how to make ham stock

I have made several stews in the past, but this is the first time I actually made one from scratch. It's not just because I want to challenge myself and expand my culinary horizons, it's because I can't find any kind of stock made from pigs in the supermarket. I have seen:

Beef Stock
Chicken Stock
Seafood Stock
Vegetable Stock
Turkey Stock
Lamb Broth

but not anything that says "Pork Stock" or "Ham Stock", which I find strange. Then again, I also can't find Duck Stock or Insect Stock either. So I decided to make my own and share this recipe with all of you.

In my research, a lot of ham stock recipes take several hours, which I don't have to spare. But I did find one recipe that requires simmering for only 2 hours(http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/ham-hock-stock). I just modified that recipe to suit my needs, mainly cut ingredients in half, because I didn't have 4 ham hocks.

You might be wondering, what is a ham hock? Think of it as the pig's ankle or wrist, which is mainly bone, but also has meat and fat on it.

A picture of a stock or broth isn't too appetizing on it's own, but it is an essential ingredient to any soup or stew.

One of the things with having cats is that they want to know what smells funny to them, so Jordan is in the video in the beginning. Of course, there's no way he will ever eat this recipe, but at least he doesn't meow often, unlike Cameron. Feline cooking assistants are terrible. All they do is smell the food you're making and intrude on you while you're cooking.

You will need:

For the cooking equipment:

A large pot
A large bowl
A colander

For the stock:

9 cups of water(that was the amount of water that submerged the ham hocks, but it might be different for you.)
2 ham hocks(about 1 lb. of ham hocks)
9 chopped up baby carrots
1 bay leaf
Pinch of onion powder
1/2 tbsp. of crushed peppercorns
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper

1. Put the water in a large pot.
2. Submerge the hocks in the water. Make sure they are fully submerged in water, otherwise, you won't get much stock.
3. Put the rest of the ingredients in the pot.
4. Stir mixture with a spoon to distribute the spices evenly.
5. Put pot on a stove and heat the burner. Cover the pot with a lid. Bring contents of pot to a boil.
6. Once the contents are at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the contents simmer for 2 hours, or until the meat has fallen off the bone(i.e. the hocks are no longer pink).
7. Place a large bowl in a kitchen sink.
8. Place a colander directly on top of the bowl.
9. Pour contents of pot into the colander. Make sure you don't burn yourself with splashing hot liquids!! This will separate the solids from the liquid. The liquid is your stock.
10. Dispose the solids since ham hocks are inedible on it's own. Let stock cool down for a few minutes before tasting it and/or using it in another recipe.
11. Bon appetit(I guess)!