Need advice on Ham & Beans

I have tried to make soup with a ham bone and beans before, but it never seems to turn out as good as I hoped. So I am hoping some one here can school me. I have the bone with quite a bit of meat left from a Honey Baked ham. I also have a bag of dry Great Northern beans, some celery, carrots and onions. I want to turn it into soup. Should I soak the beans over night? Should I start to boil the ham bone before I put the beans in? I would like the meat to come off the ham bone, but I don't want the beans to turn to mush. Is it better to cook it in a crock pot, or on the stove in a big pot? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Waldo

I like to do it on the stove. Soak the beans over night and make the stock beforehand so you can separate the fat.

Stock: Cover the ham bone with water, add several carrots, a small halved onion, celery stalks, a few pepper corns and a couple bay leaves. Use plenty of water, you’ll lose quite a bit to evaporation. I also like to add a heaping spoon of “Better than Bullion” low sodium chicken base. Simmer for a few hours covered, until the meat has shrunk and is starting to come off the bone. Pour thru a colander and let the liquid cool overnight, so you can easily remove the excess fat. Separate the meat and put it in the fridge. Throw away the vegetables, bay leaves, bone and gristle.

Soup (next day): Heat some butter in the dry soup pot and add diced onion, carrot and celery (good amount of each). When the onion is just translucent, add the stock, a can of peeled diced tomatoes and the drained beans. It will need to cook for several hours. Add the ham and a peeled diced potato with about an hour to go. Adjust seasoning (salt, pepper, pepper sauce) and add some fresh parsley. Good with bread and beer.

I think chad's recipe is about perfect and very close to the way I do it.

Honey baked ham bone makes a great bean soup.

I soak my beans 24 hours, then dump that water and add new....

Then add (for 1lb dry beans)
* 2 10oz cans diced tomato w chili
* 6oz can pablano salsa
* onion, garlic, shallot, Bay leaves, chili powder to taste
* Hambone

Bring to a boil and then simmer on low with lid on...

simmer 2hrs, then add a few Tblsp brown sugar, and a healthy squirt of regular yellow mustard ... continue to simmer 1hr. I also add an egregious amount of Tapatio, and other hot sauces at this point. Adding them early lets the vinegar in them boil off.

*Add 1cup dry rice and one additional cup water

Simmer 1hr

Salt and pepper to taste.

Should you care for a soup with a bit more viscosity, strain 2-3 ladels of beans and blend them in a food processor. Add back to soup to thicken - will also thicken overnight in the fridge (A lot of people agree that beans and chili are always better the next day

This is also base for my chili ..... I'll throw in seasoned ground beef or turkey then call it a day.

Cook up some white corn tortillas, and you've got yourself a meal!!!

Bean Hole Baked Beans

1 pound dried Navy beans
3/4 pound bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, or more to taste
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup beer

Wash and pick through beans to remove any foreign matter. Place in a large bowl and add water to cover by 4 inches. Let the beans soak in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Drain the beans in a colander and place in a large pot. Add water to cover by 4 inches and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cover the pot. Simmer until the beans are tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. When done you should be able to crush a bean easily between your thumb and forefinger. Drain the beans well, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Be sure the beans are as soft as you like them because, once sugar is added, the beans don't soften any more no matter how long you cook them.

Place the drained beans in a large heavy pot. Stir in the bacon, onion, bell pepper, garlic, molasses, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Tabasco sauce, and liquid smoke. Taste for seasoning, adding more brown sugar and/or mustard as necessary and salt and pepper to taste. The beans should be highly seasoned. Add beer and enough bean cooking liquid to cover the beans by 1 inch.

Add your Ham bone to the pot.

Cover the pot and bake beans in a 275 - 300 degree oven for 1 hour. The beans should be just barely simmering. Check to make sure they aren't drying out. Add more of the reserved bean cooking liquid if necessary. The beans will thicken as they cool. Continue cooking for another 30 -60 minutes.

(I typically use left-over smoked brisket instead of ham. Since the brisket has plenty of smoke flavor already, I skip the liquid smoke.)

Chad's sure looks really GOOD.

I make Pasta ***oli a lot,

There are hundreds of recipes for it. Usually it is made with pork necks bones or ham hocks.
The beans can be small white, white kidney or navy.

Just made it the other night with a large ham bone.
If you use dry beans soak them over night and also cook them for a minute and let sit for an hour before adding to the pot. Nothing worse than hard beans.

My recipe is similar to this one. I cook it all day in a crock pot and put the pasta in at the last 5-10 min before serving

Pasta and Beans: Pasta e ***ioli Recipe : Rachael Ray : Food Network

Soak the great northerns overnight and put a tablespoon of baking soda in with them. (makes them less gassy). Drain.
Put a couple of cans of chicken broth over the ham bone and add beans and a whole chopped onion and a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder (more if you like.)
Add water until bone is completely covered.
Simmer 3-4 hours (or longer, just don't let the beans overcook and get mushy) and add water if you need to.
Add bullion cubes if it needs more salt, but be careful, there's a lot of salt in the ham that will come out.
Take bay leaf, put in a plastic sack, and bury in the back yard as far away from the beans as possible.
Fry some bacon in a cast iron skillet, then remove bacon, leave grease and pour your favorite cornbread recipe into the hot skillet and bake as directed. (might take a little less time since you started with a hot skillet.)
Never substitute ham hocks for the ham bone.

