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By Mikey Goode
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Are you looking for great leftover ham recipes? Are you a fan of O’Charley’s Loaded Potato Soup? This crock pot Ham and Cheese Soup Recipe is a cheese lover’s dream and tastes a bit like the restaurant favorite, only with ham.
Hey y’all! GOODe Ole Boy here!
Do you remember that easy crock pot ham recipe that I made a little while back? That thing was HUGE! We ate off of it for a few days and there was STILL a bunch left over. We had ham steaks, ham sammiches, ham and eggs…I’m starting to sound like Bubba from Forrest Gump, I know.
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Ham and Cheese Soup {Crock Pot}
What I’m getting at is the ham went a long way and we continued to use it for many different recipes, like this Ham and Cheese Soup in the crock pot in Gooseberry Patch’sSlow Cooking All Year ‘Round(one of Cris’ favorite slow cooker cookbooks).We like cheesy soups ’round these parts and this one was one of the best ones yet. Everyone said it reminded them of that rich velvety soup from O’Charley’s… their loaded potato soup, only with ham instead. It does have a lot of the same qualities of that popular soup, especially the creamy cheese texture.
As the weather is getting colder I imagine a Saturday of splitting firewood to keep the chill off the house and coming in to find this soup bubbling in the crock pot. Paired with my momma’s old fashioned crescent rolls, this soup just hits the spot!This soup is like a reflection of me. Wonderful, warm and filled with cheesy GOODeness 😉 Enjoy!
Ham and Cheese Soup {Crock Pot}
Crock Pot Ham and Cheese Soup: Delicious cheesy soup much like O'Charley's Potato Soup only with ham instead. Perfect leftover ham recipe for your slow cooker. - Adapted from Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cooking All Year Round.
One note about cooking cheesy soups like this in your slow cooker. Even on low (and in many cases warm), newer slow cookers cook a lot hotter than older ones. When cooking a soup that has a lot of cheese in it, you should keep an eye on it and stir regularly.
If, by chance, you begin to feel the cheese sticking on the bottom or side of your slow cooker, don’t panic. Reduce your heat if you can and don’t scrape the sides (or bottom) of your crock pot while stirring. In most cases, the soup is just fine and that “stuck cheese” (while a pain to scrub clean later) won’t hurt the rest of your soup as long as you don’t stir it into the main portion of your soup.
Which Crock Pot to Use
This Ham and Cheese Soup makes a lot of soup and while you might be able to fit it into a 5 qt slow cooker, a 6 qt would likely be a better choice if you have one.An automatic stirring slow cookerwould be nice for this recipe although I would still watch it closely.
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Slow cookers can transform a few simple ingredients into the most delicious soups by simmering them for hours. This low and slow cooking allows the flavors to mingle, creating rich, flavorful soups perfect for chilly days, nights, or any day you want to enjoy a bowl full of goodness.
If you're going out, just set it to low - it'll reach boiling point eventually. If you usually add water to the soup, use slightly less when using a crock pot, because less of it will boil away.
Today's programmable slow cookers often come with the ability to cook food for up to 24 hours, as well as automatic warming settings that can stay on for just as long.
A large slow cooker, with its moist environment, is perfect for reheating a fully-cooked ham. As the ham heats up, it releases juices that blend with the glaze, creating a delicious sauce to spoon over the sliced meat.
That varies by what's inside the slow cooker and also by the appliance's setting and model, the experts say. Most recipes for all-day cooking call for 6 to 8 hours on low. Quality- (and safety-) wise, another 1 to 2 hours in 'keep warm' mode won't mess things up.
"When a slow cooker is too full, it may not heat the food evenly," explains Leal. As a result, some parts of the dish may overcook, while others remain undercooked. "This can also increase the risk of foodborne illness, because the food might not reach a safe temperature throughout," she says.
On some occasions, you'll want to leave food in the slow cooker to keep warm, during Thanksgiving or Christmas Dinner, for example, or any other event or holiday. While it's perfectly ok to use your crock pot in this way, try to avoid leaving food on the warming setting for more than four hours.
If you have a locking lid feature on your glass lid it's extremely important to never lock the lid during the cooking process. Locking the lid during cooking, will keep the steam in –producing pressure --which could affect the slow cooker's performance.
Recipes with meat like chili and pork shoulder are best when cooked for six hours minimum or up to ten hours. Vegetarian recipes are best cooked for around four hours, but can do a minimum of two hours or maximum of six hours (after which the vegetables start to get unpleasantly mushy).
The difference between "High" and "Low" on slow cookers seems to differ with every brand and model. One thing that is consistent, though, is that food takes seven to eight hours to reach a simmer point (around 210°) on low; versus three to four hours on high.
Are slow cookers safe to leave on? Yes, it's safe to leave a slow cooker on when you leave the house. The purpose of a slow cooker is to allow you to cook while you aren't home. Slow cookers simmer food slowly, killing bacteria and raising meat to the perfect internal temperature.
Foods take different times to cook depending upon the setting used. Certainly, foods will cook faster on high than on low. However, for all-day cooking or for less-tender cuts, you may want to use the low setting.
Allow 20 minutes per pound when calculating how long to bake a fully cooked ham. For example, if the ham weighs 8 pounds, the cooking time would be 2 hour and 40 minutes. A fully cooked half ham will weigh approximately 3 to 4 pounds. Cooking time for a 3 pound ham would be 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the ham on a rack in a large baking pan and add about 1/4- to 1/2 inch of water to the pan. If the ham is labeled "fully cooked" (does not require heating), heat it in the oven for about 10 minutes per pound, or to an internal temperature of 140 F.
On the positive side, a slow cooker is a sealed environment. This means there's very little evaporation and your food cooks with the help of moist heat. Technically, this means you're actually cooking your food with flavored steam, which helps to seal in flavor while the soup cooks.
The Verdict: While the pressure cooker prepared a superior tasting dish, it all comes down to how you want to spend your time. The slow cooker is great for hands off cooking. The pressure cooker is fast and provides a better result, but you need to be in the kitchen the entire time it's on the stove.
Just know the longer you cook it, the more flavor that will come out of the food and into the soup. Think of marinara sauce. Though it's not a soup, it's the same concept. Allowing it to cook for awhile marries all the flavors together.
Slow cookers can be useful for cooking stews, but generally the combination of low heat and a tightly fitting lid will mean that the auce doesn't get a chace to thicken (by reduction) and consequently the sauce can be a little thin.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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