Ham (not hock) Stew Question

[vivankiki]

I was wondering why when people makes soups/stews with gammon they always preboil it before then cubing it and adding to stew. Why can't you cube it, brown the cubes, and proceed from there (as you would for a beef stew, or if using shoulder of pork).

Is this possible to do? Thanks!

[chefj]

If you are talking about Traditional British Gammon it is probably to remove excess Salt.
In Britain Ham or Gammon Ham is cooked or cured and ready to eat.
In the US we do not usually use the term Gammon.
So if your Ham/ Gammon is not super salty you can cube and cook away.

[fourunder]

According to this link....The difference between Gammon and Ham.......Gammon is ham before it is cooked....both are cured.

http://www.lovepork.co.uk/assets/pdf/...

[chefj]

That is true. Except that there are Hams that do not need cooking and are not called Gammon.
The reason that Gammon is boiled or soaked is because it still has tons of Salt in it, like what we call Country Ham.
After Gammon is prepared it is referred to as Gammon Ham. Some of this nomenclature has changed because of modern curing methods.

[fourunder]

Thanks for the info...

[vivankiki]

thanks for the tips! this ham is uncooked, unsmoked, but looks to be quite salty. Do you think i could soak it, or flash boil it (not to cook, just to remove salt) than cube and cook away? (I know it's not ideal, but it's such a cheap cut).

[chefj]

Soaking works well to remove the Salt. You can find instructions easily in Cyberspace.

[fourunder]

Pork has a very unpleasant odor for many. The preboil, especially when done with aromatics reduces the unpleasant nose to the finished recipe...be it stew or soup.