Crock Pot Ham and Beans

Growing up in the ‘50s in a family of 8 (6 kids) Mom would make a baked ham on Sunday with creamed potatoes and peas (yum). Then the next night there would be scalloped potatoes and ham (made with left over ham — also yum) but the best was yet to come. After soaking great northern beans overnight she would add the entire leftover hambone with chopped onions, salt and pepper and water and simmer for a few hours on the stovetop. We would be welcomed home from school with the amazing aroma of this delicious dinner. We may have been poor but no one ate better. I wasn’t sure about this particular recipe — crockpot, chicken stock, garlic etc. — all different from Mom’s recipe. I decided to give it a try since I had a nice hambone from Easter ham. I used half water and half chicken stock and bay leave instead of cloves and cooked on high (instead of low) for 8 hours. About midday the aroma was so reminiscent of my childhood I didn’t even care if it turned out. But it did turn out and it was every bit as good as I remembered. It brought back memories of all of us rag tag kids sitting around a formica table with a dad who had worked all day in a factory and a mom who knew how to feed big family delicious nutritious meals on a shoestring. We were some lucky kids.

I make this all the time. My kids love it. And to the previous post who said it was bland...pork roast is not ham!!! If you don't follow the recipe then don't give it a bad review!

Seriously, if you don’t follow the recipe and you add your own ingredients, doesn’t that make it another recipe? I like honest reviews about the recipe with the ingredients listed. Aside from that, I’m out. I never ever give reviews on a recipe that I substituted on, because why?

I am making this for the second time today, and I can't wait. This is the best ham and bean that I have ever had. This makes the old celery-and-onion version just seem bland! I also appreciate the "quick soak" method for pre-softening the beans. I think this makes all the difference in the world for a nice, soft yet whole, bean. I don't have a crock pot, so I followed the recipe exactly and just cooked it on the stove top with excellent results. Leftovers didn't make it past Day 3 last time I made this. We LOVED it!

This was a big hit. I used dried lima beans, to recreate my father-in-law's butter beans. DH said it was very close, and gave it a thumbs up. It did take longer than 8 hours to cook - next time, I'll start on high for a few hours, then switch to low. Served with cornbread. Thanks for sharing! -- Update: I've had good luck with cooking it for 3.5 hours on high, then 5 hours on low, or just 5 hours on high.