How to Cut Ham Thinly at Home [Quick & Easy Way] – CookingGearLab

Ham is one of the most popular meats for family functions, dinner parties, luncheons, etc. And this meat especially comes in the shape of a large solid blob. Obviously you need to slice it out to enjoy it. Even though you can buy the deli cuts from grocery or butcher shops, there is no guarantee.

No guarantee of the quality and taste of meat. Although slicing meat at home somewhat poses a very challenging task, we recommend you do that. Especially when you have to cut it yourself with a butcher’s knife, it gets more difficult. The pieces are uneven and may lose structure if the knife isn’t sharp enough.  

Although it is pretty easy and simple if you have a meat slicer. If you love cooking or serving meat and do not have a meat slicer you ought to buy one. You can also check our article on Best meat slicers for home use to know more about them. Apart from this article will give you a description on how to cut ham thinly at home.

What is ham?

First you might want to know what ham is, if you don’t know about it yet. Ham comes from the hind leg cut of the pork. It is a kind of processed meat preserved by curing and sometimes smoking. In addition to that, it is also at times aged and cooked even. They are usually large in size and are cut into thin slices. If you want to you can eat these cold cuts simply like that without doing anything else with them. Also you can make certain different recipes with them. 

Why should you cut ham at home?

When you buy deli cut meats from butcher shops and other places selling deli cuts, you venture into something very unknown. You can never know if the meat is of good quality or taste until you taste it. Even if it does taste fine you do not know what other things they may contain. No doubt the packages contain the dates of expiry and all but

What if the said place does not clean its slicers as frequently as it should? 

Moreover, what if the place uses the same slicer for raw as well as cooked meat?

There is always a chance of cross infection. The slicer if not cleaned thoroughly may also house the bacterium, Listeria Monocytogenes which causes the disease Listeriosis. It affects pregnant women, people older than 65 and infants and weakens their immune system. 

Therefore, cutting it at home is the safest way to consume ham.

How to cut ham thinly at home?

Furthermore, we will also describe how you can cut ham thinly at home. You can cut it either with your own hand or by using meat slicers. We obviously recommend meat slicers. But we are also known to the fact that some of us cannot spare to spend on them. Hence we have also described a way to cut it with the help of a knife.

Cut Ham Thinly With a knife

The most essential prerequisite of cutting ham with a knife is that it should be frozen. As cutting slices needs the meat to be sturdy. Therefore before you start cutting, keep the meat in the freezer for at least 30-40 mins. You can keep it for longer too but not long enough absolutely freeze it. It needs to be hard enough to hold the shape but not crumble down.

Requirements

• Safety gear
  First priority is safety. Always wear cut-resistant gloves to prevent injury.
• A sharp butcher’s knife
  The butcher knife you should cut the meat with should be sharp. If you cut with a blunt knife, the cutting is slow. Because of this, the ham slice can break in the middle.
• Cutting board
  Obviously you will need a base for setting down the ham and slicing it. So have a cutting board at your disposal.

The Process

Cut Ham Thinly With a Meat Slicer

Obviously, the second way is using a meat slicer. This is a much efficient and fast way of slicing the ham. You can produce a lot of it within a short amount of time. If you think being a novice in the kitchen will make it more difficult for you, don’t be worried. Operating a meat slicer is not a very big deal. But you should know the correct way to operate it. Our article on how to use a meat slicer will be of a great help to you.

Read Also:

• Best Pellet Smokers under 500
• Best pellet grill for searing
• Best Pellet Grill Smoker

In essence cutting a ham thinly at home is pretty easy. Like we said, we would always advise you to invest in a meat slicer. As it is more efficient and durable.