City Ham vs. Country Ham: A Guide to America's Two Great Ham Traditions

Walk into any grocery store and you'll find a ham. It'll be pink, wet, pre-cooked, probably spiral-sliced and sitting in a plastic bag. It does the job. But it's only half the story.

America has two completely distinct ham traditions, and most people only know one of them. City ham is what the majority of the country grew up eating. Country ham is the older, saltier, more stubborn cousin that's been feeding the South since before the Civil War. They come from the same animal but the similarities end there. The curing method, the texture, the flavor, the way you cook them, and the way you eat them are all fundamentally different.

This is a breakdown of both, what makes each one worth your time, and how to decide which one belongs on your table. We carry both styles from two of the best small-batch producers in the country: Ossian Smoked Meats out of Indiana for city-style smoked hams, and Broadbent's out of Kuttawa, Kentucky for traditional dry-cured country ham.

What Is a City Ham?

A city ham is a wet-cured ham. The raw pork leg is either soaked in or injected with a brine solution of water, salt, sugar, and sometimes nitrates. The process takes days, not months. After brining, the ham is typically smoked over hardwood and sold fully cooked. You heat it, glaze it, carve it, and eat it.

This is the ham that shows up at Easter dinner, Christmas gatherings, and Sunday suppers across the country. It's pink, juicy, mildly sweet, and tender enough that you can eat it cold right out of the package. Most people who say "I'm making a ham" mean a city ham.

The quality range is enormous. At the bottom, you've got water-injected grocery store hams that taste like wet cardboard. At the top, you've got hams from real smokehouses where the brine is balanced, the smoke is natural hardwood, and the result has genuine depth of flavor. The difference is night and day.

Our City Hams: Ossian Smoked Meats

Ossian Smoked Meats has been smoking hams in northern Indiana for nearly 80 years. Three generations of the same family, the same smokehouse, the same commitment to doing things without shortcuts. Their hams are naturally hickory smoked in small batches, which means actual smoke from actual wood, not liquid smoke sprayed on in a factory.

Here's what we carry from Ossian:

Old Fashioned Bone-In Smoked Ham (18lb+) — Ossian's flagship. Collar cut for maximum juice retention, bone-in for full flavor, naturally hickory smoked. This has been their top-selling ham for over 50 years. It arrives ready to cook, not pre-cooked, so you finish it your way. The bone makes outstanding ham and bean soup when the main event is over.

Premium Skinless & Shankless Bone-In Ham (17lb) — Same quality as the flagship but trimmed clean. No outer skin, no shank, just lean bone-in ham ready for the oven. If you want maximum usability with minimum waste, this is the cut.

Old Fashioned Boneless Whole Ham (11lb) — The full-size boneless option. Slow-smoked over hickory, hand-trimmed, deeply marbled. No bone to work around, which makes carving effortless. Built for the kind of gathering where seconds are expected.

Old Fashioned Boneless Ham Half (5lb+) — The same boneless ham, halved for smaller gatherings or weeknight meals. Plenty for a family of four with leftovers for sandwiches.

Boneless Deli-Style Smoked Ham (11lb) — Trimmed lean and naturally hickory smoked with a smooth, balanced flavor. This is the versatile one. Slice it thin for sandwiches, thick for dinner plates, or cube it into omelets and hash.

What Is a Country Ham?

Country ham is an entirely different animal. Instead of brine, the raw pork leg is hand-rubbed with dry salt and sometimes sugar and spices. It's then hung to age for months, sometimes more than a year. The salt draws out moisture, the meat darkens and firms, and deep, complex flavors develop that you simply cannot rush.

The result is nothing like a city ham. Country ham is dry, firm, intensely salty, and deeply savory. It's closer to European dry-cured hams like prosciutto or jamón than it is to the pink, juicy ham most Americans picture. And that's the point. This is a preservation method that was born out of necessity in the days before refrigeration, perfected over centuries in the smokehouses of Appalachia and the upper South.

Country ham requires a different mindset. You don't just heat and serve it. Whole country hams need to be soaked in water for 12 to 24 hours to rehydrate the meat and pull out excess salt before cooking. Thin-sliced country ham can be fried quickly in a hot skillet, which is the traditional way to eat it on biscuits or alongside eggs and red-eye gravy.

If you've never had country ham before, start with sliced cuts rather than a whole ham. The flavor is bold, and a little goes a long way.

Our Country Hams: Broadbent's

Broadbent's has been dry-curing country ham in Kuttawa, Kentucky since 1909. Smith Broadbent founded the company with Old World curing traditions, and Kentucky's climate turned out to be perfect for the job. The temperature swings through the seasons are essential for proper curing. Today, Broadbent's still uses salt, smoke, and patience as the only preservatives needed.

