What the Heck is a Hock?

Try our recipes for Hocks & Beans and Creamy Potato & Ham Hock Soup!

If you’ve ever studied our product list and wondered “what exactly is a hock?”, this post is for you! One of the benefits of sourcing food directly from the farmer is that we offer access to nearly every part of the animal, including things you might not find in most stores.

Hocks are the joint on the rear leg of the pig. Sometimes called ham hocks or pork knuckles, they’re adjacent to the shank and then the ham (the rear end of the pig).

Hocks have a good amount of meat attached to bone, so perfect for slow cooking to release the collagen. Because the hock is a joint, there’s a lot of connective tissue, which needs to be cooked low & slow to tenderize. The moist, tender meat is covered in a tasty layer of fat & skin. We generally offer them smoked, which brings a delicious flavor to your table. Hocks star in traditional dishes of many different cultures, but here are two basic recipes to get you started. What's your favorite way to prepare hocks?