Cooking with ham hocks (2024)

FAQs

What do you do with a ham hock? ›

It's traditionally used in soups and stews and is cooked for 2-3 hours until tender. Our recipes include everything from the traditional pea and ham soups to the more unusual ham hock terrine.

meat in a ham hock that is very tasty, but there is also a lot of high quality fat, collagen and cartilage that melt away and add lip-smacking savoriness to your dish. Ham hocks are usually sold pre-cooked, and often smoked. If you get a smoked hock you may want to soak it overnight to get rid of some of the saltiness.

Ham hocks can be cooked separately or braised in the dish provided enough time is allotted for the connective tissue to break down. The meat can then be picked off the bones and removed from the skin, but the skin is delicious too, if cooked long enough.

Prepping the Soup

Once the ham hock is cooked, remove it from the pot or slow cooker and set it aside to cool slightly. Discard any excess fat or skin, and separate the meat from the bone. Shred or chop the meat into bite-sized pieces, and return it to the pot or slow cooker along with your favorite soup ingredients.

Now that you know what a ham hock is, let's talk about how you can use it. Ham hocks, consisting mainly of skin, tendons, and ligaments, are primarily used to flavor dishes, although many people enjoy braising or slow-roasting hocks and eating them as a main course.

Ham hock is high in protein, but also brings with it a share of fat, saturated fat, so should therefore be eaten in moderation. In terms of minerals, ham hock also contains sodium and potassium.

Put the ham hock ingredients into a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Simmer gently for 2-4 hours (hocks vary in size enormously, mine took just over 2 hours), skimming off the frothy scum from time to time, until the meat is really tender and begins to fall from the bone.

The nice thing about ham hocks is that you don't have to worry about overcooking them. While this makes cooking ham hocks much easier and stress-free than many other foods, there are still some cooking strategies you can use to enhance your ham hocks.

Ham hocks are usually inexpensive (often just a few dollars per pound).

Ham hocks are inexpensive, thick cuts of leg meat that can be cooked and used in a variety of ways. You can smoke ham hocks on a smoker for a moist and flavorful option, roast them in the oven until crispy and browned, or boil them on the stove.

Do ham hocks taste like ham? ›

What Do Ham Hocks Taste Like? Ham hocks have a rich, smoky, and porky taste similar to bacon. They add a meaty essence to any dish, and even if the actual pig knuckle isn't consumed, the flavor remains in whatever it's cooked with.

This thick cut of pork is inexpensive and easy to cook, and there are plenty of ways to prepare your ham hocks. Use braised, smoked, or raw ham hocks to make a delicious comforting dish with wonderfully tender meat and fantastic flavor.

Unlike bacon or pancetta, hocks are not especially meaty, which is why they're a great addition to long-cooked things—soups, of course, but also pots of beans, braised greens, and beef or poultry stocks.