham and eggs at 1 p.m. at the Lowndes County Civic Center.
Call the Lowndes County Extension Office at (229) 333-5185 to learn more.
2012 Ham Results
• John Miles — Grand Champion
• Ray Ewings — Reserve Champion
• Arielle Hooks — 4-H Champion Ham
2012 Egg Results
• Therus Brown — Grand Champion
• Martha Lucas — Reserve Champion
• Carlie Wolford — Third Place
• Ceasar Battle Jr. — Fourth Place
• Brittany Sirmons — Fifth Place
• M.J. Lane — Sixth Place
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