Ronnie and Beth Drennan of Broadbent B&B Foods in Kuttawa, Kentucky saw their Grand Champion ham sell at auction for $10 million at the 59th Annual Country Ham Breakfast this week in Louisville, Kentucky.

Broadbent claimed the title for the 15th time and saw their 18lb ham sell for over a half million dollars per pound.

On Feb. 27, 1974, the late James Beard wrote in a newspaper column, “It was only lately, while in Kentucky, that I became acquainted with these superb hams. There’s a company called Broadbent-Bingham that sells cured and aged country hams. If you visit them, you can also buy extraordinarily good ham hocks, thick ham steaks and hams, all cured the same way. I carried back a cooked ham for Thanksgiving which was much admired by all who tasted it”.

Former Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Kelly Craft, along with her husband Joe, and Central Bank president and CEO Luther Deaton, made joint $5 million bids for the 18-pound grand champion ham.

The $10 million will be made available to a variety of charitable organizations including Boys and Girls Clubs across the state; a new mental health initiative that has not been clearly defined; and to build 57 new homes in Knott County for families who lost everything in the 2022 floods.

The American Cured Meat Championships were held earlier this month in Charleston, South Carolina. 56 plants from 29 states entered a total of 583 products in the competition.

We’re old school meat men who were weaned on country ham and bacon so we always follow these shootouts with a keen eye.

Below is the list of the 29 Grand Champions products in this year’s contest: Continue reading →