To Boil a Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Place the ham in a large pot and cover it with cold water.
Bring the water to a boil, then add more boiling water as needed to keep the ham covered.
Cook the ham for four to five hours.
Once done, remove the ham from the pot and carefully peel off the skin without using a fork.
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 cut being cooked, so its long gentle simmer makes it tender and fully cooked.
The step that matters
Keeping the ham fully covered while it cooks. Any part of the ham left above the water will cook unevenly and dry out. Adding boiling water rather than cold keeps the simmer steady, so the temperature does not drop and the cooking stays even.
“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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