Buzhenina is oven-baked ham, popular in Eastern Europe. It’s an amazing alternative to sausages and other refine meat products. This oven-baked
recipe is good for carnivore and keto diets.
I remember, my parents broI remember, my parents brought me Buzhenina to a summer camp. Other kids had sausages from stores, made from paper, sawdust, and food additives. I hated fatty meaty oven-baked ham and dreamed about this
cheap stuff. I was young and stupid.
Today I cook Buzhenina by myself. It’s a very easy way to have meat for breakfast. You can have it with homemade or sugar-free store mayo, sour cream, or avocado. Or you can make sandwiches with keto or carnivore bread. You can eat it hot or cold.
Is buzhenina (oven-baked ham) suitable for keto or carnivore diet?
Usually, we cook buzhenina with lots of spices and use mustard for a marinade. But it’s also possible to use only salt and animal fat. Even in a carnivore recipe, it’s better to leave the meat in salt in a fridge overnight. The only thing I wouldn’t recommend skipping is garlic. You can throw it away after cooking. But it makes the dish more flavorful.
For both versions, take a fatty cut of meat. Traditionally, in Ukraine, pork gammon is used for oven-baked ham.
Cooking tips
It’s very easy to cook marinated buzhenina in the foil. It almost guaranteed, it will be juicy and full of flavor. But there are other options, how to cook it.
Don’t have time for marinade
Dissolve salt in warm water. Take a syringe, fill it up with salty water and make injection. The ham will be evenly salted. Then rub the piece if meet with a mix of spices. If you have 2 hours, left meat in room temperature. For more time, it’s better to put it in the fridge.
Don’t have foil
Option one. You can use a deep sheet with an elevated grid. Fill the sheet with water (it shouldn’t touch meat). Place meat on the grid.
Option two. Roughly cut onion, you can add some pieces of oranges on it. Place meat on onion.
Bake 3-5 hours on 270F/130C (until inside temperature is 160F/71C). Then take the ham from the over, set it to 445F/230°C and bake for 10 minutes.
Water and onion will prevent fat burning, oranges will add some aroma, and your buzhenina will get nice brown crust.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ham
- 3 tbsp mustard
- 6 garlic
- 1 tbsp salt
Spices
- 0.5 tsp paprika
- 0.5 tsp Rosmarie
- 0.5 tsp red pepper
Instructions
- Slice garlic into pieces with picks. With a sharp knife, make little pockets in the meat and place garlic.
- Mix all spices and salt together, and rub the meat.
- Using a spatula, spread mustard over the meat.
- Put the meat in a container, close it and let marinade overnight in the fridge.
- Pack the meat in foil, place it on a sheet, and put it in the cold oven. Set the oven to 180oC/360oF and bake for 1.5 hours. Let buzhenina cool down inside the oven.
Nutrition
