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Boiled Old Ham

A ham soaked, boiled, and baked with molasses, brown sugar, cracker crumbs, and black pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Boiled Old Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Soak the ham in water overnight.

  2. Place the ham in a pot and cover with water.

Cook

  1. Add molasses and brown sugar to the pot.

  2. Cover and cook slowly for about 4 hours.

  3. Let the ham cool in the soaking water.

Finish and bake

  1. Remove the skin from the ham.

  2. Sprinkle cracker crumbs and black pepper on top.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour, basting frequently with the juices.

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

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.

  1. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Molasses + peppertop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together897 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Ham + sugartop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,084 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Well-cured old ham
Main protein; its curing salts and long simmer give it a firm, deeply savoury flavour.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and dark colour, and helps the surface brown during baking.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and caramel notes that deepen the glaze as it bakes.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb juices and form a crisp, golden crust on the surface.

The step that matters

Cooking slowly and cooling in the soaking water. Gentle, long simmering keeps the ham tender rather than tough and dry. Letting it cool in its liquid lets the meat reabsorb moisture as it sets, so it stays juicy.

“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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