Appendix 1 Hock guidance

For the purposes of category 2 and 3 ham, the primary hock (shank) is the muscle that surrounds the two bones below the knee. The secondary hock (shank) runs behind the knee and is therefore above and below the knee/patella joint. If the leg is cut across the knee/patella joint to remove the hock as a single bone-in joint the secondary hock is cut in half, lower half attached to the lower leg below the knee and the upper part attached to the rest of the leg joint above the knee. See diagrams below.

Most traditional butchers’ cuts are done in this way or the secondary hock is cut so that it is included in the upper leg joint going into hams. The joint can be cured as for other ham cuts and slow cooked to enable the whole muscle to be shredded.  This muscle, with its small sinews running through it has been included in whole leg ham joints historically, however needs a little extra cooking to enable the sinews to be broken down to be soft enough to eat, if used as a single muscle and sold as such (ham hock). 

The result shall only be described as ham hock and used as a shredded/pulled product and not as a formed sliced ham product.

View the hock guide here