Fresh Ham Roast (Boneless, Netted)

Most people know ham as something pink — cured with sodium nitrate, smoked, and sliced, the holiday centerpiece that comes pre-cooked in a bag. The pink is the cure. This is something different. Fresh ham is the whole pork leg exactly as it comes off the animal — uncured, unsmoked, and preservative free. Cook it as a fresh roast and the flavor is mild, clean, and distinctly pork — a blank canvas that takes seasoning, glazes, and aromatics beautifully without salt and smoke standing in the way. Or cure it yourself at home with a simple brine of salt, curing salt, sugar, and aromatics, and in seven to ten days you have made a genuine ham from scratch — something most home cooks have never attempted, but creates unforgettable results.

The whole leg is the holiday cut — 14 to 20 lbs, dramatic on the table, enough to feed a crowd with leftovers worth planning for. Score the fat, season generously the night before, roast low and slow at 300°F to an internal temperature of 145°F and the result is a centerpiece that earns its place at any table. Braise it instead and you have something that pulls apart into something extraordinary.

The seam cut portions — inside, outside, and leg tip — are the same back leg divided into a weeknight-friendly format. All three cook identically, taste the same on the plate, and the differences between the individual muscles are not meaningful enough to change your approach. Choose by size for the occasion. A 1.5 to 2 lb portion serves two to three. A 2.5 to 3.5 lb portion serves four to six comfortably.

Sold by weight. Select the size that best suits your needs.

If you are looking for something between the seam cuts and the whole leg in size, our sirloin roast and picnic shoulder are natural companions — both boneless, both in the four to six pound range, both suited to the same approach.