“From the first day I started, I wanted to make something truly extraordinary. That was my goal. ” – Allan Benton.
Allan Benton quit his job as a high school guidance counselor in the fall of 1973 to start curing, smoking, and aging hams in a rented building in Madisonville, Tennessee. He had graduated from the UT Knoxville College of Education in 1969.
Benton says, “I wrote to universities all over the country to find out more about what I was going to do.” “I soon realized that 45 minutes up the road I had all the expertise I needed. ”.
Professors Sam Winfrey and Curtis Melton of the UT Institute of Agriculture Food Science and Technology got Benton’s letter and got in touch with him.
“They came to visit me,” says Benton, helping with pesky problems like spoilage. “They calculated exactly how much cure I needed to use on my meat. For three or four months, I was there every two or three weeks. I was soaking up everything I could learn. Every time I’d hit a rough spot, those guys would hold my hand and walk me across it. They were super. What I owe the University of Tennessee, I could never repay if I tried. ”.
Today Benton and his 21 employees at Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams on U. S. 411 in Madisonville cure and age some 18,000 hams and 50,000 bacon bellies a year. Many people came into the shop during the week to buy bacon, sliced ham, and other foods, and the workers were very good at cutting the hams. In the back, other workers took wooden trays of hams out of the smoker, where they had been smoking for three days with hickory smoke, to make room for the next batch. Another employee placed packages and envelopes of ham and bacon waiting to be mailed on a bench.
They ship to so many five-star restaurants and chefs that Benton doesn’t like to make a list for fear of leaving someone out. He thanks all of them because celebrity chefs like David Chang have spread the word about his bacon.
“I am so blessed. I sell to 500 different chefs because I sell to David,” says Benton. “He is so hot right now. Even though he has restaurants all over the world, I think the majordomo in Los Angeles is his best work so far. ”.
“I remember many nights with a lump in my throat, wondering if I was going to make it back 20 to 25 years,” he says. ”.
“From the first day I started,” he says, “I wanted to make something truly extraordinary. That was my goal. Even today our goal is to create a world-class product. With our employees, we want people who will take pride in making something really special. ”.
He has also stuck to the tried-and-true family remedy of salt, brown sugar, black and red pepper, which has been passed down from generation to generation.
As a born and raised Tennessee girl, I grew up eating and adoring our state’s most famous export – Tennessee ham! This specialty cured meat product is an integral part of Southern food culture From ham biscuits to glazed country ham, Tennesseans have perfected the art of salting, aging, and cooking our delicious hams
If you aren’t familiar with this Southern staple keep reading for everything you need to know about Tennessee ham! In this article we’ll cover
- What makes Tennessee ham special
- The curing and aging process
- Different types of Tennessee hams
- How to cook it
- Where to buy the best Tennessee hams
I’ll also highlight one of my favorite Tennessee ham producers, Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams. Their decades-old curing methods result in the iconic salty, smoky flavor that Tennessee ham is known for.
Let’s start from the beginning – what exactly makes a ham a “Tennessee ham”?
What Makes Tennessee Ham Special
True Tennessee country ham refers to a cured and aged ham made from pigs raised in Tennessee. The pigs are a heritage breed containing higher fat content, which is crucial for flavor development during curing.
After salting and seasoning the fresh pork leg, the ham is aged for at least 3 months. This extended aging concentrates the pork flavors and allows the salt and spices to fully permeate the meat.
Most importantly, Tennessee hams are smoked using hardwood like hickory or oak. This smoking process gives the meat its distinctive reddish-brown color and infuses a slightly sweet, smoky taste.
The end result is a dry cured ham with a salty, rich flavor and dense texture. When sliced paper thin, the ham melts in your mouth! The aging and smoking techniques make Tennessee ham stand out from other country ham varieties.
The Art of Curing and Aging Tennessee Ham
Curing and aging is truly an art form perfected by Tennessee ham producers over generations.
