Boneless Smoked Ham Hocks?

[Panhead John]

I’ve used ham hocks most of my life for adding to a pot of beans, but I’ve never run across boneless ham hocks before. I found em in my local H‑E‑B today. These are the best part of the ham hock, just the delicious meat that’s wrapped inside the layer of inedible fat and connected to the bone. When using them before, I’d have to let the hocks cool off after cooking, so I could cut the meat out from under the fat. I’d then add the meat back into the pot of beans…..sometimes there’d be very little meat that was usable, depending on the size of the hock. This also seems to be cheaper than buying whole ham hocks, very little of which is edible.

I haven’t opened the package yet, but they look to be mainly the meat with just a little fat surrounding it. The fat that is there, looks to be the good kind. Have any of y’all seen these before or used it? If so what did you think? I’m gonna use some of these in a pot of beans tonight. Maybe these have been around forever, but I’ve never seen em before.

[ofelles]

Never heard of them. My thoughts are the the bone marrow and connective tissue add to the richness of the broth so would this be sacrificed?
Not having to pick them apart and burn my fingers because I didn't wait long enough would be nice though.

[Panhead John]

There’s enough fat on the meat, I think they’ll turn out good. Not sure about missing the bone, maybe. But I think I’m gonna really like buying these. I just finished vac sealing 6 bags of meat pieces out the package, after adding several pieces to my pot of beans. There was a LOT of good meat in the bag and it was only $8.00. This is much cheaper than buying the whole ham hocks.

[SheilaAnn]

I, too, have never seen them. I would imagine that after braising, it would be simple to just fork shred?

[Panhead John]

I can let you know later tonight. I just finished cutting them into a little bit smaller pieces and added them to my beans. I’d guess they’re gonna be fork tender after cooking for a few hours.

[klflowers]

I have used them before. They were a little drier than on the bone because of the lack of fat. I prefer on the bone and singed fingers

[Panhead John]

Luckily these had plenty of fat on them, but H‑E‑B typically has good stuff. It was a white fat too, not that hard layer of brown fat on the outside of the hock. I’m hopeful they’ll be good, I’ll know more after dinner tonight.

[Panhead John]

Well, these boneless ham hocks were great! I put them in my pot of butter beans and purple hull peas. So tender I could cut them with the spoon I was using.

[ofelles]

@tstalafuse
I use to like you! 🙃

[tstalafuse]

ofelles, my feelings are so hurt that I may not even cook something this weekend. CO is so much closer than CA. We even got Whataburger before CA, and we all agree that Whataburger is better than In-and-Out...

[SheilaAnn]

tstalafuse living in Dallas for 4 years plus visiting, I’ve had my fair share of whataburgers, but I forgot what they are like. I like, don’t love, in and out. It is definitely an institution here. The fries s*ck and the grilled onions make everything tastes like burnt onions.

[Bkhuna]

I'd jump on these in a heartbeat but I've never seen them. Unfortunately, HEB delivery doesn't come this far. Most places deserve an HEB before the left coast. They should stick to alfalfa sprouts and a plate of mashed yeast.

[Panhead John]

😂😂

[SheilaAnn]

mashed yeast? 🤣🤣🤣🤢🤢🤢

[Bkhuna]

SheilaAnn It's a reference from the movie Annie Hall wherein Woody Allen goes to LA and meets with Diane Keaton at a chichi vegetarian cafe and orders "the alfalfa sprouts and mashed yeast".