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On Boiling Meat

A method for boiling meat with cold water, salt, and varying times depending on type.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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On Boiling Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place the meat in a pot with cold water, using 1 quart for every pound of meat.

  2. Soak cured tongue overnight.

  3. Soak ham overnight.

Boil

  1. Heat the water gradually over moderate heat.

  2. Boil fresh meat for 20 minutes per pound.

  3. Boil salt meat for 40 minutes per pound.

  4. Boil cured tongue for at least 4 hours.

  5. Boil ham for 3 to 5 hours, or finish in the oven.

  6. Skim off any froth that rises during boiling.

  7. Add a pint of cold water to help.

  8. Continue skimming every minute or two until no froth remains.

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 step that matters

Skim off the froth. Froth is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the water heats. Skimming it while it forms keeps the broth clear and prevents it from settling back onto the meat as the liquid simmers.

“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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