It starts with fresh pork legs from heritage hog breeds like Duroc, Yorkshire, and Berkshire. The pork legs are trimmed of excess fat, submerged in a salt and sugar brine, and left to cure for 1-2 months.
After curing, the pork legs are rinsed of excess salt and hung to air dry. This starts the all-important aging stage, where humidity and temperature are controlled to bring out the pork’s rich, complex flavors.
Tennessee hams are aged for a minimum of 3 months, but the best are aged 6 months or longer! The pork’s natural enzymes slowly break down the proteins, making the meat incredibly tender.
Finally, the cured hams are smoked over hardwood like hickory, apple, or maple. The smoking can last 3 days or more depending on the desired smokiness. This meticulous process is why Tennessee ham has such distinct bold, smoky flavor.
Types of Tennessee Ham
There are a few styles of Tennessee ham crafted around the state:
Country ham – Most common style, dry cured and hickory smoked. Aged 3-6+ months for concentrated flavor.
Prosciutto ham – Made by air drying the ham’s outer muscle without smoking. Produces paper-thin prosciutto slices.
Picnic ham – From the pig’s front leg so it’s leaner than a country ham. Often used diced or shredded.
Sugar-cured ham – Brined in sugar, honey, and sorghum for a sweeter flavor. Shorter cure time.
Smithfield ham – Made in Middle TN with a shorter salt-curing. Milder in flavor than country ham.
Bay ham – Dry rubbed with black pepper and other spices before smoking over applewood and sassafras.
The regional differences create a wide range of Tennessee hams to enjoy. Country ham and prosciutto are most prized for their intense aged flavors.
How to Cook Tennessee Ham
With its dry, salty properties, Tennessee ham requires special preparation:
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Trim excess fat and soak in water for up to 24 hours to reduce saltiness. Change the water every 8-12 hours.
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Simmer in liquid like water, coffee, or Coca-Cola which also helps mellow the ham’s saltiness.
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Cook low and slow either baking or pan frying the ham slices until heated through.
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Enjoy thin slices since Tennessee ham has a dense, concentrated flavor.
Popular ways to serve cooked Tennessee ham include:
- With red-eye gravy, redeye gravy made with the ham drippings.
- In a biscuit with jam or preserves for a salty-sweet combo.
- Added to greens, beans, or black-eyed peas for flavor.
- As the star of a hearty breakfast with eggs, grits, and biscuits.
- In sandwiches paired with pimiento cheese.
- Diced up in ham salad with mayo, onions, relish, and hard-boiled eggs.
The possibilities are endless! Just balance the ham’s robust seasoning with something sweet, creamy, or acidic.
Where to Buy the Best Tennessee Hams
The very best Tennessee hams are still handcrafted by local smokehouses around the state. I recommend:
Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams – Operating since 1947 in Madisonville, TN. Known for exceptional dry cured, hickory smoked country hams aged 6-10 months. They also produce tasty bacon, prosciutto, and shoulder sausage.
Newsom’s Old Mill Store – Curing hams in Princeton, KY (just across the TN border) since 1917. Their country hams are salt-cured and hickory smoked. They also sell ham products like prosciutto, sausage, and soup beans.
Clifty Farm – Certified organic country hams aged 5 months or longer from Paris, TN. Available online and at high-end grocers like Dean & Deluca.
Father’s Country Hams – Small-batch hams salt-cured and smoked over hickory, oak, and cherry wood in Bremen, GA. Aged a minimum of 8 months.
For authentic Tennessee ham, always look for dry cured, naturally smoked, and aged for at least 3 months. The longer the aging time, the more concentrated pork flavor you’ll enjoy!
Satisfy Your Southern Ham Cravings
Tennessee ham holds a place of honor at any Southern table thanks to generations perfecting the salting, smoking, and aging process. Savor a thin slice with biscuits and red eye gravy for a true taste of Tennessee.
The Schoolhouse to the Smokehouse
After getting his education degree from UT in 1969, Benton worked as a guidance counselor at Vonore High School in Monroe County.
