I bought my first country ham today and have a few questions.
Can I store it at room temp after cutting a piece off?
Do I have to cook it?
Can I slice and fry like bacon?
Any other advice is welcome and appreciated.

All pork should be well cooked before eating.

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Yes you can store it at room temp after cutting a piece off. it will dry out in that spot, so keep cutting in the same spot, and wrap the whole thing with parchment paper and hang in a cloth bag like in the pic above. I hang mine on the porch where its cooler.

You don't have too cook it, I eat a sliver every now and then. Its very salty though.

You can slice it and fry it like bacon, its about as salty too so keep it thin.

I use mine almost exclusively for ham and beans its best ham for that. I boil the cubes once and change water and then make the soup.

i cook mine. country ham doesn't get cooked while being cured. either a dry cure is rubbed on and scraped off a couple times then rubbed on and allowed to sit for 3-4 weeks or it is submerged in a brine and held under with a rock, then cold smoked. no heat. just smoke. modern domestic hogs all get anti parasitic drugs so trichinosis and tape worm is not a big deal really but i still cook mine.

Fry on low temp on stove top in a good cast iron skillet with a little water added, covered. It don't have to really cook very much as it is cured already. The tiny bit of water and the cover make it more moist and takes away some of the salt. You can slice it thick or thin, but I personally like it a little thicker (1/4") and eaten on a good homemade biscuit. GOOD EATING and a Southern tradition.

I prefer to add a little coffee to the hot skillet after the meat has cooked and vacated. You will end up with some awesome red eye gravy.

After you cook it in the pan. add about 1/2 cup of coffee or water to the pan and bring to a slow boil. Deglaze the pan and pour the "red-eye" gravy over grits or biscuits.

Nice thread.

i put flour in red eye gravy. sometimes a little margine if there isnt enough drippings from frying the ham. soon as the ham is removed i add margarine if needed then a heaping teaspoon of flour. stir it up good so there is no lumps. then add the strong black coffee and stir till it gets thick. pour it on some grits or hash browns

Lots of country hams have been thrown away due to them getting mold on them. Wipe them off with vinegar to remove the mold and the ham will be just fine.

This is actually one ham cut in half. There is a top half and bottom half. I like to let them hang at least a week after smoking. The bottom half will get vacuum sealed and put in the freezer. Going to start eating the top half. I have tasted it and came out good. Son and I split a hog. We made a brine of 4 parts water and one part tender quick. Made 6 gallons of brine then added 2 pounds of brown sugar. Put it in a plastic tote the added hams and bacon. Left the bacon in for a week and hams in for two. Son did the smoking. I believe he told me he used apple wood. Pretty good eating. You can tell your brine is good if a raw egg will float in it.

Thanks everyone. I fried some up for lunch today and it was fantastic but next time I will try a little water and see if the rind will soften some.