Martha Stewart ham and Costco no more.

A couple weeks ago I bought one. When I opened it, the whole exterior of the ham was slimy, and I don't mean slick like oil or fat would make it. The slime yelled "Bad meat!" at me. I washed the ham thoroughly and heated it according to instructions. There's no doubt that however they processed this ham would make it the best I've tasted in around 30 years. However both Frank and I had intestinal problems (not too serious) 8 hours after eating it. Costco replaced it for me, and the ham was again slimy, so I figured why not wash it and try again since the first one didn't kill us. Same thing, intestinal problems 8 hours later. I called Costco again this morning, and they said they don't have any more and the Martha Stewart ham was being deleted, IOW they won't be selling it any more.

Has anybody else tried the ham?

Thanks,
Linda

Are you sure the "slime" wasn't aspic?

I'm 99% sure it wasn't aspic. That's more "squeaky". This stuff was truly slimy.

Linda

[Jenise]

I'm 99% sure it wasn't aspic. That's more "squeaky". This stuff was truly slimy.

Linda

Linda, some clear gel that impresses me as 'slime' is something I have found in vacuum wrapped packages of sliced cured meat. Can't remember where I bought whatever it was, but it could well have been as Costco and in fact most likely was as that's about the only place I'd have bought a packaged product like that. I remember washing it off of whatever it was I bought, and then being too revolted to eat the underlying product. Definitely slime, and it's obviously a preservative. Never have trusted a product packaged like that since.

And--guess what? I've got one of those Martha Stewart hams in the outside fridge right now. I tasted a sample at the store back around Decemberish and it was in fact very tasty ham (not overly salted, smoked or 'fake' tasting as many are to me). So about a month ago I bought one. I'll make a point of cutting into it soon and will report back.

A couple weeks ago I bought one. When I opened it, the whole exterior of the ham was slimy, and I don't mean slick like oil or fat would make it. The slime yelled "Bad meat!" at me. I washed the ham thoroughly and heated it according to instructions. There's no doubt that however they processed this ham would make it the best I've tasted in around 30 years. However both Frank and I had intestinal problems (not too serious) 8 hours after eating it. Costco replaced it for me, and the ham was again slimy, so I figured why not wash it and try again since the first one didn't kill us. Same thing, intestinal problems 8 hours later. I called Costco again this morning, and they said they don't have any more and the Martha Stewart ham was being deleted, IOW they won't be selling it any more.

Has anybody else tried the ham?

Thanks,
Linda

Hi Linda,
I don't know about your ham problems, but I sure do know name from the past! It's so nice to see you here again, as you have been missed A LOT! Welcome back! Oh, and say a big FLDG hello to Frank too.

Hmmmmmmmm.
Was it a boiled ham? Because I've encountered that kind of slime with boiled ham, but it never made me ill.
When I used to cut the cryo off Boar's Head boiled ham, prior to slicing, I always did it over the trash can, because of the purge that would issue forth. It was pretty slimy - it consists of the natural juices of the ham combined with whatever cure they inject it with at the packer.

Not an attractive sight, is it?

A couple weeks ago I bought one. When I opened it, the whole exterior of the ham was slimy, and I don't mean slick like oil or fat would make it. The slime yelled "Bad meat!" at me. I washed the ham thoroughly and heated it according to instructions. There's no doubt that however they processed this ham would make it the best I've tasted in around 30 years. However both Frank and I had intestinal problems (not too serious) 8 hours after eating it. Costco replaced it for me, and the ham was again slimy, so I figured why not wash it and try again since the first one didn't kill us. Same thing, intestinal problems 8 hours later. I called Costco again this morning, and they said they don't have any more and the Martha Stewart ham was being deleted, IOW they won't be selling it any more.

Has anybody else tried the ham?

Thanks,
Linda

Aside from everything else, how did it taste?

Linda, it was the best ham I've had in 30 years, since they started using injections of saline solution. I've cut off the outside and boned the ham into 3 nice pieces. It tastes fine, and I'm going to try it again.

Thanks,
Linda

John, I believe it was baked slowly. Maybe I'm wrong and that's not what made us slightly sick. See my message to Linda R.

Thanks,
Linda

Thanks Bob, I passed along your big hello to Frank. He says back atcha.

Linda

Jenise, you may be right about the slime. I can't wait to hear what you think. I guess it's all moot though since Costco won't be selling them any more. I bet Martha's not happy about that. <g>

Thanks,
Linda

[Jenise]

Jenise, you may be right about the slime. I can't wait to hear what you think. I guess it's all moot though since Costco won't be selling them any more. I bet Martha's not happy about that. <g>

Thanks,
Linda

I'll open it today or tomorrow. I had bought it in anticipation of starting a carb-free diet--can't think why I'm putting it off.

[Jenise]

Linda, I cut open my ham today. What did I find? No slime. But more important, my ham was covered with honeycomb marks, like a branding. Attractive and unique, in my experience. What's significant about that? Well, Hempler is a local pork products company (by local, I mean, here in Bellingham) who distribute their products statewide through Washington-based grocery chains. Their hams are particularly good, and they're always covered by--you guessed it--honeycomb marks. This ham is lightly salted and only lightly smoked, also just like a Hempler. Hempler doesn't use that slime stuff you described and that I've encountered on other cryovacced products.

So I went back to the packaging. I had a piece of cryovac plastic with the Costco name on it, weight, price, etc. The typical meat department label. No other words or labels about source. And I had a little cloth bag with the Martha Stewart name printed on it. A guess: Costco pays Martha a consideration to use her name. They buy hams from local sources and put them in the Martha bags and, voila, a national brand is created with locally available products. Or to put it another way, my ham looked like a Hempler becuase it IS a Hempler, and yours came from who knows where.

Sorry, (but happy for me because ever since you introduced the slime potential I'd dreaded cutting open that ham), that I can't shed any more light on your problem.

I would never buy it precisely because Martha Stewart is associated with it.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I would never buy it precisely because Martha Stewart is associated with it.

-Paul W.

Ditto--at least without having tasted it first. Wouldn't want them to think the ploy "worked"!

Jenise, thanks for checking the ham for me. I don't remember anything about a pattern on the ham. It wouldn't surprise me if all those "Martha Stewart" hams were the Hemplers. It *would* surprise me if Costco used different sources for what they call the same ham. Oh well, ENJOY!

Thanks,
Linda