Can you make bone broth with meaty bones?

[1love4ever]

So the recipes that I have found for bone broth such as the one on cookingtf.com calls for clean picked bones, but some of the bones i have still have meat.  Is this ok??

Just got my pressure canner and Granite ware stock pot today so am REALLY excited to start making this, but want to do it right!!  Any thoughts or tips appreciated :)

[MrsGregory]

Well, let me preface by saying that I am not involved with or following any food movements, so perhaps there are directions or protocols of which I am wholly unaware.

I (we) have always made our own stock or at least known how and known we should, and yes, we leave meat on our bones.  Whatever state the bones are in after the meal but prior to the stock pot, that's the condition they get pitched into the pot in.  We do no special cleaning.  I do roast pork or beef bones again with the veggies, and my BIL said I might try it with the chicken bones as well. 

Some of my family make broth or stock with a crockpot, I make it in my soup pot on the stove top, none of us "clean" the bones, unless that last minute nibble or marrow-suck counts.

Good luck!

 

[1love4ever]

Thats what I was thinking too, why should a little meat on them matter, I was just going to put them in just as you said- whatever meat is left on them after we eat dinner :)   Anyone else have a thought?   Any tips on canning them using a pressure canner for the first time?  :)

[krankedyann]

Yup, no problem at all.  It's just assumed that you would claim the meat for another use but there is no harm at all in leaving the meat on.

[kmamma]

To my taste, stock made with some meat is much better tasting than using clean picked bones alone. It's ok if it's going to be used solely to cook meat in, but if you use it for other things like tea, sauces and meat free soups, definitely use some meat in there. The taste is otherwise very strong mineral like. 

[tinuviel_k]

I leave meat on many of the bones, and I brown the meaty bones in the oven first. It adds richness to the stock.

[MrsGregory]

1love, you're canning your stock?  Instead of, say, freezing it?

I use meat, I do boil briefly during the stock making process (and yes, this makes my stock "creamy"), I freeze and then boil again while cooking with the stock "just in case"...  Does the pressure can process mean you can sit the stock in your pantry?  I am only familiar with the boil-to-can method, and we never did it with meat for fear of disease.  Meats were frozen or cured, fruits and veg were boil-canned or pickled.

Mmmmm, pickles...

[1love4ever]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

1love, you're canning your stock?  Instead of, say, freezing it?

I use meat, I do boil briefly during the stock making process (and yes, this makes my stock "creamy"), I freeze and then boil again while cooking with the stock "just in case"...  Does the pressure can process mean you can sit the stock in your pantry?  I am only familiar with the boil-to-can method, and we never did it with meat for fear of disease.  Meats were frozen or cured, fruits and veg were boil-canned or pickled.

Mmmmm, pickles...

Yes I am canning my stock.  I have no freezer space.  Yes it means i will be setting it in my pantry, where I do have room for it.  I am making A LOT of stock :)

Just got it on the stove a few minutes ago!

[1love4ever]

Should I add some unrefined salt to it too?  Is it ok to put the chicken skins in it as well?  Because I did lol.  Thanks :)

[TwilightJoy]

Originally Posted by 1love4ever 

Should I add some unrefined salt to it too?  Is it ok to put the chicken skins in it as well?  Because I did lol.  Thanks

Yes, chicken skins are fine. My experience is that chicken skins cause more fat on the top that I scrape off. Usually I leave them out because they are SO yummy roasted until crispy.

Be cautious with salt, because as your stock boils down it can get really salty. I've stopped adding salt after one over salted stock.

[kellykins]

Sorry for the potential thread-jack, but saw this and made me think to ask.
I make stock primarily from chicken backs that the butcher saves for me, meat and all. I rarely-if ever-get a truly gel stock it tastes realllllly good (especially to pregnant lil moi!) but I fear it is not as nutritionally dense as it could be. What is the secret to a gel stock?

