Stovetop or Slow Cooker Ham Bone and Potato Soup Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can a ham bone be used twice for soup? ›

Ham Bone Soup Recipes

Depending how much meat comes off the bone, you may be able to reuse it if you refrigerate it between uses. Salt and pepper the recipe to taste.

If you can't find a ham hock, don't worry. You can easily substitute pork shank, smoked bacon, or smoked sausage without affecting your recipe too much. Not eating pork? Smoked turkey bacon should work just fine.

Crockpot: To reheat your Slow Cooker Potato Soup from the refrigerator, place your ceramic crockpot insert back into your crockpot and heat on low for 1-2 hours. Stove: You may also reheat large batches of Potato Soup in the stove over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until heated through.

The way to that is to simmer the bones ever so gently over a long period of time, anywhere between 6 and 48 hours depending on the type of bone (i.e. larger bones like beef take longer). Don't be turned off by the length of time, it's all passive hands-off cooking time!

For best results, try to use your frozen ham bone within three months. There may be some loss of flavor if you keep it longer, and any bits of meat and cartilage remaining on it may get freezer burn or dry out. Ham bones are packed with so much rich, flavor.

Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way. Add cornstarch to a small amount of cold water or other liquid (wine or stock) and whisk into a thick slurry. Then the slurry can be stirred into a simmering soup, a bit at a time to set the final consistency.

Cheese: I recommend a good sharp cheddar cheese here for maximum flavor. Greek yogurt or sour cream: To make the soup extra-creamy. Salt and pepper: Add in as much as you need at the end to season your soup well.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the potatoes, and cook for 5-10 minutes until partially tender. Drain and then add them to your simmering soup for finishing. 3. Roasting: For a richer flavor and slightly crispy texture, try roasting the potatoes before adding them to the soup.

Can I Make Ham and Bean Soup Without a Bone? Absolutely! If you've got a leftover ham bone, shank, or ham hock laying around, especially after the holidays, absolutely toss it into the soup to simmer, but truly you can get TONS of flavor simply by using a diced ham steak.

They're not a super-fancy item only found at gourmet grocery stores—I buy mine at the local Safeway. If you can't find them, just ask. Both fresh and smoked ham bones need to be cooked thoroughly before eating and do best when simmered slowly for hours in a pot of soup.

What can I use instead of ham bone or ham hock? ›

If you can't find ham hocks, you can usually successfully substitute a ham bone, smoked bacon, or smoked sausage. And if you are going pork-free, try smoked turkey sausage or turkey bacon.

Most appliances will automatically shut off after 20 or so hours on this setting, but you shouldn't leave food in a slow cooker for an extended length of time. The general rule of thumb is that 2-4 hours is the maximum length of time you can leave food in a slow cooker on warm.

The soup will will be good for at least 12 hours just sitting like this. It'll keep like this essentially indefinitely if you repeat the process. You're essentially replicating the canning process. This is traditionally how soups and stews have been kept over the week prior to refrigeration in many cultures.

While it's perfectly ok to use your crock pot in this way, try to avoid leaving food on the warming setting for more than four hours. According to the USDA, food kept at between 40 and 140 degrees is more at risk of forming bacteria. In this temperature range, bacteria can double in number within just 20 minutes.

Although you may be able to use a ham bone again for soup, if not all of the meat comes off of the bone, most of the flavor you can get from the bone will be used up the first time you use it to make soup. If you want to try to reuse the bone, refrigerate it and use it again within a couple of days.

As long as the ham was stored in the refrigerator at a safe temperature after thawing for no more than four days, it's fine to refreeze the ham. Just know that taste and texture could be affected. Freezing creates ice crystals that rupture the meat's cell structure, which causes the liquid you see during thawing.

Use Bones Over and Over (Over and Over) Consider reusing the bones for each batch of soup until they break or you just get tired of the process and want to clean the pot. please Each batch of soup is less tasty than the last, but still nutritious.

Generally, doing a third (or more) use of the bones for broth will extract very little flavor, mostly only giving you a bit of the remaining gelatin. Any flavor that does still exist will also become increasingly unbalanced.