Types of Ham: Explained

Published on October 20th, 2023
Updated on January 11th, 2024

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HAMS, INCLUDING BAKED HAM, COUNTRY HAM, GLAZED HAM & SMOKED HAM

Ham is one of the most versatile meats. Who doesn’t love to ham it up at breakfast with eggs Benedict or a side of thick Canadian ham?

Then, there’s lunch. Sinking our teeth into slabs of ham precariously piled high between slices of freshly baked bread is a satisfying way to break up the day. And don’t get us started on dinner, where ham may star as the main epicurean event any day of the year.

No matter how you slice it, you can carve out a place for ham at every meal. There are many types of ham and many ways to serve them. We love Christmas ham as the main meat at a holiday meal and in sandwiches like ham biscuit sandwiches and chipped ham sandwiches (“chipped” ham is thinly sliced smoked ham).

Take a bite into all things ham.

What is Ham?

Ham is a leg of pork that has been cured, typically from a hog’s hind leg. 

Ham can come bone-in, partially-boned, or boneless and aged or cured. They come in a variety of cuts, some which are fattier and some, like the butt, which are leaner. Aged hams are cured, smoked, and aged for a year or more.

There are variations of ham, including: 

• SPAM,
• ham bologna, 
• and turkey ham. 

SPAM is made with ground ham and pork plus potato starch, salt, sodium nitrate, sugar, and water. Ham bologna is a German-style cold cut that combines ham and bologna into a tasty luncheon meat. Turkey ham is a ready-to-eat meat made from cured turkey thigh meat.

What Are the Three Types of Ham?

There are three types of ham:

• Cured: Pork leg that is wet-cured or dry-cured. Wet cured ham is soaked in a brine. Dry-cured is ham that is coated in salt and stored for a period of time until it is preserved.
• Cured-and-smoked: Pork leg that is wet-cured or dry-cured before it is smoked for hours, days, or weeks.
• Fresh ham: Pork leg that has not been cured. The product name includes the word “fresh” in the U.S.

Styles of Ham

There are many styles of ham, which are popular in different regions. Styles of ham include:

• Bayonne: a salty boneless French-style ham that is dry-cured for months before eating.
• Black Forest: a boneless German-style ham that is salted, seasoned, and smoked. This ham has a black exterior thanks to its seasonings, which include coriander, garlic, juniper berries, and pepper. 
• Canadian Bacon: The name is misleading as Canadian bacon is actually ham. Canadian bacon is pre-cooked smoked ham that comes from pork loin. It’s typically fried and eaten for breakfast.
• Capicola: an Italian-style cured ham that comes from the pork shoulder or neck.
• Country: an American-style ham that is dry-cured, smoked over hardwood, and aged for at least six months. 
• Culatello: an Italian-style cured ham that is soaked in wine as part of the aging process.
• Ibérico: a Spanish-style dry-cured ham that has been aged for two years.
• Irish: an Irish-style brined ham that is smoked over peat wood.
• Picnic: Refers to fresh or smoked meat from the foreleg and shoulder of the hog.
• Prosciutto: an Italian-style salt-cured and seasoned ham that is air-dried and sliced paper thin.
• Scotch: a boneless Scottish-style ham that is mildly cured, uncooked, and sold in a casing.
• Serrano: a Spanish-style dry-cured ham that is sliced paper thin.
• Smithfield: is a deep-red aged country ham that must be physically cured using a specific process in Smithfield, Virginia. 
• Speck: an Italian-style dry-cured ham that comes from a deboned hind thigh. It is lightly smoked. 
• Westphalian Ham: a German-style cured ham that comes from pigs who are fed a diet of acorns from the Westphalia forest. The dark brown ham is smoked over beechwood and juniper wood.
• York Ham: a British-style pink ham that has a mild flavor and is often served with Madeira sauce.

What is the Most Popular Ham?

The most popular ham is cured ham, which has been brined before cooking. The brine is a liquid of water and salt, and seasonings are sometimes added to the brine. Hams are soaked in brine for a few days or weeks before it is smoked.

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