DIY Smoked Neck Bones & Ham Hocks
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Leave the store-bought ones in the store and learn how to smoke neck bones and ham hocks yourself! These DIY smoked neck bones and smoked ham hocks are easy to make and they will add and incredible amount of flavor to your soups, stews and chilis!
What are Smoked Neck Bones?
At the heart of Southern home cooking, smoked neck bones and ham hocks are commonly enjoyed with things like beans, potatoes, rice, cabbage as well as in soups and stews where they’re slow-cooked until their smoky, fork-tender meat falls right off. You have probably bought smoked neck bones or smoked ham hocks before at the store to add flavor to your dishes, especially your soups and stews. For example, split pea soup. Can you imagine making it without a smoked ham hock? No way!
But have you ever had homemade smoked neck bones or ham hocks? Let’s just say you can figure on multiplying the flavor factor by about a hundred and that’ll land you somewhere in the ballpark. I made my homemade chili a couple of weeks ago and it’s always a hit. But this time I thought I’d thrown in a smoked neck bone and wow, it took that chili to a new level!
In the pictures below I’m using pork neck bones to demonstrate the process, but the method for making homemade smoked ham hocks is identical. Making these is simple and straightforward, it just involves a bit of a wait for the neck bones or ham hocks to marinate in the brine. Once the waiting game is up it’s time to smoke them, and that part is relatively quick.
How to Use Smoked Neck Bones
Anything that stands to benefit from some savory, umami-rich and smoky flavor will welcome the addition of a smoked neck bone. Here are just a few dishes you can add them to during the cooking process for a major flavor boost:
- Instant Pot Chili
- White Bean Chili
- Ham and Bean Soup
- Bean Goulash
- Black Eyed Pea Soup
- Black Eyed Pea Soup with Sausage and Kale
- Albondigas Soup
- Split Pea and Ham Soup
DIY Smoked Neck Bones and Smoked Ham Hocks
Let’s get started!
The method for making smoked neck bones and smoked ham hocks is identical. I’m using neck bones in the pictures for point of reference. You can get raw ham hocks and neck bones and ham hocks at your local butcher, just ask them to set some aside for you. There are also stores in the U.S. like Cash and Carry that come frozen and for a good price.
Prepare the brine:
Add all the brine ingredients to a large bowl and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
Cure the Neck Bones:
Divide the neck bones or ham hocks between two gallon ziplock bags and pour in the brine.
You can also place the neck bones/ham hocks in a stainless steel or food-grade plastic bucket with a lid to brine in there. Make sure the meat is submerged in the brine.
Place the ziplock bags in some kind of a dish to catch any leakage. I’m using baking dishes.
Refrigerate for 7 days, turning the bags over to ensure even distribution of the brine.
After 7 days of brining, rinse the neck bones or ham hocks and place them on a wire rack, set it on a cookie sheet, and refrigerate uncovered for another 24 hours. This will enable to smoke to better adhere to the meat.
Smoke the Neck Bones:
Don’t have a smoker? See the recipe card below for instructions for oven smoking.
I’m using my Masterbuilt 30″ Digital Electric Smoker. I LOVE this smoker. It’s very easy to use and has been going strong for over 8 years. When you’re ready to smoke them, set your smoker to 200 degrees F. Place the neck bones or ham hocks on the smoking grates, making sure they’re not touching each other. Add a couple of handfuls of wood chips to the smoker throughout the smoking process.
Hickory wood chips and apple wood chips are both great choices for pork.
Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F. You’ll need an instant read thermometer.
Once done, wrap the smoked neck bones or ham hocks and freeze them for long-term storage or refrigerate them if you’re going to use them within a week.
