Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Soak and clean
Soak the ham in a large vessel of cold water overnight.
Trim off all hard, black, scrappy parts and wash it vigorously.
Soak it in fresh water for the day, changing the water three or four times.
At night, soak it in fresh water again until morning.
Boil
Place the ham in a large boiler, cover it with cold water, and heat gradually.
Once boiling, maintain a steady boil for five hours. Skim off any coarse scum from the water.
Check doneness with a knitting needle.
Cool
Remove the ham from the boiler, take off the skin, and return it to the cooking water until completely cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Is the main cut that is softened and cooked through by long, gentle simmering.
The step that matters
Maintain a steady boil and skim the scum. A steady simmer cooks the ham evenly and tenderly, while skimming removes coarse scum that would otherwise cloud the cooking liquid and mar the surface. Heating gradually before boiling helps the meat cook without toughening.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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