It’s easy to confuse with a ham bone, but they’re actually different. Find out why—and what a ham hock can do for your recipes.

When using ham for flavorful soups or stews, you may be wondering if it's better to use the bone or the hock. Here's the difference, and when to use each.

Nestle the ham knuckle into the cabbage mixture. Cover and cook, stirring vegetables occasionally, for 1 hour 20 minutes-1 hour 30 minutes, adding water if needed, until ham is tender and warmed.

The knuckle sags away, more eager than most cuts of meat to be tied up and packaged. The pork knuckle, though, presents none of these pleasures to the butcher--nor, for that matter, to most diners.