BOONE, N.C. — For Bill Goodnight, making ham is more than a job, it's a way of life. It's also his family's legacy.

His grandparents started Goodnight Brothers in a basement in Perkinsville, N.C.

What You Need To Know

  • Goodnight Brothers is celebrating 75 years

  • The business started in a basement and has now grown to be known widely

  • It has been able to speed up the curing process, more than halving the time required

"They had a family garden out back and they would grow the vegetables and sell it by the roadside. And in 1945 or so, they moved to Howard Street where they build a building there and became incorporated in '48," Goodnight said.

The business that started from selling produce has grown into a large country ham operation. Thousands of hams now make their way through the building each day.

"Now we're doing five to six 40,000-pound loads per week," Goodnight said.

The employees are curing using a different method from what they once used. It once took nine months to cure a ham, but now it takes four. They took the curing process indoors.

"That helped us control a lot," Goodnight said.

They create a product that is deboned and pressed; some pieces are shrink-wrapped, others are sliced. Employees say they make every piece as precisely and as perfectly as they can.

Goodnight says one thing makes this ham so special — "It's that mountain air."