For more delicious adventures in homemade charcuterie be sure to try my:
- How to Smoke a Ham
- How to Make Bacon
- Capicola
- Porchetta
- German Bratwurst
- Bangers
- Pork Rillettes
- Italian Sausage
- Smoked Cheddar Sausages
- Breakfast Sausage Links
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DIY Smoked Neck Bones & Ham Hocks
Ingredients
- 5 pounds pork neck bones or ham hocks
- 8 cups water
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pink curing salt aka Prague Powder #1
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Instructions
- Make the brine by placing all the ingredients, except for the neck bones, in a large bowl and stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Place the neck bones in a stainless steel or food grade plastic bucket/container with a lid, or divide between 2 gallon ziplock bags, and pour the brine over the neck bones. Cover with lid or close the ziplock bags and place the latter in a large dish to catch any leakage. Make sure the neck bones are covered in the brine. Refrigerate for 7 days, flipping the ziplock bags over each day to ensure even distribution of the brine.
- After 7 days rinse off the neck bones and place them on a wire rack on a cookie sheet and refrigerate them uncovered for another 24 hours. This will help the smoke to better adhere to the neck bones.
- Set your smoker to 200 degrees F and place the neck bones or ham hocks on the smoking grates, making sure they're not touching each other. Smoke the neck bones until they've reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees F, adding a handful of wood chips a couple of different times throughout the process. Smoking time will vary depending on the size of the neck bones but you can figure on about 2 hours.Once done, wrap the neck bones and freeze them for long-term storage or refrigerate if you plan on using them within a week.
- IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SMOKER: You can create a makeshift smoker in your oven. Place some wood chips in the bottom of a roasting pan (or something like it) on the bottom shelf of the oven and add just enough water to to the pan to moisten the chips without immersing them in water. Cover the pan with aluminum foil creating a tent at the top where the smoke can come out and circulate around the meat. Then place the prepared hocks on the oven rack above it and then roast them at 200 degrees F until they reach that 145 degree F internal temperature.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet June 7, 2017
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
I cured and smoked 10lbs of hauks using oak wood while following this recipe to a T.
They came out GREAT!
Just a touch salty for us, but I can do a little soak on the next batch NP.
Those hauks were store bought, I have another batch to do soon from our pasture raised corn fed hog.
THANK YOU KIMBERLY!
P.S. I rendered the leaf lard per your directions also, came out wonderful.
That’s wonderful, BadBert! I’m so glad both recipes were a success and really appreciate the feedback, thank you!
Haven’t made yet but will to make some good bean soup and other legume dishes. In my experience with ELECTRIC SMOKERS, get a pellet smoking tube and pellets of your choice. You will need either a propane torch or butane kitchen torch to light and that will take several minutes to get going. 12” tube, full should give you smoke for about 6 hours. So the tube for smoke and the electric for heat. Much more smoke than wood chips I’ve found, much more
Thanks for that info, Dave!
Can you explain why brining is necessary if you will be smoking low and slow. You generally don’t brine ribs or loins that are smoked for hours . Also, if you are brining why 7 days? And why not just salt without adding the nitrites (the Prague powder)?
I am smoking hocks and the recipe doesn’t say to remove the skin. Should I be doing this, either before the brining process, or after it?
Hi John, you leave the skin on and smoke it just the way it is.
Could you smoke moose neck or shanks?
We don’t have pigs here.
Absolutely, Cj!
Your recipe looks good I will be trying it . My parents use to make pretty similar to your recipe.. but they added som pickling spices to it also along with some garlic I will need to give a try and add some my parents recipe added to it …
Hi there, just curious what brand of kosher salt you’re using, as the weight of Morton’s vs. Diamond is different for a given measurement. Thanks!
Just finished smoking my neckbones and Ham hocks and they turned out perfectly. I smoked them on a Pit Boss Pellet Grill. My brining has been limited to a few hours so this was new and I had never heard of Prague Powder. I followed your directions so hopefully they are good.
Fantastic, Martha, I’m happy they turned out perfectly, thank you!
worked great good flavor just butchered to pigs total 480 lbs on the rail. Have made canadain bacon buckboard and jowl bacon for years. also smoked salom summer sasuage brats flat hams and westphila ham. bin smoking about 34 years.
Is 2 weeks in the brine too long ? 😣
Hi Brandi, over-brining meat can give it a mushy texture but the biggest risk is that it will be too salty. I would rinse them off and then soak them for an hour in cold water to draw out some of the salt and then proceed with smoking.