Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrape the ham.
If the ham is not very salty, skip soaking; 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
Simmer the ham gently, avoiding a boil to prevent toughening the meat. Cook for 20 minutes per pound.
Finish and serve
Once cooked, remove the ham from the water and strip off the skin.
Serve the ham garnished with twisted scalloped paper or sprigs of green parsley.
If not serving hot, let it cool before skinning to retain the juices.
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
- The main cut; gentle simmering cooks it through while keeping the meat tender and juicy.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, do not boil. Rapid boiling makes the meat proteins tighten and toughen, leaving the ham dry and chewy. A gentle simmer cooks it evenly while keeping the fibres 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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