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Boiled Ham

A ham cooked by simmering in water for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Boiled Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the ham in warm water and rub it with a wet cloth.

  2. Place the ham in a large pot and fill it with cold water.

Boil

  1. Bring the water to a boil slowly, then boil briskly.

  2. Turn the ham occasionally and cook for 4 hours if over 10 pounds, or 3 hours if under that weight.

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

Ham
Is the main cut being cooked, becoming tender and moist as it simmers in water.
Water
Carries heat evenly around the ham, cooking it gently and keeping it moist.

The step that matters

Bring the water to a boil slowly, then boil briskly. Heating gradually helps the ham cook evenly and keeps the outer meat from toughening before the centre is done. Boiling too hard can make the meat tough and dry.

“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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