WHEN it comes to picking the perfect pork product, it seems Queensland is the place to be.
Master Meats at Warana has taken out first place in the traditional bone-in leg ham category at Australia's Ham Awards, while Toowoomba's Gray's Modern Meats placed first for Queensland in the boneless category and third nationally.
Boonah's Elite Meats placed second for Queensland's boneless category, with Schulte's Meat Tavern, Plainland, in third.
The awards are held as part of Australian Ham Week, which runs from November 30 to December 6, celebrating and promoting our nation's finest home-grown ham.
Hams made from 100 percent Australian pork are evaluated by a team of specialist judges who independently assess the entries for appearance, texture, aroma and taste.
This year's judges were fleischmeister Horst Schurger, who has a master's degree in butchering and smallgoods from the Master College in Monchengladbach, Germany, and two chefs with international experience - Paul McDonald and Simon Bestley.
Placing behind Warana's Master Meats in the traditional bone-in leg ham category, was another Warana local, Aussie Smokehouse, who took out Queensland's second place, with Gilly's Smallgoods, Clontarf, third.
Gilly's Smallgoods is in the middle of its Christmas production, which entails more than 15,000 legs being processed from mid-October to Christmas week.
Gilly's Smallgoods general manager Alastair Stevenson said the business smoked and cooked the hams for 14 hours to develop its award-winning product.
"We're still doing things the old-fashioned way," he said. "We're curing it, not over-pumping it, and using hardwoods to smoke our hams."
Mr Stevenson pre-buys legs by the end of the financial year to ensure the business can meet the demand for Christmas hams.
Most business is wholesale, with hams sold as far afield at Emerald, Townsville and Byron Bay. A small number of retail sales are also made from the Clontarf facility, with more customers through the door in the lead-up to Christmas.
Year round, the business produces a wide range of smallgoods, including ham and bacon for the growing ready-made dietary meal brand Lite 'n' Easy.
In the nine years the Stevensons have owned the business, Gilly's has more than doubled production and continues to grow, using Queensland pigs from Swickers that are boned at the Lowood operation owned by the family.
They now employ about 30 staff at both facilities.
The meat processing business takes stamina - particularly at this time of year - and former competitive distance runner Mr Stevenson still has plenty of energy left in the tank to see him through the hectic festive season.
He follows in the footsteps of his father Alastair snr, who has been in the pork industry for more than 30 years, previously running piggeries in Browns Plains south of Brisbane and in the Queensland-NSW border town Texas.
Australian Pork Limited's Mitch Edwards said Australian Ham Week was developed in 2009 to raise awareness that not all ham sold in Australia was made from our pork.
"Australian ham is a quality product, tastes great and supports our Aussie farmers," Mr Edwards said.
"Unfortunately, many people are unaware that more than two-thirds of ham sold in Australia is made from imported pork.
"Australian Ham Week raises awareness of that fact, but also helps consumers find home-grown ham in store. To ensure your ham is made from 100 per cent Australian pork, buy a bone-in ham or look for the pink PorkMark logo."
