Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the ham for 10 to 12 hours, changing the water once or twice to remove excess salt.
Scrape and trim the ham.
Place the ham in a pot large enough to cover it with water.
Cook and cool
Bring the water to a slow boil and cook gently for 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of the ham.
Cool the ham in its own cooking liquid.
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
- Provides the main meat and flavour; its cured salt is drawn out by soaking before cooking.
- Water
- Carries heat gently around the ham and, after soaking, is the medium that removes excess salt.
The step that matters
Bring the water to a slow boil and cook gently. A gentle simmer cooks the ham evenly and keeps the meat tender. A hard rolling boil toughens the proteins and can make the outside dry or ragged before the centre is cooked.
“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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