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To Boil a York Ham

A large ham boiled in water with fat for 6 hours, optionally finished in oven.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Boil a York Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Choose a smooth, plump ham.

  2. Soak the ham in cold water for 24 hours.

  3. Scrape it clean from dirt and slime.

Cook and serve

  1. Place the ham in a pot with cold water and enough fat to boil.

  2. Cook for 6 hours.

  3. Optionally, place in the oven on a baking sheet for a few minutes before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

York ham
Provides the main meat, which is cured and then slowly simmered until tender.
Fat
Added to the boiling water to enrich the cooking liquid and help carry flavor into the meat.

The step that matters

Cook for 6 hours. A long, gentle simmer lets the tough connective tissue in a large cured ham break down slowly. Boiling too hard can toughen the outer meat and make it dry, so the water should stay at a low simmer.

“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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