Neck bones

I have a pound or two of beef neck bones. Any ideas?

I'm sure someone has better uses, but I'd make a knock you socks off beef stock.

I was certainly considering that, but they look so meaty I was wondering if there are any other uses.

Larry, when I make stock, or broth or soup, I always start the same way. I cook the meat and bones (and skin if poultry - I save the chicken backs, neck, etc) in only just enough water (no salt) to cover, until the meat easily comes loose from the bones. I then removed the solids and separate the meat from everything else. The bones are then put back into the liquid with a lot of salt and boiled for a couple of hours (I have to try the pressure cooker here next time). The strong salt solution breaks down the bones - I believe an ion exchange takes place between the sodium in the salt and the calcium in the bones). If I'm making soup, the meat, along with vegetables and spices will be simultaneously cooking in another pot, without salt. I then strain the liquid from the bones into the soup. In your instance, by barely cooking the meat before separation, you could use the meat for anything like a stew, pot pie or ragu, or you could make a nice hearty beef soup.

Larry, I agree with Howie, and I suspect that I would opt for half and half between veg/beef soup, and a really fine beef stock. one can freeze and keep the stock frozen for several months I would think.

Make a killer beef stock with the beef neck bones, then use the meat leftover from the stock to make Ropa Vieja. You may want to add some beef shank bones to make the stock. I got to thinking that I have never worked with beef neck bones, so not sure what quality of stock that would result without the shanks.

Larry, are these bones trimmed or is the meat between the vertebrae still intact? Have they been sawed into workable piece or is the neck whole?

It appears to be sawn in half longitudinally and then sawn transversely into several pieces. There's a fair amount of meat between the vertebrae.

The longitudinal saw cut is from when the carcass with split originally. After the brisket is removed, a saw cut is made through center of the humorous to separate the chuck from the neck. All the meat remaining on the neck is used for trim. If the butcher was sloppy and left a lot of meat on the vertebrae, the neck pieces can be used in a stew—it tends to be very lean and without much “meat” flavor—so you will have to add flavor in the stewing process. If the butcher did his job correctly, there will not be enough meat attached to eat, but stock is still a possibility. Either way, be sure that there are no remnants of the spinal cord remaining. Neck bones don’t provide much gelatin, so you may want to add a cow’s foot or two to the stock.

Thanks much, Peter. No spinal cord is in evidence, but I have to admit I'm still a little wary about pesky prions.

I used up my supply of star anise and beef neck bones by making a Vietnamese beef pho. And it was good.