Split pea soup question and the ham shank

I'm a beginner with cooking (and new-ish IP user) so I'd really appreciate some help from more experienced people!! Thanks in advance.

I've always made my split pea soup in the past with bacon but I wanted to try it more like I remember my mom making it, with a ham bone, so I bought a ham shank today.

My question is, do I take the meat off the bone before or after cooking in the IP? Will the meat just fall off the bone like it did when I made chicken congee? Or will I need to dig the whole bone out when it is hot and try to cut the meat off then (guaranteed I'll make a mess). Or I can cut the meat off first and put it and the bone in the pot and then just take the bone out after. Just trying to understand the best way to do this.

I made turkey chili a couple weeks ago and made the mistake of not breaking the ground meat into small enough pieces and the chunks stayed the same size after cooking. I don't want giant ham chunks.

Please advise! Thanks!

Submitted February 28, 2017 at 05:44PM by banditranger http://ift.tt/2mHVMgj