Clockwise from top left: The soaking is done, and the ham goes into the pot. Four gallons of water are added for the boil. Cooking begins at 7:30 a.m, along with grits for breakfast.
The ham went into the stock pot at 7:30 this morning. We weighed it and were surprised to find it still around 16 pounds, even after three days of soaking.
We had hoped to eat around 2:30 today, allowing four to five hours for simmering the ham and another two hours for roasting and resting. But it took almost an hour for the water to get to a simmer. With such a large cut of meat and four gallons of cold water, I suppose we should have built in more lead time.
The ham is simmering away, and every time I lift the lid the scent of hickory smoke drifts over the kitchen. Lunch can't come soon enough.
