Best prices for your Christmas ham

Photo from Cook’s Illustrated: the best cooking magazine ever

King Soopers was decidedly quiet this morning, but it will no doubtedly become a madhouse as the week goes on.  (By “week”, I mean the Wednesday through Tuesday grocery flyer sales cycle week, because isn’t that how every bargain hunter counts weeks?!)

Surely everyone’s turkeyed-out from Thanksgiving, but theoretically 37% of Americans eat turkey for Christmas while 23% eat ham.  (Personally, I’d prefer a beef roast, cooked medium rare with a sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.)  I did a little research on the best prices for ham at the local grocery stores this week, and below is what I found.

WalMart

I checked prices at WalMart on Tuesday so it’s possible they’ve changed since then; I know they lowered their price on the Sam’s Choice ham according to the sales flyer that came in the paper today, and I’ve reflected it below.

• Sam’s Choice Spiral-Cut Half Ham $1.98/lb
• Hormel Spiral-Sliced Bone-In Ham $1.98/lb
• Smithfield Half Ham $1.43/lb
• Smithfield Smoked Ham $1.33/lb

King Soopers

• Cook’s Spiral Sliced Half Ham $1.49/lb
• Cook’s Shank Portion Ham $.99/lb
• Private Selection Spiral Sliced Half Ham $1.99/lb
• Hormel Cure ’81 Spiral Sliced Ham $2.49/lb
• Hormel Cure ’81 Boneless Ham $2.99/lb

Albertson’s

• Hormel Premium Spiral Sliced Ham $1.69/lb
• Cook’s Shank Portion Ham $1.29/lb
• Hormel Cure ’81 Bonelwss Ham $3.99/lb
• Albertson’s Smoked Boneless Hickory Ham $3.99/lb

Safeway

• Butcher’s Cut Whole or Shank Half Ham $.99/lb
• Butcher’s Cut Spiral Sliced Half Ham $1.47/lb

So, from what I see, if you want a “regular” unsliced ham, your best bet is to pick up the Cook’s Shank Portion Ham at King Soopers or the Butcher’s Cut Whole or Shank Half Ham at Safeway, both $.99/lb.

The best price on a spiral-sliced ham is going to be the Cook’s Spiral Sliced Half Ham at $1.49/lb at King Soopers or the Butcher’s Cut Spiral Sliced Half Ham at Safeway for $1.47/lb.

One final note on hams: you can potentially get a really great deal on the Private Selection Spiral Sliced Half Ham at King Soopers.  It’s $1.99/lb, and there is an e-coupon at Shortcuts.com for $3 off any size Private Selection Ham or Turkey.  I also received a booklet of King Sooper’s coupons in the mail last week and it included a coupon for $5 off any Private Selection ham, so this morning I bought one and got a total of $8 off!  I got my spiral-sliced ham, originally $3.79/lb, for $1.08/lb!   [If you have no clue what Shortcuts.com is, come back tomorrow and I’ll explain a little.]

Whew, that was a lot of talk about pork prices.  I’ll do a separate post on the best places to buy the accompaniments for your Christmas dinner and desserts!