Skip to main content
Main

To Broil Ham

A method for preparing ham slices by scalding, broiling, or frying, optionally coated with beaten egg and rolled crackers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

To Broil Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ham

  1. Soak ham slices in hot water for 30 minutes or scald them in a pan over heat.

  2. Soak hard, salty ham in hot water for 10 minutes, then dry with a cloth.

  3. For fried ham and eggs, ensure slices are of uniform thickness and remove the rind.

  4. After scalding, dry the slices, dip them in beaten egg, coat with rolled crackers, and fry or broil.

Cook and serve

  1. Place the ham on a grill over bright coals and brown both sides.

  2. Cook in a cold frying pan over heat, turning slices three to four times until done.

  3. Transfer the slices to a hot dish, butter them generously, sprinkle with pepper, and serve.

  4. Keep cooked ham warm while poaching eggs, then place eggs on ham and serve immediately.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ham slices
Provide the meat that is softened by soaking or scalding and then browned.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the hot ham as it is served.
Beaten egg
Binds the cracker coating so it adheres to the ham slices.
Rolled crackers
Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the ham.

The step that matters

Soaking or scalding the ham. Hard, salty ham can taste overly salty and tough, so soaking or scalding in hot water draws off some salt and softens the meat before browning. Drying the slices afterward helps them brown rather than steam.

“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.

More broiled ham recipes

and Eggs 6 See all 39 →

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes