Our Gammon comes from the Keen family’s Sandridge Farmhouse. They have been curing gammon and bacon using the Wiltshire cure for generations. There are a number of factors that make this gammon particularly special, the first being that they rear their own pigs on the 350acre farm (as they have done for generations) where they mainly grown grain. This grain, along with yoghurt, beer and cider yeast are milled on the farm providing a well balanced diet for their pigs: free from artifical hormones, growth promoters and routine anti-biotics.
The second crucial part is the cure – the Wiltshire cure was developed in the 1840’s but slowly died out as more commercial, large scale operations were brought in. Sandridge was alone in keeping to a wet cure that avoided routine injection of saline water into the pork. As a result when you cook Sandridge Gammon or bacon, it does not shrivel in size as water evaporates – instead it keeps it’s shape and superb flavour.
Finally after 3 days of curing the gammons are allowed to rest for two weeks – and this time is crucial as it allows the meat to fully absorb the cure and ensures perfect tenderness.
So – smoked or green (unsmoked) the treatment is identical up to this stage – it takes oak and beech sawdust to smoke gammons for two to three days.
You can taste the care and time that has gone into these gammons and bacon – there is a nice layer of fat to add flavour, but they are tender and delicious.
You can buy slipper joints in the shop throughout the year, or you can order any size from 3kg up to a whole gammon on the bone (about 9kg).