To Boil a Leg of Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Salt the leg of pork for 8 to 10 days.
Weigh the pork and soak it in cold water for 30 minutes.
Boil
Boil the pork, allowing 15 minutes for each pound plus an additional 30 minutes.
Skim the surface of the water as soon as it starts boiling and continue to skim frequently.
Ensure there is enough water for boiling.
Optionally, boil the pork in a floured cloth for a delicate appearance.
Serve
Save some of the broth to make pea soup.
Serve with peas and turnips.
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
- Leg of pork
- Large cut of meat whose connective tissue softens into tender, moist meat during long, gentle boiling.
- Coarse sea salt
- Cures the meat over several days, seasoning it deeply and firming its texture.
The step that matters
Keep the pork fully submerged and skim the foam from the start. Meat poking above the water cooks unevenly and dries at the surface. Foam that rises as the water boils carries impurities that cloud the broth, so skimming early and often keeps both the meat and the broth clean.
“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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