Indian Head Campground Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 40 pounds Ham with the bone in. The butt ends work well, with mostof the fat trimmed off
• 20 pounds finely chopped sweet onion
• 1 gallon chopped carrots, not too fine
• 14 gallons canned Great Northern White Beans

Preparation:

Start with enough water to cover the ham, using a large butchering kettle (mine is 45 gallons) over a wood fire, and add the chopped onions. Cook the ham until done, remove the ham from the kettle, cut ham into spoon sized pieces,and return the ham to the kettle. Usually the ham takes about 4 hours of cooking, adding water as it boils away. Remove and discard the bones before adding the carrots.

If you start at 8am, and wish to serve around 5:30, add the carrots around 2pm, and the beans around 4pm, and continue to add water as needed, and pull the fire from beneath the kettle just before adding the beans. A big kettle will retain enough heat to warm up the beans, but you may keep a small fire if you think it is needed. Just remember to keep the kettle only warm, and you do not need to boil anything once the beans are in.

You can easily serve 125 hungry people.

Submitted by - Thomas A. Long, Indian Head Campground