{"id":64,"date":"2013-03-02T16:41:12","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T21:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/videos-ham-and-eggs-show-2013-02-20.html"},"modified":"2013-03-02T16:41:12","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T21:41:12","slug":"videos-ham-and-eggs-show-2013-02-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/03\/videos-ham-and-eggs-show-2013-02-20.html","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Ham and Eggs Show 2013-02-20"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\n<\/a>\nThe Lowndes County Ham and Eggs show is\n\n<\/a>\n\nthe only one in Georgia and\none of only two in the country.<\/a> Now, you might wonder why? Many\nfolks are interested in good, local foods and the craft of curing\nmeats. Well, it has to do with regulations and having the hogs\nslaughtered and cured in USDA certified facilities.\n<\/p>\n

\nYears ago,\n\nmen, women and children would cure the meats at home<\/a> and\nbring the hams on the appointed day to the contest (and auction).\nBut, now no meat can be sold\n\n\nthat is not USDA certified so the\nprocess has changed dramatically. Most of the hogs are obtained from\njust a few farmers, rather than each contestant raising their own.\n\n<\/a>\n\nIn the fall, the hogs are taken to Fort Valley State University<\/a>\nwhere they are slaughtered and the hams (and shoulders) are reserved\nfor curing. The rest of the hog (head, feet and tails included) is\nreturned to the submitter.\n<\/p>\n

\nA curing team makes several trips from Valdosta to Fort Valley for\nthe curing process. This involves applying a salt mixture to the\nmeat over the course of several weeks. The hams are hung in USDA\ncertified, temperature and environment controlled facilities.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the 2012 contest, just one ham was judged unfit for sale. In the\n2013 contest there were five. Why was this? There were\n\n<\/a>\n\nsome system failures at the facility<\/a> that may have caused the uneven cure\n(resulting in a sour taint). The cure team makes several trips, has\na detailed set of instructions on application of the cure, turning\nand hanging of the meat and smoking of the product. There might be\nmore shows and contests like this one if the processing could be\ndone locally and the contestants could have more direct control over\ntheir product. This would also make it easier for those who know how\nto teach those who would like to know.\n<\/p>\n

\nIn any event, I’m thankful to retired county agent Calvin Willis and\nDerek Dawson who coordinate the many details of this show.\n<\/p>\n

\nHere’s\n\na video playlist:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n