Ham economics

moggins

I bought a smoked ham from the butchers just before christmas. It was huge and cost me £5. It was already pre-cooked too so all I had to do was slice it up. I've got the Kenwood slicer too, it does have a guard so you don't even have to get your fingers anywhere near the blade.

Applemint I had to laugh. I needed some kitchen bits and bobs last year so tootled off to the bootsale, by the time I'd finished DD was sure that the only people who made kitchen stuff was Kenwood. Kenwood stuff lasts so well that people grow tired of the design before it wears out. Everyone envies my toaster which is a beauty and cost me £2

Spendless

I've been thinking of doing this for a while, especially since I love in a large market town and can get 3 joints of meat for £10 (usually 2 beef and 1 large pork joint). When freezing, what do you do, just put straight into freezer bag, tub? And when you use for sandwiches do you let defrost first before making sandwiches up, or do you just make them up putting frozen meat on and let them defrost?

thriftlady_2

I think you could do either Spendless, unless you're making them for someone like my OH who eats his lunch at 9.30 but to be honest a slice of ham takes very little time to defrost.

I might just get a slicer if you all think they're safe- anyone lost a finger yet ?:D

chardonnay_2

have thought about this myself- especially as the cost of wafer thin ham seems to be going up. does it keep well- how long in the fridge and what is the quality like when you defrost it?

jcr16

wow, i'm impressed. i think i am going to look into this more. i mentioned this thread to my hubby and he was all up for trying bulk buying on joints and slicing them. as he loves ham sandwiches.i think i would need to buy a slicer tho as i seem to only cut wedges off the meat. there is a car boot where i live locally on a sunday it only about a 10 min walk or 2 min drive. so i might investigate this next week. see what bargins i can pick up.

apprentice_tycoon

I bought a hand slicer to start off with (they have a handle to turn and suckers on the feet to grip to the worktop) and it was useless, the suckers stick to the worktop OK but when you start turning the handle the whole contraption slithers around, still stuck down but on the move, you can't hold it still and turn the handle at the same time!
I then bought another assuming that the first was a duff one, it was just the same - by now I was £4.00 down as they were both car boot ones for a couple of pounds each.
So if you're thinking of getting a slicer then I strongly urge you to go straight for an electric one, you see them on ebay nearly all the time for less than the retail price of around £30, they are heavy so watch out for the postage costs, it may end up close to the £30 for a new one if the bidding gets going.

Redbedhead

Thanks for this.

H and I were talking about it but weren't sure what the numbers were. They are good enough to counteract the effort of cooking and slicing the joint, so I think I will pick one up with the shopping next week.:T

lynzpower

I am surprised at this I have to say.

Ive never been a fan of the packet stuff, partly as 1) OHs mum knew somone who imported sandwich fillings from ... China :eek: and meats were part of that, and I wont touch them now. 2) have been sceptical about "formed" meat and its composition c) its often rather watery some of it So OH has tuna, left over chicken, or cheese instead as a rule. I used to work in tescos too, and I was always a bit sceptical about how long the dates are in them and the gases in those packs- I dunno, theres loads of reasons why im not overkeen on packet ham & meats.

He said his folks do a joint & it lasts ages, but the ones weve sene looked like youd only get a couple of sandwiches out of them

I thought it was a qulity issue, ie you pay more for the joint, than the sliced stuff, as its better quality not more of it. But now you mention it lb for lb i bet it is way better value

Can someone post me a picture or link of what I should buy for this? A supermarket link is fine, I might try and find a butcher that sells it ( lots of the butchers round here are simply prepacked meat sellers, not butchers where they use the whole animal and its frying steak, sausages, chops chicken breast with multitude of flavours or nowt)

Can I honey roast it? Or do the nigella coke roasting?

stilernin

Have just read this thread from the top and the water content is an added weight that wasn't mentioned until the post above from lynzpower. I had also forgotten about the gas that is added, just like all of the prepacked salads which I understand can be rinsed in a mild type of 'Milton' to stop cut edges going brown.

I am a singleton, but must watch the pennies as I have downsized my income this year. Slicing cold meat for sarnies etc is also a good way of keeping my downsized weight under control too. The great danger of being on your own is getting portions wrong and being your own waste disposal unit!! :rolleyes:

Thanks OP, I am going to work on this.

thriftlady_2

Here's a picture of the kind of joint I bought. Bear in mind that my lovely butcher isn't cheap, so I'm sure you could save even more.

http://www.meats.co.uk/prodpage.asp?ProdID=73

I've seen joints like this in Waitrose for around £25.

They are cured so there will be added ingredients. Not sure exactly what but definitely salt, and something to make the meat pink (this used to be saltpetre, not sure what they use now). A supermarket joint should have ingredients list and a butcher should be able to tell you what's in the cure.