"Nancy Young" wrote:
> I didn't write this letter to Cook's Country:
>
> Many years ago, when I was throwing my first dinner party,
> I wanted to serve ham. �I had forgotten the brand of ham
> my mother usually bought, and I didn't really have a clue
> how to make her candied ham, but I decided to improvise.
> I took the large ham out of the can, scraped off the jelly,
> spread mustard and brown sugar on the top, and then
> covered the top with pineapple rings. �After baking it for a
> few hours, I took the ham out to serve to my hungry guests.
> It looked a little strange because all the toppings had fallen
> off the ham and into the pan. �My husband soon found out
> why when he went to carve the ham. �The ham was still
> encased in plastic!
>
> Ahem.
>
> nancy

Ahem, what brand... and why pray tell would there be gelatin *outside*
the plastic??? If by "Cook's Country" you mean "Cook's" brand ham
they don't have a canned ham. http://cooksham.com/pages/products/

I've prepared a lot of canned ham, I mean a LOT, and many different
brands, and over many years... and I never saw a canned ham in plastic
wrap... just open the can and it's ready to eat, doesn't really need
to be cooked either, however I strongly recommend heating to an
internal temperature of 160F because you have no way to know if it was
properly refrigerated. There are similar hams wrapped in plastic (but
no can) but those are used exclusively by delis... you can buy plastic
packets of sliced ham, but no can. Many years ago, when canned ham
needed a key to open, some brands had a sheet of parchment paper top
and bottom and another wrapped around the side, to facilitate easier
removal without getting cut on the sharp can edge... but that was like
40-50 years ago... and there was no way anyone would miss seeing that
parchment paper as it was pleated where it wrapped over the edge, and
it almost always partially stuck to the can. Years ago many canned
foods were wrapped in parchment paper and/or used parchment paper
separators, but I've not seen any for many years now... today all cans
are coated on the interior with a plastic film that is also non-
stick... the old style cans were galvanized with zinc and foods would
stick. and I never saw any canned food with a plastic wrap inside the
can, that far back plastic films hadn't been invented yet. These days
most canned ham is already in a plastic can, with a metal pull tab
lid. There are some imported canned hams that still have the old
style cans with zinc plating and open with a key, but no plastic over
wrap; from Poland, Scandinavia, even Israel, etal., but all I've tried
were awful, extremely salty, with a texture just slightly better than
Alpo.