Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrape the ham. If it is not very salty, soaking is not necessary; if it is old and dry, soak it in lukewarm water for 12 hours, changing the water several times.
Place the ham in a large pot filled with cold water.
Cook and serve
Simmer gently, ensuring it does not boil to prevent toughening the meat.
Cook for 20 minutes per pound of ham.
Once cooked, remove the ham from the water, strip off the skin, and serve.
If not serving hot, let it cool before skinning to retain the juices. Garnish with scalloped paper or sprigs of parsley.
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
- Is the main protein; gentle simmering keeps its meat tender and juicy rather than tough.
- Lukewarm water
- Draws out excess salt when the dry, old ham is soaked before cooking.
The step that matters
Simmer gently without boiling. At a rolling boil the muscle proteins tighten and toughen, and the outer meat can break down unevenly. A gentle simmer cooks the ham through while keeping it tender and juicy.
“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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