Boiled, baked or roasted, a smoked gammon joint is a traditional meal served in many British homes during the holiday season. The type of wood chips that the joints are smoked over determines their smoky flavor. Smoked gammon joints come in a variety of glazes and cures.

When approaching any frozen meat product, proper defrosting technique is crucial to ensure that the meat remains safe to cook and eat. Safe defrosting typically consists of letting the meat defrost in the controlled environment of your refrigerator.

Aitchbone is a cut of beef taken from the rump area of the cow, and it includes an almost wishbone-shaped bone through the piece of meat. Aitchbone beef isn’t quite as tender or well marbled as sirloin or round roast, but the lean meat is flavorful, and better for you because it contains less fat.

Bolar blade meat is a cut of beef taken from a cow’s shoulder, which contains strong muscles and can be tough. Therefore, satisfactory preparation of bolar blade meat requires slow cooking. Bolar blade meat can be cut into steaks, thin-sliced for roast beef sandwiches or chopped into strips for stir-fry dishes.

Pork spare rib brisket is the meat that is left over after spare ribs are cut down into various styles. Although it is relatively inexpensive because it is virtually scrap meat, pork spare rib brisket can be tough and gristly because of the fat and membranes that coat it.

The best way to mince beef is in a meat grinder. However, a meat grinder is a specialized piece of equipment that is not common in every kitchen. If you would like to mince your own meat rather than buy it from the store, you can still do so with a food processor.

Shopping for pork can be confusing, especially when you're trying to figure out the difference between hams and cured pork shoulders. Though they come from different parts of the animal, they are sometimes sold under similar names. Not to worry.

There are few parts of a hog that don't respond well to curing, from its meaty jowls -- the storied "guanciale" your deli charges so much for -- to crisp bacon and juicy hams.

Meatloaf is a filling and nutritional main dish, but the preparation process can be time-consuming and tedious. Freezing raw meatloaf not only saves you time, but it preserves the quality of the ingredients so a healthy meal is always on hand when you need it.

Freeze an uncooked beef roast within three to five days of purchase if you aren't preparing it. Keep it frozen in its unopened packaging for up to a year.

Precooked hams offer the ultimate in convenience for not only holiday and Sunday dinners, but day-to-day meal plans and dining. A precooked ham provides enough meat for several meals, from dinner to leftovers for sandwiches and omelets.

Pork-neck bones are an inexpensive cut of meat packed with flavor. They're typically prepared by being boiled and served over rice with greens, green beans or potatoes. Pork-neck bones must be slow cooked in order to get all of the meat off the bones and ensure that they come out tender.