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To Boil a Ham

A ham boiled until tender, then coated with egg and breadcrumbs and browned.

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 ↓

To Boil a Ham

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the ham

  1. Soak the ham in lukewarm water to draw out salt and tenderize it. Soak for 24 hours for older hams, changing the water frequently.

  2. Scrape and trim the ham, removing any rough parts.

  3. Place the ham in a large pot and cover it with cold water.

Boil the ham

  1. Heat the pot over a slow fire for 1.5 to 2 hours until it begins to boil.

  2. Once boiling, increase the heat and skim the surface.

  3. Simmer gently for 4 to 5 hours, depending on the size of the ham.

  4. When done, remove the ham, strip off the skin, and reserve it.

Glaze and serve

  1. Rub the ham with beaten egg.

  2. Sprinkle the ham with fine bread crumbs.

  3. Brown the ham in the oven at 400°F (200°C) or over a hot dish set before the fire.

  4. Garnish with a fringe of writing paper around the shank-bone.

  5. Serve the ham.

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. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 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
Is the main cut that becomes tender and flavorful during soaking and long simmering.
Beaten egg
Binds the bread crumbs to the surface so they stick during browning.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust when the ham is browned.

The step that matters

Simmer gently after boiling. Once boiling, a rolling boil toughens meat proteins and can break up the ham; a gentle simmer keeps the meat tender over the long cooking time.

“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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