Dem Bones
Neck Bones
Neck bones were sometimes on the menu at our house when I was growing up
as a girl in Moorhead, Mississippi.
The only way I remember my mother fixing these neck bones was boiling them in
water with whatever seasonings she used.
I remember eating neck bones with things like pinto beans, greens or
rice. And, of course, cornbread!
After becoming an adult, I still eat neck bones occasionally – maybe
once or twice a year. I had always
prepared neck bones in the same way my mother did until someone told me about
barbecue neck bones. The barbecue
neck bones I was told about were cooked on the stovetop, however, I cooked them
in the Crockpot instead. I later
tried cooking the neck bones in the Old Smokey.
Hearing about Barbecue Neck Bones
My first batch of barbecue neck bones were prepared
exactly as described in the above video, except I cooked them in the
Crockpot rather than on the stovetop.
They were pretty good, nice and tender, but I could have spiced
up the barbecue sauce to give them a little kick.
But overall, the neck bones were good.
Experimenting with Dem Bones
Experiment 1
Once I made that first batch of barbecue neck
bones, my creative juices began to kick into gear.
The next batch would be prepared by cooking them on the grill for
a short time and finishing up in the oven and Crockpot.
My intent was to get that smoky, charcoal taste into the neck
bones. However, although
the neck bones were very good, they did not have the smoky charcoal
taste that I had hoped for.
I think the barbecue sauce overpowered the smoky, charcoal taste.
Here is a series of videos on how I prepared this batch of neck
bones.
 Crockpot version |
 Oven-baked version |
Experiment 2
Cooking the neck bones entirely on the grill was
the next thing I tried. I
did not video the preparation but it was very simple.
I washed and seasoned the neck bones, then put them on the Old
Smokey in a wire basket that could be rotated (see below).
The neck bones were cooked until fully done, then I brushed some
barbecue sauce on them and put them back on the grill for about 10
minutes.
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I think this was a
very good batch! The sauce
was nice and spicy and the neck bones had a very good taste to them.
The charcoal grill taste was definitely present in this batch.
This is how good they were!
What’s Next?
I want to try cooking the neck bones in
the barbecue sauce again, this time on the stovetop.
I will also make sure the barbecue sauce is spiced up the way I
like it – the first time I just used the sauce directly from the bottle
without adding anything to it.
After a little neck bone searching on
YouTube, I discovered that some folks make a gravy with the neck bones.
I think I will give that a try and see what happens!
So, until the next neck bone episode,
happy eating!