Smithfield (or Virginia) Ham

I once tuned in on a TV documentary about Smithfield hams, in which they showed huge buildings, like barns, full of curing hams. Although I didn’t learn any trade secrets, I saw enough to know that this is a highly controlled and exacting process that, like making a certain wine, cannot be duplicated easily at home; part of the problem, it seems to me, is making a product that is consistent from ham to ham, batch to batch, year to year. Sometimes, these Smithfield hams are touted as being f