There I was, reading an article online about Christmas leftovers, and it mentioned keeping your cooked meat in a hambag. "Sweetheart," I said to Bob"do you know anything about a ham bag"
You can guess his response! He immediately channelled his inner Dame Edith Evans
Neither of us had heard of this food storage item. But the clear implication was that this is the ideal way to preserve your Christmas ham. And it said you can buy one in Woolworths. We don't have Woolworths in the UK any more
Well who knew?
I love a Christmas ham, tasty with pickles, salads, cheese, breads etc for easy meals in the days after Christmas. But I never knew about the bag before.
In my youth [before we had a fridge] the ham lived in the pantry under a clean teatowel, and Dad would slice off pieces for meals, or snacks and sandwiches. I recognise that my friends in the Antipodes are celebrating Christmas in balmy summer weather. Do they still put this bagged ham in the fridge? or is this a way of keeping it fresh if stored on the countertop?
You can buy hambags online - but at £12+ I think this is extortionate. My recycled teatowel solution should work fine.
Do you use, or have you ever used, a hambag?
*Woolworths Australia has nothing to do with Woolworths USA. Woolworths NZ have rebranded the stores as 'Countdown', and in Canada they are Foot Locker - Woolworths UK have all gone, and their place on the High Street has been taken over by Wilko
I have not used ham bags for cooked meat but I do us meat stockinette, made from muslin, when raw. Before Christmas I hang our Norfolk Black turkeys for five or so days shrouded in a stockinette for protection, plucked but not yet gutted. There's a scene in the musical Oliver when Oliver and runs by some butchers carrying sides of beef covered in stockinette, and If I remember correctly, he hides in one.
ReplyDeleteFood, glorious food!
DeleteAs you say "who knew"? But I think I'll stick to foil covering the plate in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying my proper home cooked ham - can't remember when I last did one
and as you said on the blog, infinitely nicer than thin presliced 'sandwich' ham
DeleteNever heard of one!
ReplyDeleteLive and learn
DeleteToo hot in Oz to keep meat out of the fridge! Where we lived for over 30 years it would be over 40 degrees for days on end. Fortunately we have now moved somewhere much cooler.
ReplyDeleteToo hot for me
DeleteWe like Woolworths South Africa! It's a bit like M&S!
ReplyDeleteYour Hambag seems a very good idea! Kx
Didn't know they were still in SA
DeleteHi Ang, yes we definitely put our hams in their handbags in the fridge in Australia. It is far too hot to leave meat out of the fridge at Christmas. I bought my ham bag one year after Christmas for less than a dollar!
ReplyDeleteThank you - what excellent value
DeleteHow interesting and a good tip!
ReplyDeleteWe had a gorgeous ham cooked by our local butcher, it was a very tasty Christmas treat, quite a lot is in the freezer though and will last us well into February .
Alison in Wales x
I'm afraid we'd eat it faster than that!!
DeleteI have never heard of a ham bag but it seems wise. I tend to leave it in what it comes in, then cut up pieces and put in tupperwear - one for the freezer and one for the fridge!
ReplyDeleteThere have been too many people here this week to put some aside for the freezer. Perhaps next year I'll get a bigger ham and use the bag!
DeleteI have never ever heard of that. I buy a small enough ham, that I just keep it in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteMy usual practice too... But the family is growing
DeleteHow easily you transform something into a useful item that would cost a fortune in a store!
ReplyDeleteI haven't bought a ham for a long time. DH isn't overly keen on ham, although I do sometimes buy some for sandwiches. He got really put off during a trip to England when DS was little. We visited and stayed with both sets of parents, and my grandmother and aunt, and each time we were given ham and he was even being encouraged to have seconds!
Ham sandwiches (with mustard or chutney) are a staple of the British diet
DeleteOh how I laughed when I read your blog today. My mother in law had a ham bag that she kept on a shelf in the pantry when full of home boiled ham. As a two year old my daughter the called every handbag she saw a hambag after mishearing her Nana. We still laugh about it today. I made potato storage bags from fancy dish towels and I like that they can be hot washed with the towels. Catriona
ReplyDeleteOh I do love family sayings based on children mis-hearing (like Rosie's "chupney")
DeleteWe have 'underbrellas' in our household, ever since our then two year old son called them that. His reasoning was that you stood 'under the brella'!
DeleteThat is a very reasonable explanation
DeleteLady Bracknell appears a lot in our house when handbags are mentioned. Never heard of a hambag though - I never tend to buy more than a few deli slices. When I was Rosie's age, I wanted to work on the meat slicing machine in our local Co-op!
ReplyDelete(I've just sent you a Messenger re bird brooches)
Lynn P
Did you hear about the Co-op employee who sat on the meat slicer and got a little behind with his orders?
ReplyDeleteI just picked up your Bird Message.
I've heard of "humbug" but not "ham bag"! I like the one you made with your tea towel. :)
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, we taught the girls at sewing group to make humbug bags! http://angalmond.blogspot.com/2009/01/bah-humbug.html
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of a ‘ham bag’ nor have I ever heard of leaving meat out on a counter or shelf, we always refrigerated it. We do, however, leave salted butter out so it is easy to spread.
ReplyDelete👍
DeleteI never knew there was such a thing as a 'Ham Bag' .... in Manchester that's how we pronounced handbag all the time growing up.
ReplyDeleteI think many of us say HamBag.
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