From the Brand Real Salt Cured Country Ham:

Our Natural Aged Country Hams are cured with the same methods used for generations on the family farms of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ray and Geneva Goad opened their first restaurant ten years after Ray served in the Navy in WWII, with Country Ham and Grannie Goad's Biscuits topping the menu. By 1972, Ray Goad had opened his dozens of Kingburgers all across Virginia and the Carolinas, serving America's First Fast Food Breakfast, which included Country Ham and Sausage Biscuits.

Country Ham Traditions: Country Ham harks back to the way food was preserved on the family farms of Appalachia before there were electricity and refrigeration. The family tradition of butchering hogs in the late fall allowed for them to be preserved during the cold winter months with a natural curing process. Our Country Hams are drastically different from their more common cousin, the wet-cured ham, also known as city ham, with a more complex flavor, aroma, and texture.

Blue Ridge Mountain Cured: Today, those Country Ham traditions are being kept alive in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where a few facilities owned and operated by the descendants of those early American pioneers are still making Country Hams.

Four Generations: Ray Jr. and Susan, the children of Geneva and Ray Goad, are perpetuating the legacy of Ray's and the rich traditions of Country Ham for Ray Goad's Grandchildren, who are now also active in the Family business. They assure that Ray's Country Ham is cured in the same style featured for almost 50 years at the Ray's Starlight Restaurant in Mount Airy, NC and at dozens of Ray's Kingburgers and Sweet Sue's Restaurants across five of the Mid-Atlantic States.

Mount Airy, North Carolina: If you know and love the Blue Ridge Mountains, that's where you will still find us, in a place on this map where you will find A Taste from Another Place in Time.

Vacuum-Packed for Shipment with "Owner's Manual": When your Country Ham arrives, it will not be refrigerated, as the USDA approves vacuum-packed dry-cured artisanal meats to be safely stored at room temperature. Once the outer skin of the ham is cut open, it should be packaged and stored like any other perishable food product. You can hand carve your ham into dinner slices, with ends for breakfast and biscuits, or the ultimate presentation might be baking a whole ham, for which you will find suggestions in the Owner's Manual.

A Baked Whole Bone-in Country Ham: A country ham must first be washed and soaked for 24-48 hours before cooking, to enhance the natural juices and tenderness of the ham and reduce saltiness. The Roasting Option is preferred, with the ham placed in a roasting pan with the skin side up, covered tightly, and baked at 300°F for 20 minutes per pound to an internal temperature of 162°F. After cooking, the skin and about half of the fat layer can be removed, the ham can be scored, and a glaze applied before baking at 400°F for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Favorite Side Dishes to go with Country Ham: Fried Apples, Southern Buttermilk Biscuits, Tangy Collard Greens, and Sweet Potato Snoker are all classic accompaniments to the rich flavor of Country Ham.

A Taste from Another Place in Time: The kitchen is often the warmest place in the home, the gathering spot, the center of family life. When families gather, the heat in the kitchen is not always from the oven, but also from the warmth of being together again at the heart of most families' earliest memories.

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