Why it works: Ham and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,516 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
To Bake a Ham
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fierce oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the ham
Soak the ham in plenty of cold water overnight.
The next day, soak it in warm water for an hour or more.
Wash the ham gently and trim off any rusty parts.
Roll out a coarse paste to about 1 inch thick and lay the ham rind-side down on it.
Moisten the edges of the paste, pinch them together, and fold them over the top of the ham to seal it.
Bake and serve
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the size of the ham.
Remove the crust and skin while the ham is still hot.
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.
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Ham + flourtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,516 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Forms the main body of the dish, and its size sets how long it needs to cook.
- Coarse flour for paste
- Forms a sealed crust that holds moisture in the ham during long baking.
The step that matters
Sealing the paste crust. Pinching the edges tightly keeps the ham's moisture inside during the long bake; gaps let juices escape and the meat dries out.
“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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