How to Cook Fresh Ham Steaks

We are taking 6 hogs to the butcher in a few weeks which is really good because we’re almost out of meat from the last hogs we butchered. 2 of the pigs are for our family, and 4 are going to friends of ours. While I was going over the cut sheet with some of our friends, I realized that not everyone is familiar with some of the cuts that most butchers do. One of those cuts is Ham Steaks, also called Country Ham Slices or Fresh Ham Steaks. This meat is from the part of the pig that would be smoked as a whole ham if the butchered had a smoker. It’s just about impossible to find a butcher who cures meat in our area and so one of the ways that the ham is offered, is cut into “steaks” or slices. “Fresh” does not mean that the meat will be unfrozen (we always get meat back from the butcher frozen), but rather that it is uncurled.

Here is a diagram of what cuts come from which parts of the hog. Our butcher offers both the ham in slices (ham steaks) and the Boston butt in slices (pork steaks).

This is what a Pork Steak looks like.

This is what Ham Steaks look like.

Ham steaks are bigger than pork steaks. They have more meat on them and a smaller bone. As you can see, pork raised on pasture is not “the other white meat” as pork has often been called. This meat is nice and red, the way it should be.

I cook pork steaks and ham steaks the same way in the crockpot and I use them the same way once they’re cooked. They are both fine cuts of meat with good flavor, but I prefer the ham steaks because they are bigger.

When I take either kind of steak out of the freezer, I thaw the packages in a sink of hot water. Since we have a big family and I like leftovers, I usually cook several ham or pork steaks at once. It doesn’t take long for the meat to thaw since the slices are only about an inch thick. Once it’s thawed, I rinse each piece off in cool water and cut it like this.

Once I have all the steaks cut up, I sprinkle on a good amount of

-salt
-pepper
-onion powder
-garlic powder
-parsley
-Worcestershire sauce
-olive oil

I put the cut pieces in a bowl to mix all around with the salt, pepper etc. Sometimes, depending on how much time I have, I just throw the cut pieces in the crockpot, sprinkle the salt, pepper etc on and turn it on, stirring it all around later, after it’s cooked a bit. Regardless, all the cup up pieces need to go into the crockpot and be cooked on low all day. By all day, I mean, I get this on after I clean up the breakfast dishes and it’s ready by supper time. Since the meat is cut up, it cooks faster then a big roast does.

When it comes out of the crockpot, it looks like this,

or this.

Once it’s cooked like this, it can be used for any number of things. Our three most common ways to use the meat are to serve it on the side of a bowl of homemade macaroni and cheese. The kids love it this way!

Another really common way we use this meat it to chop it up and add mayonnaise, salt and pepper and make sandwiches out of it. This makes a really tasty sandwich, especially if there are fresh homemade buns to eat it on. You can make a sandwich of meat only, or add any number of things to it. It’s really nice to have sandwiches meat like this made up and in the fridge for quick lunches.

The third regular way we eat ham or pork steaks is to take all the meat and bones out of the crockpot, leaving the juices in (be very sure you get all the bones out). Then chop up the meat and put it in a big mixing bowl. Add flour, salt and pepper to the meat and stir it up.

Put the meat back in the crockpot with the juices in it and cook it on high to thicken it up. It will look like this.

This is a great topping for mashed potatoes. When I make this, like I did yesterday, I usually make a lot so we can have leftovers the second night…..which we did tonight! Everyone really loves this meal too and it’s not hard to make.

Other ways I use the meat from ham or pork steaks is in bean n’ pork soup or in breakfast casseroles. It’s very tasty, tender meat and I definitely like having plenty of it in the freezer.