Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
To Boil a Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the ham in cold water overnight.
Scrape the ham clean and place it in a pot with cold water.
Boil
Boil the ham for five hours, adjusting the time for different weights.
Skim off any scum while boiling.
Finish
Once done, carefully remove the skin and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
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
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- The main cut, which becomes tender and seasoned through slow boiling in water.
- Bread crumbs
- Sprinkled over the surface to add a dry, lightly textured coating on the exposed fat.
The step that matters
Boil the ham for five hours, adjusting the time for different weights. Cooking time depends on the ham's mass, so a heavier ham needs longer to heat through at the centre. Matching the time to the weight helps prevent a ham that is underdone near the bone or overcooked outside.
“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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