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Ham Stock

Ingredients

  • 1 ham bone from a cooked ham
  • any ham scraps--skin, fatty pieces, gristle
  • 2 T. vinegar*
  • cold water to cover

Instructions

  • Add all ingredients to a large stockpot. Bring to a boil and simmer for several hours--at least two or three hours. Longer won't hurt.
  • Cool the stock, remover the bone, and strain. I put a wire strainer in a quart measuring cup and strain a quart or pint at a time.
  • Transfer strained stock to plastic bags or freezer containers, label, and freeze.
  • Save meaty bits from stock making for use in soups and beans later if you like. You can freeze these, too.

Notes

* A couple of tablespoons of vinegar in a full pot of stock isn't enough to taste, so some people wonder what it's for.  The vinegar helps leach minerals--particularly calcium--from the bones, yielding a richer and more nutritious stock.