Here's what we carry from Broadbent's:

Country Ham Center Steak — A thick-cut steak from the center of the ham, where the meat is leanest and the flavor is most concentrated. Soak it, then pan-fry or bake. This is the cut that converts country ham skeptics.

Country Ham Breakfast Steaks — Thinner slices built for the skillet. Fry them quick until the edges crisp, then serve alongside eggs, grits, or red-eye gravy. This is how Southern mornings are supposed to start.

Country Ham Biscuit Slices — Sliced thin and sized to fit a biscuit. Fry in cast iron until the edges curl, tuck into a hot biscuit with butter. Add honey or red-eye gravy if you're feeling ambitious, but this ham doesn't need backup.

Hillbilly Prosciutto — Broadbent's take on paper-thin, ready-to-eat dry-cured ham. Think American prosciutto with a Kentucky accent. No cooking needed. Perfect on a charcuterie board, wrapped around melon, or draped over a warm biscuit.

Country Ham Hocks — The secret weapon of Southern cooking. Salt-cured and hickory-smoked, these hocks turn a pot of white beans, collard greens, or split pea soup into something extraordinary. Shelf stable and built to last.

Country Ham Starter Pack — New to country ham? This is where you begin. A curated selection of Broadbent's best cuts so you can taste the tradition without committing to a whole ham.

City Ham vs. Country Ham: Side by Side

How to Cook Each One

Cooking a City Ham

Most city hams are sold fully cooked, which means your job is to heat it through and add a glaze. Set your oven to 325°F, place the ham in a roasting pan with a cup of water in the bottom, cover with foil, and heat until the internal temperature reaches 140°F. For a bone-in ham, plan on about 15 to 18 minutes per pound.

In the last 30 minutes, remove the foil, score the surface in a diamond pattern, and brush on your glaze. A simple mix of brown sugar, Dijon mustard, and a splash of apple cider vinegar works. Crank the oven to 400°F for the final 10 to 15 minutes to caramelize the sugars. For a more detailed walkthrough, check out our guide on how to prepare a fully smoked ham.

Ossian's ready-to-cook hams (not pre-cooked) need a bit more time. Follow the instructions included with the ham and use a meat thermometer to hit the safe internal temperature of 145°F before resting.

Cooking a Country Ham

Country ham requires patience. If you're working with a whole ham or thick steaks, soak the meat in cold water for 12 to 24 hours, changing the water a few times. This rehydrates the meat and pulls out excess salt. Skip this step and you'll end up with something that tastes like the ocean floor.

For whole country ham, after soaking, simmer it in a large pot of water for about 20 minutes per pound until the internal temperature hits 160°F. Then you can glaze and finish it in a hot oven if you want a caramelized exterior.

For thin slices like Broadbent's biscuit slices and breakfast steaks, you can skip the soaking and go straight to the skillet. A few minutes in a hot cast iron pan is all you need. The fat renders, the edges crisp, and the saltiness mellows just enough. Serve with something that balances the salt: a soft buttermilk biscuit, a drizzle of honey, or a fried egg with a runny yolk.

Which One Should You Buy?

For a holiday centerpiece: Go with a city ham from Ossian. The bone-in smoked ham is the showstopper, or the boneless whole ham if you want easier carving. Glaze it, slice it, feed the crowd.

For a charcuterie board: Country ham. Broadbent's Hillbilly Prosciutto is made for this. Slice it thin, pair it with sharp cheddar, grainy mustard, and something sweet like fig jam or honeycomb.

For breakfast: Country ham wins here too. The biscuit slices or breakfast steaks in a hot skillet with eggs is one of the best meals in American cooking. Full stop.

For sandwiches: Ossian's Deli-Style Smoked Ham sliced thin on good bread. Simple, satisfying, miles better than anything from a grocery deli counter.

For flavoring soups and beans: Broadbent's Country Ham Hocks. Drop one in a pot of white beans or collard greens and let it do the heavy lifting. There's no shortcut to this kind of depth.

For a gift: Either works, depending on who you're gifting. For someone who loves cooking Southern food, the Country Ham Starter Pack from Broadbent's is perfect. For a crowd-pleasing holiday gift, an Ossian whole ham is hard to beat.

Shop Both Traditions

We're one of the few places where you can get both of America's great ham traditions from two of the country's best producers, shipped directly to your door. Whether you lean city or country, you're getting real ham from real smokehouses with real history behind them.

Browse our full Ossian Smoked Meats collection for hickory-smoked city hams, or explore Broadbent's full lineup for salt-cured country ham and bacon. Not sure where to start? The Country Ham Starter Pack and the Boneless Ham Half are both low-commitment ways to find out which tradition speaks to you.