to be annoyed at the ham supermarkets sell

[StealthPolarBear]

It is almost all "formed", which, as a vegetarian I don't know but believe that is not a good thing.
It took me ages to find some that was just cooked sliced ham in Sainsbury's yesterday, and I've had similar in Tesco.
I know the answer is to buy from the butcher and I have been trying to but it's not always practical

the deli in Sainsbury's is not similar to a butcher at all, no way.

I think you will need to do some creative planning for putting ham on the menu which coincides with a trip to the butcher

buying real ham isnt about feeling superior. Tbh, id buy formed ham occasionally if it was free range.

As it is, its pretty much mechanically reclaimed pig arse bits,

"Can you please clarify that as otherwise you risk letting people think that vegetarians eat ham. We do not!" Do you REALLY think meat eaters are that stupid? I am a vegetarian, i buy meat for my husband and son, i dont think we ever need to clarify why we buy it. No wonder vegetarians and vegans are seen as fruitloops at times

Actually, cooked gammon and ham are the same thing.

To make ham, you cook a gammon, or leg of lamb, and then cut it.

To make formed ham, you take the bits no one else wants and press it together.

It's all pork.

Oops, leg of ham, not leg of lamb.

Leg of lamb is not ham...

I bought some ham the other day. The label said 92% ham.

Naisty ham.

See tyhat's what confuses me! I think I get it the the meat eaters on the thread disagree and it confuses me!

What? Not even wafer thin ham?

Someone once tried to convince me vegetarians could eat bacon as they don't kill the pig they just shave a bit off it

That's a good idea about buying gammon and cooking it nice and long. I like it in the slow cooker! How long would that last in the fridge after having been boiled?

Ham is pretty gross really but my dc like it so I try to buy as naice as I can.

Vegetarians do eat fish and chicken though, don't they?

I buy it whole then cook it at home. It's much nicer and cheaper than buying 'nice' sliced ham

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference ham is mostly not formed, and they stock a fair range in our local mini ones. I'm picky, so always check.

I wouldn't even know where ot start cooking ham. Until a couple of years ago my meat repertoire included chicken breasts or stuff made with mince (or stuff pre-cooked). In the last year or so I have graduated to roasting beef. DH is worse than I am - he would class cooking as heating up a ready meal chicken jalfrezi

IsItMeOr that's not what I found yesterday although I know supermarkets may stock different ranges. I finally got some of the smaller, suspiciously round, bits which were the only ones I could find that weren't formed.

And Tesco is worse - the only one I've found that is OK is their thick cut off the bone stuff which isn't ever stocked in our local, fairly small, Tesco.
Bear in mind I am limited by said fussy child - no honey roast (despite loving honey), peppered, mustarded, marmalade roast...you get the picture

I think I know the one you mean Stealth - DH brought it home very apprehensively once because, although he checked carefully, he thought it looked too regularly shaped to be the right sort. It was fine though.

It might just be the area we're in - we're surrounded by loads of Sainsbury's so I think they've been able to use nectar cards to get a pretty good idea what people who live here actually buy. So, although they don't have absolutely everything (they're small) they do have a fair smattering of nicer quality stuff (e.g. organic chicken/milk).

Most supermarkets sell ham off the bone or stuff thats not pre-formed. You can usually buy packet ham that isnt pre-formes as well.

Get a small gammon joint and put it in a slow cooker

Well the packet ham here is few and far between. I wonder is IsItMeOr points out it's to do with the analysis of what sells in specific areas.
Out local co-op only started selling free range eggs about 6 years ago, now that is all they sell, I believe

I shop at Sainsburys and f I want to make sure I eat good quality cured meat I check % of water added to it.
If you want to buy real ham - no option but to buy first of those two I listed below:

Please compare content listed on the label - first one has no water added.
In fact they need 122g of pork to make 100g of Ham:
Sainsbury's British Breaded Air Dried Yorke Ham, Taste the Difference x4 120g
£3.00/unit
£2.50/100g
Pork, Sea Salt, SignatureTM Breadcrumb (Wheat Flour, Salt, Yeast, Colour: Paprika Extract; Spices), Sugar, Pork Gelatine, Preservatives: Sodium Nitrite, Sodium Nitrate; Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate. Made using 122g of pork per 100g of finished product.

Sainsbury's British Wafer Thin Cooked Ham 70g
£0.75/unit
£1.07/100g
(I would never buy this)
has the following list of ingredients:
Pork (83%), Water (14%), Salt, Preservatives: Potassium Lactate, Sodium Acetate, Sodium Nitrite; Stabilisers: Triphosphates, Diphosphates, Polyphosphates; Dextrose, Antioxidant: Sodium Ascorbate.
so in fact that second "ham" may be fortified with 14-14% of water
the only quick reference I've found to how producers can do that is in this (sorry is DM :) ) [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-150904/How-water-really-food.html]]

link:
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-150904/How-water-really-food.html

I actually prefer to buy a gammon joint and boil it. I can then slice this for sandwiches, dice some for pasta/risotto and other dishes, and 101 other uses.

Tastes much better than many of the precooked stuff in supermarkets. Although, if I need some in a hurry, our local butcher cooks and slices his own for sale, and it's no dearer than the supermarket stuff.

Gammon in the slow cooker here, sliced up and frozen. Works out cheaper too!

Just cooking gammon for the week. Well have it hot for dinner with mash and veg, then in sandwiches for the rest of the week. I do it because it works out at less than half the price of cooked ham. Tastes good too.

Jan - don't worry, I don't think there's going to be confusion about vegetarians eating ham

Oops x post with others! Great minds