Name: Hams, Boiled
Ingredients: 5 hams, 16 to 18 lbs each; stout twine; canvas

Hams, Boiled

Ingredients

5 hams, 16 to 18 lbs each
stout twine
canvas

Directions

Prepare

Bone the hams and cut and turn back the skin from the back.
Cut off the thick fat and then put the skin back in place.
Tie the hams firmly with stout twine and wrap them in canvas.
Place the hams in a metal cover and press them tightly.

Cook and cool

Cook for 6 hours in water at 165°F (74°C).
Do not remove the hams from the jackets until they are cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Hams: Provide the meat that becomes tender and sliceable after slow, gentle cooking.

The step that matters

Keep the water at 165°F (74°C) and let the hams cool in their jackets. Water held below a simmer cooks the meat gently, so it stays moist and tender rather than tough and dry. Leaving the hams wrapped until cold lets the juices settle back into the meat, so slices hold together and lose less moisture.

“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.