Ham (No. 14)

The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's ... · Kitchiner, William · 1817
Source
The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (8)
Instructions (12)
  1. Soak ham: 12 to 24 hours for dry Westphalia ham (depending on age and thickness), 4 to 8 hours for green Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham. Lukewarm water softens it faster than cold.
  2. Once soaked, trim ham nicely on the underside and pare off all rusty and smoked parts until clean.
  3. Place ham in cold water with plenty of room.
  4. Heat water very gradually. Allow ham to be on the fire for 1.5 hours before it comes to a boil.
  5. Skim the water well and keep it simmering very gently.
  6. A 15-pound ham will take about 4-5 hours to cook, depending on thickness.
  7. For a more tender ham when served cold, boil it about 30 minutes longer.
  8. For best economy in small families, do not cut the ham until cold; it will be more juicy.
  9. Carefully pull off the skin, preserving it whole to keep the ham moist.
  10. Rub bread raspings (sieved or grated crust) over the ham, or glaze it.
  11. Trim the knuckle with a fringe of cut writing-paper.
  12. Garnish with spinach or turnips, etc.
Original Text
Ham,—(No. 14.) Though of the bacon kind, has been so altered and hardened in the curing, that it requires still more care. Ham is generally not half-soaked; as salt as brine, and hard as flint; and it would puzzle the stomach of an ostrich to digest it. Mem.—The salt, seasoning, and smoke, which preserve it before it is eaten, prevent its solution after; and unless it be very long and very gently stewed, the strongest stomach will have a tough job to extract any nourishment from it. If it is a very dry Westphalia ham, it must be soaked, according to its age and thickness, from 12 to 24 hours; for a green Yorkshire or Westmoreland ham, from four to eight hours will be sufficient. Lukewarm water will soften it much sooner than cold, when sufficiently soaked, trim it nicely on the underside, and pare off all the rusty and smoked parts till it looks delicately clean. lb. oz. A ham weighed before it was soaked 13 After 12 4 Boiled 13 4 Trimmed for table 10 12 Give it plenty of water-room, and put it in while the water is cold; let it heat very gradually, and let it be on the fire an hour and a half before it comes to a boil; let it be well skimmed, and keep it simmering very gently: a middling-sized ham of fifteen pounds will be done enough in about four or five hours, according to its thickness. If not to be cut till cold, it will cut the shorter and tenderer for being boiled about half an hour longer. In a very small family, where a ham will last a week or ten days, it is best economy not to cut it till it is cold, it will be infinitely more juicy. Pull off the skin carefully, and preserve it as whole as possible; it will form an excellent covering to keep the ham[119] moist; when you have removed the skin, rub some bread raspings through a hair-sieve, or grate a crust of bread; put it into the perforated cover of the dredging-box, and shake it over it, or glaze it; trim the knuckle with a fringe of cut writing-paper. You may garnish with spinage or turnips, &c. Obs. To pot ham (No. 509), is a much more useful and economical way of disposing of the remains of the joint, than making essence of it (No. 352). To make soup of the liquor it is boiled in, see N.B. to No. 555.
Notes
—