Won’t be long until “hog killing time” my great-granddad used to say. I was too young to learn how he processed a hog, but I know he had two cures. One was a sugar cure. The other he called a “Virginia Ham Cure.” I wish I knew what he was using and I hope some of you know.

The ham tasted salty, and was usually fried into thin slices in a little fat. My great-grandmother then made “red eye gravy,” but I couldn’t eat it, because it was a “sin to give coffee to children.” I remember those country hams, and I remember how red the meat was, not like today’s hams. Anyway, if anyone knows how to make a “Virginia Ham,” I would love to have that knowledge.

Thanks in advance, for any advice or help you can give me.

johnsbrewhouse THANK YOU SO MUCH.

GWG8541 Semper Fi! Thank you so much for responding. I, too, remember going into my great-grandparents garden for tomatoes for these breakfast sandwiches (since I wasn’t allowed to have red-eye gravy). I might be wrong about this, but I think he hung those hams in a smoke house for a very, very long time. I would cherish a recipe from your family. I served between 1975-1977.

Jonathon This is a little off-subject, but today I watched several videos of making home cured luncheon meats, like bologna, pickle loaf, SPAM, and other meats, and there were so many comments from people wanting to omit salt, or any type of cure. They seemed to want a shortcut, but also to do away with the very additives that make the meat safe. That scares me. It seems that they don’t even read the instructions on the cures, and to eliminate salt altogether seems so dangerous. Am I wrong?