How To Boil A Ham

Boiling a raw smoked ham makes for a delicious meal, or is the first step to making a glazed roast. I've adopted tips from Dorothy Hartley's History of Food in England for some olde timey ideas on how to improve a ham. If you have leftovers, so much the better because there are recipes that require bits of cooked smoked ham to extend the pleasure and gratitude for this food. There are loads of special Notes for this recipe, so make sure to read them to make sure you're getting the result you're looking for.

1 smoked raw ham, no matter the weight (picnic/shoulder hams are more flavorful)

1 large whole onion, skin and all, rough chop

2 carrots, rough chop

2 branches celery, rough chop (or a pinch of celery seed)

2 to 4 bay leaves

Small handful of whole peppercorns, about 1 Tbsp

NOTE: For best results, cook separately from a meal - the ham should cool in its own cooking water before use, which means boiling it the day before. HOWEVER, it can be used as soon as cooked all on its own and still hot as an excellent protein for a meal ('specially with roast root veg). 

NOTE: Put to soak the night before cooking.

1. Weigh the ham and calculate the cooking time (before the soak) at 15 minutes per lb.
2. Good hams are preserved with salt, which makes them very salty unless you soak them and boil the salts out of them. Soak the ham in plenty of cold water (therefore in a large pot) for a minimum of 6 hours, but preferably overnight. 
3. Drain the water, and replace with fresh cold water. Put the pot on your heat source but note, the water should not boil for any extended period - boiling will make the ham tough! Bring the water to a gentle simmer, and cook like this for about an hour for the first boil, regardless of the size of your ham. If you have a small ham, the timing for your second boil will depend on the internal temperature of the ham, outlined in step #6. 
4. Meanwhile, get the vegetables ready.
5. After the hour is up, drain the water, refill with cold water again, throw in the vegetables and spices, and set it to very gently simmer (again being careful not to let the water boil). From the calculations you made in Step 1, subtract the hour it has already simmered, and start the count-down. For the ham to be completely cooked, the internal temperature should read 155 to 160°F.
6. Once your ham is cooked, SAVE THE COOKING WATER to make soup! Leave the cooking water to cool completely and scoop off the congealed fat to use in flavoring dishes that usually use bacon for flavoring like quiches or soups. 
7. If not to eat right away, leave the ham in its cooking water to cool down completely. The flavorful cooking water will hydrate the ham to make it more succulent. The cold ham can be used to make baked ham, or its leftovers used in other dishes.

Good served with: Cabbage Braised in Milk