Get the most out of your bone-in half-ham.

I always cringe when I look at meat prices these days.  So I try to buy big hunks of meat when I have the time to deal with them and get as many meals as possible out of them.  So I was looking at ham and the fully-cooked,bone-in, half-ham was only $1.98/pound - hard to get better than that anymore.  I took a 10-pounder home.  And you can see that I trimmed it a couple different ways. 



First, I started by slicing thin slices for sandwiches and frying.  This is where your electric meat knife comes in handy.  We ate some that day but I still got a gallon Ziplock bag full.  This went straight to the freezer and we'll take it with us for snacking and sandwiches when we go camping at the cabin this weekend.

Next, I cubed as much as I could.  I followed the bone and trimmed big pieces and then cut them up into large bite-sized pieces.  This will be used for scalloped potatoes and other dishes.

This left me with the bone and some fattier meat still attached.  This bone has a TON of great flavor!  I'll boil that to make a great, rich ham stock, then I'll skim out the fatty parts and any good meat that is left will be included in the 15-bean ham soup recipe I'll be posting soon.  The dogs will enjoy the bone and any fat.  No part is wasted!