While locals in Kali Oakley and Heidi Hite can be proud of their grand-champion hocks at the 45th Annual Trigg County Country Ham Festival, one can be assured that the process for next year’s titlists likely begins this week.
That’s because a good country ham — a world-renown Trigg County country ham — takes 365 days to perfectly craft a hind-quarter into a home-cookin’ delicacy.
Just ask Bryan Frogue of Elkton’s B&B Farms, who served as this year’s ham judge during Saturday morning’s festivities.
A three-time grand champion himself in the non-commercial division at the Kentucky State Fair, Frogue has been on both sides of success and defeat. He’s also been judging hams over the past six-to-seven years, so on Saturday, he took great care in judging the winners — using nearly five hours of the morning to carefully grade the confirmation, workmanship, aroma, color and meatiness of nearly 30 hocks, before doling out two blue ribbons.
Frogue didn’t have any idea whose ham came from which smokehouse, much less which family. It was a blind assessment, which he said definitely leaned toward fairness.
How a ham tastes and eats counts for a big portion of the score, but Frogue spent a considerable amount of time probing the hams on Saturday — using a long, metal prong that ran from the heel all the way to the hip joint, which is a place he noted is tough to cure.
Frogue noted in order to be a grand-champion, the ham has to “have it all” — and that sometimes the smallest of margins determines a winner. A little too much salt, a little too much color, a little misshapen hind-quarter can be the difference.
Judging hams is fun, Frogue added, and his family is about to start their own batch for next season — with meats ready to be salted and hung in their family smokehouse.
Two years ago, he remembers his family not even placing at the Kentucky State Fair after winning it all in 2018, and it brought him some perspective. He saw the joy of the winners and thought the judging had been fair, and he understands the pride that comes with winning such a prestigious title.
If your ham didn’t win anything on Saturday, Frogue said: “Don’t be discouraged.”
Hite’s first-place ham sold at auction for $4,500 to Michael Oliver and Wildcat Chevrolet.
