Review: Country Ham Biscuit from Hardee’s

Posted October 14th, 2011 | 9:35pm by Chefprotoss

Is there a greater food than ham? I think not. Ham is salty, sweet, fatty and most importantly has that “pig” flavor other cured meats just can’t hold a candle to. Sure, corned beef is great, but have you ever had canned corned beef? Awful is the first word that comes to my mind. Canned Spam and Treet on the other hand are fantastic. I have never met a ham I didn’t at the least somewhat enjoy and country ham is one of my favorites. If you have never had or even heard of country ham, here is the run down; it’s a dry cured ham produced mainly in the south. Think of it as American prosciutto. It is usually cooked after curing and served in thick “Thanksgiving” style slices as opposed to the paper-thin uncooked slices of European hams like serrano or the aforementioned prosciutto. Same beast, different end result. I tried Hardee’s Country Ham Biscuit last year and thought it was taken off the menu. I jumped with joy when I recently discovered it was a permanent item the other day. Lucky for me, I get a second chance to delve into this breakfast treat.

Hardee’s describes the Country Ham Biscuit like this:

A thick slice of country ham on a freshly baked Made from Scratch Biscuit

This was hands down the best biscuit sandwich I have ever had. I spent my youth working in old school diners and their biscuits pale in comparison to Hardee’s. I am an admitted “food snob”, but I’m not going to lie to you guys, this biscuit rocks! I doubt most chefs I know, including me, could make a biscuit this good. Though, in my defense, I do hate baking. It is the perfect combination of flaky and buttery while somehow it doesn’t fall apart like most fast food biscuits. Yeah, I’m talking to you Chick-fil-A. I generally don’t like fast food biscuits. They come off as old paper mache that has been dunked in a pool of margarine. The Hardee’s biscuit is like a dense buttery pillow sent by the gods.

Sure, you could load this baby up with eggs and cheese, but that would detract from the awesomeness of this biscuit. A simple slice of country ham is all this bad boy needs. Beauty in simplicity. By adding a layer of fatty porky goodness, Hardee’s has created a masterpiece that is now in my top 5 all-time sandwiches. While not the best country ham I have ever had, it easily blows every other fast food pork product out of the water. Sorry Chipotle, your delicious carnitas lose out to ham. Maybe next time Steve…

When I took my first bite of this sandwich, I uttered about ten words. I can only tell you three of them though, and they were “holy”, “mother” and “awesome”. Going into a sandwich like this, I expect the ham to be the star. Not here, this is a duet from the stars singing a harmonious ballad of pig and bread. You owe it to yourself to buy this. Do your belly a favor and head to Hardee’s.