Boiled Ham
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ham
Cover the ham with cold water and let it stand overnight.
Drain the ham and place it in a kettle.
Cover it with fresh cold water.
Cook
Heat the water to boiling.
Boil for 5 minutes, then remove any scum.
Cook the ham below boiling point for 3 hours if it weighs 7 lbs, or 5 hours if it weighs 10 lbs.
Finish
If serving cold, cool the ham in the cooking water.
Lift it out and remove the skin.
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
- Ham
- Is the main cut of meat that becomes tender and flavourful through slow simmering.
- Cold water
- Covers the ham to soak off surface salt and then cooks it gently without browning.
The step that matters
Keep the water below boiling after the initial boil. Once the 5-minute boil and scum removal are done, a gentle simmer below boiling keeps the meat tender and prevents the outer layers from toughening and breaking apart.
“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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