“I got to work with an incredible bunch of country kids,” he says. By the start of the 1973 school year, he had already earned his master’s from Middle Tennessee State University. He looked at his pay stub and saw that his raise was about $400 for the year.
“I knew I couldn’t survive on what they were paying,” he remembers. “I thought about going to law school. Thank goodness I didn’t do that. ”.
Benton learned that between Madisonville and Sweetwater, on Old Highway 68, a dairy farmer named Albert Hicks had decided to close his small ham-curing business. Since 1947, farmers in the area had brought their pigs there.
“On the first of September 1973, he leased me that little frame building. He was a shrewd businessman and a great farmer. I cherish the time I spent with Albert Hicks. I learned a lot about life. I was wet behind the ears and green as the grass. I knew what we did with hams at home. I ran my business in his back yard for five years. ”.
Hicks had always had a problem with spoilage.
“He couldn’t figure it out,” says Benton. As soon as I told Albert the food tech professors’ answer, he said, “That kid is the luckiest dang boy I ever saw in my life.” ’.
“The first time I visited the food tech professors, it was an epiphany. I wished that I could have started out on the ag campus. What I would give if I could have studied food technology. I swallowed hook, line and sinker everything they told me. “When I took the first ham that smelled bad into the Food Tech Building, Curtis Melton and Marjorie Penfield told me right away what I needed to do to fix it.” It was a combination of not quite enough salt and lengthening out the time and equalization.
If I hadn’t had the help they gave me,” he says, “I would never have survived.”
Around this time, Benton started dating Sharon Frerichs, a UT student. Their second date was to a pawn shop. “She likes to say, ‘Our dating went downhill from there,’” Benton says with a laugh.
They were married in 1974 at Vonore United Methodist Church. She graduated from UT in 1976 with a degree in education. For many years, she was in charge of Monroe County’s pre-K through eighth-grade curriculum and instruction. “I sure married over my head,” says Benton.
A Family Tradition of Pork
He grew up in Scott County, which is in the southwest corner of Virginia and just across the state line from Kingsport.
“I’m just an ol’ hillbilly,” Benton likes to say. “I was born in the hills so far away that you had to look straight up to see the sun.” We got our water from the springhouse. We had outdoor toilets. It was just a subsistence living. We raised everything we ate. Neither side of my family owned a car, truck or tractor. They farmed with horses and mules, and they raised everything they ate.
“For my grandparents, pork was sustenance. They were sneaky Appalachians, so every August they let their hogs run free in the hills to find acorns. This produced extremely fine-quality pork. Thanksgiving was the traditional day for butchering pork in the mountains. We’d spend three days doing it, working with the whole hog. ”.
Tennessee Cured Ham
FAQ
Why was Goodbye Earl controversial?
What is the difference between ham and country ham?
What state is known for country ham?
Can you eat a Ham in Tennessee?
It’s on menus everywhere. The step beyond country ham is Italian-style prosciutto, or ‘Tennshootoe’ from the Hamery, country ham aged for 18 or more months. As Bob says, you put some salt on a ham in Italy and some salt on a ham in Tennessee and you get a similar product.
Are Tennessee Country Hams magic?
There’s no end to the magic of Tennessee country ham. Our friend Bob Woods of The Hamery in Murfreesboro, TN, is a patient guy who knows the importance of a light touch and plenty of patience. The Hamery’s state fair grand champion country hams have been spreading Tennessee umami around the South for decades. Bob’s hams are magic.
Is Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country hams a booming business?
’Tis the season for eating, and for Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams near Madisonville, Tennessee, business is booming. “We cure 11,000 country hams a year, so we stay busy, but December is our busiest month,” says Allan Benton, owner of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams.
Where can I buy Smoky Mountain hams?
Benton’s Smoky Mountain Hams Store, 2603 Highway 411 N., Madisonville You can also order Benton’s products online at bentonscountryhams2.com or via telephone at (423) 442-5003. Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams takes the tradition of preserved pork far beyond East Tennessee.