Boiling a Ham
From The Pattern cook-book, 1890
Serves 20
When done, remove the ham, but do not skin it until cold, nor cut it until it has been cooked twenty-four hours, unless it is to be eaten hot.
Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation below, not the original instructions.
A modern interpretation · AI-generated from the original record
Ingredients
Method
As published
This recipe was extracted from The Pattern cook-book (1890) by Butterick Publishing Company, page 82. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.
The hams, shoulders, chines and middlings are the parts of the pig usually pickled. This should be done as soon as possible after the meat is cold, and should not be delayed more than twenty-four hours at the very longest. The following is the proportion of pickle allowed to fifty pounds of pork : Two and a-half pounds of brown sugar. Two ounces of saltpetre. Nine gallons of water. Salt to make a brine. Mix the sugar and saltpetre with the water, and grad- ually add Liverpool salt until the brine will float an egg. Boil for ten minutes, skim off all the scum that rises, and set aside to cool. Cover the bottom of the packing bar- rel with coarse salt, and pack the pork closely in it, with the rind next to the sides of the barrel, and covering each layer with salt. When all the pork has been packed, pour the cold brine over it, place a round board cut a lit- tle smaller than the barrel on top of the meat, and upon it lay a heavy weight to keep it beneath the surface. If 13 194 THE PATTERN COOK-BOOK. at any time the brine froths or looks reel, it should be turned oH, scalded again and more salt added ; as soon as cold it should be returned to the meat. TO CURE HAMS. The hams may be pickled with the rest of the pork, as above directed ; and after remaining in the brine sixteen days, should be removed and washed clean of salt. They are then ready to be smoked. Another method of curing ham is to allow to fifty pounds of meat Two pounds of fine salt. One ounce of powdered saltpetre. Two ounces of brown sugar. Place the meat on a board or table in the cellar, with the skin side down. Mix the salt, sugar and saltpetre well together, and rub each ham all over with this mix- ture, putting a little of it in the hock end around the bone. Rub until the meat will absorb no more. Should there be any of the mixture left, use it on the meat at the end of a week, rubbing it in as before. Let the hams re- main in this condition for sixteen days, when they are ready to be smoked. TO SMOKE HAMS. Wet the hams with clean water, and dip them, while wet, in dry bran, forming as thick a coat as possible over the meat. Sawdust is sometimes used, but bran is much to be preferred. The object of thus using the bran is to form a crust that will prevent the evaporation of the juices. Hang the hams in the smoke-house, with the hock end down. Keep up a good smoke continually, MEATS. 195 smothering the fire with sawdust, and taking care that the house does not become hot at any time. Meat should be smoked at least four weeks, but it is seldom allowed to hang as long as that. Should it be desired to keep the hams until warm weather, there are many ways in which they may be put away. They are sometimes simply hung on hooks in a cool place, but it is undoubt- edly much better to encase them in covers, as these are an effectual protection against insects. Dust cayenne pepper around the bones, and wrap the hams closely in brown paper and then with coarse muslin shaped to fit them exactly, stitching the muslin tightly to position. Whitewash the muslin cloth, and hang the hams in a cool, dark, dry place. TO BOIL A HAM. Wash the ham well, and, if very salt, soak it over night in clear water. Ascertain its weight, and allow fifteen minutes of cooking to every pound. Place the ham in a large kettle on the stove, cover it with cold water, and when the water boils, set the kettle back where the ham will gently simmer. W^hen it has boiled in this way for one hour, turn off the water and add fresh boiling water. By thus changing the water the rank taste of the smoke is destroyed. For every ten pounds of meat add half a cupful of sugar
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Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.