Mind Officially Blown

I've heard about this simple recipe for years... but i always thought, it can't work... then i tried it

You take a large chunk of Ham.... stick it in a dutch oven or deep pot (even from frozen, which is what i did)

Pour a 2L bottle of Coke over top....quarter one onion and toss it in... cover it, and let it cook in the oven for 12 hours @300

Thats it... thats all.... done!

I've seen it on a few cooking shows, and i could only cringe.... its gonna turn out so unbelievably sweet it will be uneatable

Two nights ago i saw Nigella do this... so i gave in. There has to be something good about this but i have my doubts

4 hours in, my house smells amazing.... smokey ham sent fills the upstairs and down. I check the ham and its casually bubbling away in the thick black liquid.... ew. I just ruined my dutch oven.

6am rolls around, and i head to bed (yes im a late night kinda guy)... i set my alarm for 2pm thinking Im going to wake up to a fire in my kitchen

i wake up at 2pm on the dot and rush down stairs like im a 10 year old on Xmas... only to see the ham sittng in a one inch puddle of goo... and my house hasn't burnt down...

Alright... so i fill the pot with hot water almost covering the ham, stick it on the counter and do some running around.

6pm.... once i get home, i dig into the ham cutting off the outer rind. After which comes the tasting.... and BOOM!

Generally im not a huge fan of ham, its very salty... and i was thinking it would be so sweet, but to my surprise it was nothing but savory goodness!!

Somehow the Coke leached out all the salt in the Ham and didn't even manage to suck up any of the sugar in the coke!

I don't know how.... i don't know why this works.... from Frozen solid!!

But it totally works.... this is easily the best Ham i've ever had

And i will be doing it again.... i recommend you try it as well

a reply to: Akragon

Right then

I have a few questions.

DO I use the original coke, vanilla coke, diet coke and what happens if I use raspberry coke?

WILL it work with Pepsi?

Last one Do you think a glass of coke and a can of spam would do similar things.

Another one of these is coat a steak with brown sugar and fry it.

P

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: Akragon

Right then

I have a few questions.

DO I use the original coke, vanilla coke, diet coke and what happens if I use raspberry coke?

WILL it work with Pepsi?

Last one

Do you think a glass of coke and a can of spam would do similar things.

Another one of these is coat a steak with brown sugar and fry it.

P

Original Coke.... no idea about your other questions

Honestly i wouldn't have even suggested trying this IF it didn't work so well...

I was shocked...

Thanks for your opinion on it and the process description (so I don't freak out too when I try it heh.) Sounds worthwhile indeed and I know you are discerning when it comes to food.

a reply to: Akragon

I've seen it on a few cooking shows, and i could only cringe.... its gonna turn out so unbelievably sweet it will be uneatable

Inedible* friend, inedible is the terminology for this occurrence that takes place in reality.

Coke has phosphoric acid in it which can make changes to meats. The sugar...is an osmolite, which causes liquids to go in and out of things. If you want to get rid of the salty taste in something you can add a little sugar to it to balance it too. Potatoes take out the salt in soup too somehow if you oversalt it. The taste of salt is related to the cloride content too, remember this if you salt soups then add green veggies to it, the soup seems to get over salty tasting when you add green veggies that have high fluoride or chloride content.

Sodium and potassium taste real bland to me in some food chemicals, I kind of like the right balance of chloride. Iodized salt to me tastes far from good compared to a good sea salt with higher chloride in it.

Lots of things could be happening with this recipe.

Both salt and sugar are osmolites, salt is used to take liquid out of meat and sugar is used to draw moisture and flavor out of the fruits cells through osmosis

a reply to: rickymouse

Well that covers the how and the why...lol

a reply to: Akragon

The important thing with this is why it tastes so great...what I offered was possible things that occurred with the food chemistry which is actually not important. What is important is that it tastes good and if it causes you to get sick. I believe you when you said it tastes great, but I cannot tell you if you improved or made the food chemistry worse on health. After all, ham is not actually a good thing for you in the first place. In moderation and occasionally consuming it it is not that bad on most people.

BUT....making it taste great probably will mean you are going to eat way too much and it might cause you to bloat all up and feel crappy for three or four days. Eating everything healthy would make life a bummer. Just because I would probably eat the whole ham in two days doesn't mean everyone would.

a reply to: rickymouse

Im sure combining two litres of coke with a big fatty chunk of meat is just one step towards a heart attack....

Still tasted pretty damn good though... certainly not going to land on my once a week menu

a reply to: Akragon

Only in the culinary hell hole called USA.

you'd think it can't get worse that Britain but it seems that it was the crown that kept common culinary sense together.

I'm tempted...

a reply to: Terpene

The OP wrote "...Two nights ago i saw Nigella do this... so i gave in. There has to be something good about this but i have my doubts..."

I'm thinking Nigella Lawson...British. Another great export, like the Beatles Stones, and Democracy.

Wonder what we'll getbin return 😊

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: Akragon

Only in the culinary hell hole called USA.

you'd think it can't get worse that Britain but it seems that it was the crown that kept common culinary sense together.

I'm tempted...

Its just sin...

2400g of coke sugar... and a Fat Ham... Perfect

devil magic i tell ya...

Around these parts we cook country ham in a Lard Stand AKA 5 Gallon Tin Can With Lid lol.
Pour enough water in the stand to cover the ham.
Bring Water to a boil then place the ham in Put the top on and lower heat boil for 2 to 4 Hours.
Take the can off the stove top in a cardboard box.
lay a blanket or quilt over the box set the can in wrap
the blanket around cover it completely.
I add another blanket (i use harbor freight moving blankets)
Let stand 12 to 24 Hours.
When you take the blankets off be careful the water is still hot.
I don't use anything but water no coke
DELICIOUS the water removes a lot of the salt
a reply to: Akragon

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: Akragon

Right then

I have a few questions.

DO I use the original coke, vanilla coke, diet coke and what happens if I use raspberry coke?

WILL it work with Pepsi?

Last one

Do you think a glass of coke and a can of spam would do similar things.

Another one of these is coat a steak with brown sugar and fry it.

P

I've seen recipes for spam with coke. So... yes.

Wouldn't use diet coke; most artificial sugars don't heat well. Cherry coke sounds good but I don't think vanilla would work as well. And yes, Dr. Pepper would work.

Pepsi... I don't think so.

a reply to: Akragon

I don't eat ham, but my grandma makes it with dr. pepper. And i'm fairly certain i've seen Alton Brown make it with Dr. Pepper