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Ham is the raw rear leg (rump to shank) of a hog, which is preserved by smoking dry-curing or wet-curing. Ham is globally produced with emphasis on cultural specialties, for example, prosciutto, speck or jamon serrano. Ham curing can be 8 months to 2 years. A non-cured ham is fresh ham.

Hams may be sold as whole (serves up to 20 people), which includes the butt (upper part of the leg) and shank (the ankle), or as an individual butt half (serves 12 people) or a shank half (serves 10 to 12 people). The butt is more difficult to carve, but its meat is more tender and flavorful than the shank.

Hams can be bone-in (the bone adds substantially more flavor to the meat), semi-boneless (the hip bone has been removed), which makes the ham easier to carve and boneless. Take care in choosing a boneless ham, as the chunks of meat from the boning process can be pressed together and reformed into a cylindrical shape.