Bone Broth

I like to make my own broths, and I have been making them for a couple of years now.  Just 2 months ago, I ran across a recipe, and I wish I could find the link again.  The blogger talked about the benefits of bone broth, and how she sometimes drinks it straight like an early morning coffee or tea.  She also included her recipe.

For a long time, I have purchased bone in and skin on chicken breasts, because it is cheaper that way. A couple of years ago, I started using the bones to make my own broth.  Toss used bones in a pot of water with the odds and ends from vegetable preparations for dinner; the chopped off ends and skins of vegetables.  Add spices like herbs de provence, and some older garlic cloves that are starting to go hard, and you have made, from kitchen scraps, a great basic stock.  Keep on stove on medium low for 6-8 hours, and you have some good and basic stock with which to cook.  I was quite satisfied with my stock until I read the bone broth information, then I just had to try it, and I am so very glad that I did!

For the bone broth, you will need 1 set of bones from a whole chicken or equivalent.  When I bake chicken breasts, I make 4, so it is about the same as a whole chicken.  I will put them 2 at a time into freezer bags, then toss into the freezer until I need them.  When I make Chicken in Mustard, or any other recipe that requires legs or thighs I put their bones 2 or 3 at a time into freezer bags.  When I am ready to make broth, I grab a bag of leg quarter bones, and a bag of breast bones.  I try not to make it without a breast bone, so that I do not miss out on dissolving all that heavenly collagen!  Mostly, though, I just bake a chicken whole for dinner and then use the bones for the broth.

When I prepare vegetables for dinner, I put the skins and ends in a quart sized freezer bag.  I try to tamp them down as I go, so that I get a decent amount of mixed scraps per bag.  When it comes time to make broth, I toss a chicken skeleton and a bag of veggie scraps into my crock pot.  I add 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.  The vinegar helps to draw the calcium out of the bones, making the bone broth even better for you.  I then add herbs de provence, salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes.  Cook on low for 24-48 hours.

When it is done, I use the spaghetti strainer pot (finally found a use for it after going Paleo) and dump the whole thing in, lifting the colander component and tossing the bones and scraps back into the crock pot.  I add another bag of vegetable scraps, 3 more tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and spices, starting the whole cycle again.  When that cycle is done, I toss the bones and scrap pulp into the trash.  I considered separating the scraps from the bones for composting of scraps, but after 48 hours marinating with the bones (twice), a friend told me that they will smell like rancid chicken in the compost pile. 

Then, I ladle the broth into ice trays, and when they are frozen through, I put the cubes into freezer bags for use in recipes.  I also fill freezer bags almost full for use in larger recipes, when I would have gone through bags and bags of the cubes for a recipe, I can use the larger bags.

So, for the negligible amount that filtered water, tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and some spices have cost me; I get an abundance of healthy bone broth, which I think is superior to any broth that I could get from the store.  I have yet to drink it straight, but I am fairly sure that I will try it sometime soon.

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