Real Ham Hock in San Diego?

[Ed Dibble]

In the past, I have picked them up from Sausage King, but the last one I bought from there was nearly black in color and tasted off. The last time I was there, the only hock they had looked just as bad. Is there another source in the city for a real smoked ham hock (please no recs for supermarket "smoked pork hocks")? TIA.

ed

[Ed Dibble]

I stopped by Sausage King and was appalled at the blackened hock there. So I ended up buying the hock from Seisel's. Not that other recs didn't look good as well, but I knew I would be in the area around Seisel's since I wanted to check out the German wine shop on Morena as well.

The hock was all I hoped for. It was skinned and the outer fat layer had been removed as well. It was hock and shank together - full of meat. And at $2.99 a pound, an incredible value. Perhaps it could have been a bit more smoky, but I am very satisfied. Thanks again for all the recs!

ed

[Ed Dibble]

Thanks everyone. What a wealth of info about ham hocks. I will take one of your suggestions, for sure.

[Paul Weller]

T&H Prime meats in San Marcos.http://www.tandhsausage.com/

[softpap]

Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad has the best ham hocks. They are huge and have the best flavor. My wife uses them for her collard greens and I use them for beans and ham hocks recipe.

[The Old Man]

Tip Top Meat?

[trentyzan]

I got some nice double-smoked slab bacon last time I was at Tit Top, I wouldn't be surprised if they had great ham hocks.

[geekyfoodie]

I bought two at Honeybaked Ham on Genesee Ave. (it's in the Home Depot strip mall). They were really cheap and worked for the collard greens I was making.

[DiningDiva]

Ed, have you tried Iowa Meat Farms/Sisels? If not, just give one of them a call to see if they've got what you want. Also you might want to try some of the latin markets (Northgate, El Tigre or Pancho Villa), though I think you'd probably be more likely to get unsmoked ham hock rather than the smoked ones.

[Captain Jack]

I second Siesel's. Their ham hocks are more like ham shanks. They have lots of usable meat and great smokey flavor. I use them as my secret weapon in my Louisiana red beans. Once you try them, you will probably never want to buy them anywhere else, they are that good.

[Josh]

Big third to Seisel's.

[geekyfoodie]

I'll definitely look there next time. For me, it was my first time buying ham hocks and I went to the first place that carried them. HH's hocks worked fine, but they weren't overly flavorful or anything.