ham hock and pig hock bargain food!

Sunnyday

castleton wrote: »

I have bitten the bullet and bought a slow cooker. I have also bought 2 Ham hocks to cook. I have cut up onions and carrots and soaked my hams to get rid of salt. How much water do I put in? do I just put enough to cover veg or more. I know you will know
Thank you

I usually throw in a mugful (3.5 litre one) the hocks and veg will give out a good bit of liquid themselves.

HTH

SD

j.e.j.

I've only used our slow cooker once so far, but I noticed that the sauce/gravy turns out thin and runny, so you'd probably not need as much liquid as you'd think. I think it's because no steam is lost during slow-cooking, unlike if you were cooking on a hob.

zippychick

ive merged this with our ham hock thread which has loads of information to help you

heretolearn_2

Cooked one for the first time this week - I went to Morrisons and bought all the stuff you can't get at other supermarkets and the meals have been so lovely, every night my OH has been saying 'this is good meat' even though it's all been the cheapy cuts! Nearly everything has been slow-cookered.

Pork shank - I rubbed with jerk seasoning and it was really lovely.

I'm definitely going to go that little bit further once a fortnight or so to go to Morrisons - the meat has been fantastic, cheap price but good quality, and a huge variety of cuts. I suppose it's because they butcher there and don't just buy in a few precut joints.

We've had pork cheeks casserole, the pork shank, rolled stuffed breast of lamb (BIG hit with everyone), and tonight we've got turkey thigh and the meat cut off the drumstick, probalby only eat half of that and will freeze the rest.

chaliepud

I have a ham hock in the freezer that I bought a while ago from the butcher not knowing what to do with it, and inspiration has failed to strike. What would you do with it? I have a slow cooker if that's any help....

Thank you!!

kittycat204

i always do the same thing with a ham hock. boil it for ages so the meat is falling off, can do it in a slow cooker. then strip the meat off, removing all the nasty bits. then a make a soup/ broth with softened onions, garlic, squeeze of tom puree, tin of toms, mixed herbs, tin of mixed beans or just some butter beans, then finally add the meat and salt and pepper. last time i made it i shoved in some rocket and cream because i had it in the fridge.
makes like a soupy broth with bread. or mash and veg. lovely.

hugoshavez

Lentil soup!

meritaten

I dont have a slow cooker - but have cooked ham hocks many a time in a large sauce pan.
I bring the ham hock up to boil then discard all the water. fill up with fresh water and bring to boil again. then simmer for a few hours. if the hock looks very fatty I add a dash of vinegar (my nan told me it 'cuts' the fat). I then let it cook but top up with boiling water from the kettle if the water level gets low.
after a couple of hours I test it with a knife - if it goes through without resistance I think its cooked.

Ich_2

Trim all the fat off then, cook in slow cooker for a few hours with carrot, swede, onions, leek in stock. Meat should fall off bone, serve with boiled or mashed potato

squeaky

Hi

See: ham hock and pig hock bargain food!

I'll add your query to that thread later.