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Stuffed Ham
Soak a 10 or 12-pound ham in cold water over night; in the morning, wash and trim carefully. Remove the bone and fill with stuffing. Sew up the slit where the bone was taken out and bind the ham firmly in a strong piece of cotton. Cook slowly for 3 or 4 hours and cool in the bandage. When cold, remove the bandage, the rind and brown fat. Sprinkle with sugar and fine crumbs. Bake 1 hour in a slow oven. Serves 16 to 20.
This is an old-style boiled-then-glazed ham, boned and stuffed, meant to be served cold in slices at a holiday buffet. Nearly everything hinges on which ham you start with.
- The overnight soakSoaking is for a dry-salt or country-cured ham, which was the ordinary article when this was written and can carry enough salt to be inedible otherwise. A modern supermarket ham is wet-cured and mild; it needs no soaking, and a fully cooked one should not be simmered for hours at all. Look for a raw, uncooked ("cook before eating") ham if you want this dish.
- BoningRemoving an aitchbone and femur cleanly from a whole ham is butcher's work. Ask for the ham boned but left whole with the cavity intact, rather than butterflied or netted.
- "Cook slowly"This means simmering in water, not roasting: keep the pot at 180-185F so the surface barely trembles. A hard boil tightens the meat and forces the stuffing out through the seam.
- Internal temperatureThree to four hours suits a 10-12 lb ham, but go by a thermometer, not the clock. The stuffing at the centre is the last thing to heat and should reach at least 165F; the surrounding meat will be at 150-160F.
- The bandageA double thickness of scalded cheesecloth or unbleached muslin, wrapped snugly and tied at intervals with kitchen string, does the job. Cooling in the wrap is what makes the boned ham hold a sliceable shape, so allow several hours in the refrigerator before unwrapping.
- Rind and fatPeel the rind while the ham is still faintly warm, when it lifts in sheets. Once fully chilled the fat sets hard and tears the meat.
- Slow ovenThe recipe gives no temperature; a slow oven is conventionally reckoned at about 300-325F. One hour is enough to set the sugar-and-crumb coating to a light crust; the ham is already cooked, so the goal is colour, not heat. Watch the last fifteen minutes, as fine crumbs scorch quickly.
- YieldSixteen to twenty is realistic for a boned 10-12 lb ham served cold in thin slices. Keep it refrigerated and use it within a few days.