Chicken/broth/stock questions--mainly, how do you keep it on hand for recipes if you don't eat a... - Page 3

[jimblejamble]

I take the carcass and add a few carrots, celery, and a chopped onion plus some salt to my crock pot and then fill it up to about as full as it can get. It makes a ton of broth...I'm guessing at least 3 of the 32 oz cartons.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Toolip 

Originally Posted by velochic 

Originally Posted by Toolip 

I use vinegar every time too... still, no gel.

Yeah, vinegar pulls the calcium out of the bones, but it doesn't do anything for gelatin.  That's kind of a misconception.

Do you roast the bones first and then cut them up a bit?  By chopping them a bit, I have found that it allows the gelatin to leach from the bones better.

One more thing, stock (as a pp pointed out is made with bones) and broth (not made with bones, but meat only) also should not be BOILED, they should be only simmered.

I sometimes roast, sometimes not.  I haven't really been chopping the bones but I am going to try to remember.

I'm not really sure where the line is between simmering and boiling.  I always do it in the crock pot, so it is never really high.  I do cook it on high for part of the time anyway...  Why do you say that it should never be boiled?
 

Boiling causes the fat to dissolve (actually "emulsify" is the correct term) in the liquid.  It makes it cloudy and the fat will not rise to the top when cooled, so it can be skimmed off.  The fat in the liquid will prevent the stock from getting a good gel set.

Simmering means that it's just hot enough to move the liquid around, but not enough to cause a lot of bubbles.  Once you have constant bubbling, you are at a full boil.  Boiling is for cooking pasta and the like.  Simmering is for soups and the like.  I personally would never use a crockpot for making stock because you can't control the temperature.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by velochic 

Boiling causes the fat to dissolve (actually "emulsify" is the correct term) in the liquid.  It makes it cloudy and the fat will not rise to the top when cooled, so it can be skimmed off.  The fat in the liquid will prevent the stock from getting a good gel set.

Simmering means that it's just hot enough to move the liquid around, but not enough to cause a lot of bubbles.  Once you have constant bubbling, you are at a full boil.  Boiling is for cooking pasta and the like.  Simmering is for soups and the like.  I personally would never use a crockpot for making stock because you can't control the temperature.

well that's interesting...  my fat always rises and separates though.  I'll try my next batch completely on low.  I don't have a choice really about the crock pot.  I'm not comfortable leaving the house with an open flame on, and I can't just stay home and wait for the broth to cook, lol.  I'm still not convinced it will solve my gelling problem, because I have definably done batches that don't bubble at all (because one crock pot just does not heat up that well) and still, no gel.
 

[tankgirl73]

When I started making bone broth a couple years back, I got beautiful gel every time.  I was in love!  "Wow, this is easy!" I thought.

Lately, though, it never gels, and I have no idea what I'm doing differently.  I keep trying to do all the things that are supposed to help it gel, thinking "this time it will work" but it never does.

It's all pasture-raised local chickens (don't know their age).  I try to keep it a simmer but whether or not that's the issue, the fat always rises beautifully (love the chicken fat!)  I often roast the bones first, and always crack them.  If I don't roast them first and they're too tough to crack easily, I wait until they've been simmering awhile and gotten soft, THEN crack them.  I've even split them right down the middle exposing the marrow outright.  Still no gel!

Recently we've been playing with some other meats -- usually we stick with the chickens and the grass-fed beef, but my uncle recently gave us a bunch of moose he hunted and we discovered we LOVE it.  Most of the cuts are boneless but we're saving the bones we do get... made some lamb at Christmas and saved those bones... tried some wild boar from the farmer's market, saved those bones... trying out some pasture-raised pork, saved those bones... my mom made a duck for Christmas dinner, saved those bones... I'm thinking of throwing it all in together with some beef bones and having just a "mutt" bone broth.  ;)

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Toolip 

Originally Posted by velochic 

Boiling causes the fat to dissolve (actually "emulsify" is the correct term) in the liquid.  It makes it cloudy and the fat will not rise to the top when cooled, so it can be skimmed off.  The fat in the liquid will prevent the stock from getting a good gel set.

Simmering means that it's just hot enough to move the liquid around, but not enough to cause a lot of bubbles.  Once you have constant bubbling, you are at a full boil.  Boiling is for cooking pasta and the like.  Simmering is for soups and the like.  I personally would never use a crockpot for making stock because you can't control the temperature.

well that's interesting...  my fat always rises and separates though.  I'll try my next batch completely on low.  I don't have a choice really about the crock pot.  I'm not comfortable leaving the house with an open flame on, and I can't just stay home and wait for the broth to cook, lol.  I'm still not convinced it will solve my gelling problem, because I have definably done batches that don't bubble at all (because one crock pot just does not heat up that well) and still, no gel.
 

Some of the fat will rise.  However, there will be enough that dissolves in the stock to cause the problems.  It's explained quite a bit in detail in some of the classics, such as "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" if you'd like more info on it.