Hi. Mrs. beach elvis here.

Place your beans in a pot overnight to soak add a tablespoon of salt, this will help soften the beans..drain and add new water and let set while you're cooking your ham.
In a stock pot place your ham bone in pot covered with water and cook for 3-4 hours until ham falls off of the bone. Add 1 teaspoon of beef bouillon and 1 teaspoon of chicken bouillon (this will make a pork base) and let cook when meat is off the bone add more water as necessary to keep ham bone covered add onion and cook until onion is almost clear, then add your carrots,celery and beans (drain the beans first). Allow to cook for a few hours over medium to medium low heat. This will allow your ham to be tender and off the bone and your beans won't be "mushy". Add other seasoning to taste. Let cook to your own desired consistancy and enjoy.

Waldo said:

also have a bag of dry Great Northern beans, some celery, carrots and onions. I want to turn it into soup.


but I don't want the beans to turn to mush.

Click to expand...

We do a pot of beans at least every week, Great Northerns are wonderful in flavor but the nature of that particular bean is often soft when cooked. Also another tip, bring your beans up to a pretty good boil when you first put them on, then turn your heat down to a "very very" slow simmer and do not stir to often as stirring great northerns breaks them up. A big pot should be used and 1 1/2" water to cover the beans if you want them real soupy.

Once the beans are tender, then add your hambone this way your ham and its flavor are not watered down.

I usually set a pot of beans on about noon if I want to eat at 6:00, probably throw the hambone in at 4:30. You don't have to watch over them all day either just an occasional stir lets say once ever hour or so.

More often than not we just use about 3 big tablespoons of bacon grease rather than the ham, not good for the arteries but great for the taste.

Sometime try navy beans, if you want the bean to be more firm.

rondo said:

Bean Hole Baked Beans

1 pound dried Navy beans
3/4 pound bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, or more to taste
6 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup beer

Wash and pick through beans to remove any foreign matter. Place in a large bowl and add water to cover by 4 inches. Let the beans soak in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Drain the beans in a colander and place in a large pot. Add water to cover by 4 inches and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cover the pot. Simmer until the beans are tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. When done you should be able to crush a bean easily between your thumb and forefinger. Drain the beans well, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Be sure the beans are as soft as you like them because, once sugar is added, the beans don't soften any more no matter how long you cook them.

Place the drained beans in a large heavy pot. Stir in the bacon, onion, bell pepper, garlic, molasses, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Tabasco sauce, and liquid smoke. Taste for seasoning, adding more brown sugar and/or mustard as necessary and salt and pepper to taste. The beans should be highly seasoned. Add beer and enough bean cooking liquid to cover the beans by 1 inch.

Add your Ham bone to the pot.

Cover the pot and bake beans in a 275 - 300 degree oven for 1 hour. The beans should be just barely simmering. Check to make sure they aren't drying out. Add more of the reserved bean cooking liquid if necessary. The beans will thicken as they cool. Continue cooking for another 30 -60 minutes.

(I typically use left-over smoked brisket instead of ham. Since the brisket has plenty of smoke flavor already, I skip the liquid smoke.)

Click to expand...

Oh yeah....that looks just fine!!

And don't forget just how good Pinto Beans can be with a hambone.

I tried using a bone from a Honey Baked Ham , but it turned out too sweet .

Beans is good and good for ya!!!!!!!

I have my own seasoning mix. I must admit that I have found different variations of mixes online and I either alter them to make what I like or I may not have all of the ingredients that an online recipe calls for. You can mix this and store it in a zip lock bag until you need it again. So here is my seasoning mix:
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried sweet basil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon celery seed
• 5 tablespoons sweet paprika
Note that I do not put salt in this. You can add that later if you want.

Here is a recipe for a Creole style white beans that I made recently and I like to serve this with rice.

4 slices of bacon.
1 lb. dried Navy beans (you can use Great Northern Beans or a mixture of multiple beans)
2 tablespoons of my seasoning blend or to taste
1 14 oz. can of chopped tomatoes (leave this out if you just want white beans and rice)
1 lb. ham cut into cubes
Winn Dixie sells a frozen seasoning blend that consists of chopped onions, celery, garlic and green and red peppers and parsley.
I use one 12 oz bag of this
1 large soup pot

Cover beans with water 2 inches above beans and soak overnight. Then drain them.

Boil the ham and bone and strain and put the stock in the refrigerator overnight.
Scoop the fat off the top before using.

Fry the bacon and save the grease. Saute the seasoning mix in the bacon grease until the onions are translucent.
Add tomatoes with juice, and about ehough stock to cover the beans the pot. Crumble the bacon and add that.
Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Add ham and simmer 1 hour. After this check the seasonings and add salt, seasoning, or hot sauce to taste.


I like white beans creamy so put liquid to cover the beans by an inch or more.
I also crush about 1/3 of the beans after cooked to create a creamy mixture.
Just make sure that you keep enough stock in it to make sure that it does not dry out

If you want it to be more like a soup, add more stock.

For this year's Hoppin' John I added a pack of bacon ends & trimmin's.

Added a right nice flavor, as bacon always does...