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To Boil a Leg of Pork

A method for boiling a leg of pork with salt, water, and optional cloth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Boil a Leg of Pork

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Salt the leg of pork for 8 to 10 days.

  2. Before cooking, weigh the pork and soak it in cold water for 30 minutes to whiten it.

Boil

  1. Boil the pork, allowing 15 minutes for each pound plus an additional 30 minutes.

  2. Skim the surface as soon as it starts boiling and continue to skim frequently. Ensure there is enough water for boiling.

  3. Optionally, boil the pork in a floured cloth for a delicate appearance.

  4. Save some of the broth to make pea soup.

Serve

  1. Serve with pea pudding and turnips.

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

Leg of pork
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and moist as it cooks slowly in liquid.
Coarse sea salt
Cures the pork over several days, seasoning it and helping it hold moisture.

The step that matters

Skim the surface as soon as it starts boiling. Foam and impurities rise to the surface when boiling begins. Removing them early keeps the broth clear and the meat clean-tasting, and skimming frequently prevents them from being redistributed into the liquid.

“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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