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Ham Boiled and Baked

A ham is boiled, then baked with vinegar and grated bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Ham Boiled and Baked

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Wash the ham well and scrape the lower part.

  2. Soak the ham in water overnight, ensuring it is fully covered.

Boil and skin

  1. In the morning, place the ham in a pot with fresh water and boil slowly for 4 hours.

  2. Remove the skin while the ham is hot, using a damp cloth to help loosen it.

Bake and brown

  1. The next day, place the ham in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours, covering the top to protect it.

  2. In the dripping pan, add 1 pint of vinegar and baste the ham often.

  3. Ten minutes before it's done, cover the ham with grated bread and return it to the oven to brown.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Ham + vinegartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

  3. Vinegar + breadtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,672 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Ham
Is the main cut, which is cooked slowly until tender and then finished with a browned crust.
Vinegar
Adds acidity to the dripping pan liquid, giving the basting juices a sharper flavour.
Grated bread
Forms a crumb topping that crisps and browns in the oven, adding texture to the surface.

The step that matters

Adding the bread topping. The bread should only go on about ten minutes before the end. Browning needs a dry surface and sugars that caramelise in dry heat, so the crumbs can scorch if left in too long.

“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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