[kmamma]

I'm not sure, but I don't think the backs have a ton of gelatin. It's mostly in the joints of the chicken. Could you get your butcher to save necks for you? That'll make your stock gel. Or adding wings and thighs. Overall though, I don't think chicken stocks gel up as firmly as does beef stock. Though it should still gel completely, just a little softer.

[HouseofPeace]

mmmmmm- stock thread!  we eat all the skin long before putting it in the stock, and any meat parts (beef or chicken) get thrown in as well.  so glad we usually have it on hand as my son recently had a digestive bug and stock was so kind to him!  also- w/ wings, since i usually roast the whole chicken then save 2-3 birds worth of bones (depending on size) frozen w/ gizzards and make 1/2-1 gallon of stock , but the dog usually gets the crispy wing tips.  then the rest goes in the pot and we get a nice chicken jelly!  heads and feet are affordable and great for gelatin.  though i can't do heads (once w/ a duck, i'm not that hard core) the feet aren't too terrible to use and strain.

Edited by HouseofPeace - 9/4/12 at 1:15pm

[MrsGregory]

I get gel stock from chickens using all the carcass, so plenty of joints, and using very fresh bones. 

The freezer tends to un-gel anything, in my experience. 

[TwilightJoy]

Originally Posted by MrsGregory 

I get gel stock from chickens using all the carcass, so plenty of joints, and using very fresh bones. 
The freezer tends to un-gel anything, in my experience. 

That is so interesting! Food for thought! I never made a correlation before between fresh bones and frozen bones in the stocks I've had that have gelled and others that haven't. I'll have to pay more attention!

[Jennyanydots]

Question about cloudy broth (and maybe I should start a new thread, but it seemed to fit here...) I am on day 3 of cooking a pot of broth using fatty beef bones that I roasted first. I used all of the broth yesterday in a soup and resumed cooking the bones again last night in new water. Today my broth looks really cloudy- can that be normal? I've never noticed this before. Anyone?

[luckiest]

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots 

Question about cloudy broth (and maybe I should start a new thread, but it seemed to fit here...) I am on day 3 of cooking a pot of broth using fatty beef bones that I roasted first. I used all of the broth yesterday in a soup and resumed cooking the bones again last night in new water. Today my broth looks really cloudy- can that be normal? I've never noticed this before. Anyone?

I notice this when I do stock over a long period of time.  When I make stock I do the "perpetual soup" method, where I put everything in the crock pot and harvest once or twice a day (ladle out broth, then add new water).  I add a splash of apple cider vinegar when I add more water.  I do that for about a week to really leach every bit of goodness out of the bones.  My first batch or two is clear, and everything after that is cloudy/milky looking.  I don't know why, but it still tastes good and I don't worry about it.

With getting stock to gel - joints/cartilage is what you need.  I prefer the taste of chicken stock to beef stock, so what I typically do is use a chicken back, a beef knuckle bone, and one or two beef marrow bones.  I get the flavor from all the meat left on the chicken back, gelatin from the knuckle bone, and all the nutrients and minerals from the marrow bones. 

I prefer to salt the stock as I use it.  I add salt and garlic powder to a mug then pour hot stock over it.  

[swd12422]

Waaaaaaitaminute!

Are you saying that you cook your stock over several days (up to how long? a week?) and harvest multiple batches from it rather than just plopping everything in the pot, covering with water and being done the next day? So how much stock do you get from one chicken carcass and veggie trimmings?

(I'm asking b/c I use my slow cooker and get maybe 2-3 quarts at best. Could I really just strain after a day, add more water and get another couple quarts out of the same bones and veggies??)
 

[luckiest]

Originally Posted by swd12422 

Waaaaaaitaminute!

Are you saying that you cook your stock over several days (up to how long? a week?) and harvest multiple batches from it rather than just plopping everything in the pot, covering with water and being done the next day? So how much stock do you get from one chicken carcass and veggie trimmings?

(I'm asking b/c I use my slow cooker and get maybe 2-3 quarts at best. Could I really just strain after a day, add more water and get another couple quarts out of the same bones and veggies??)
 

Yes!  Except without the veggies.  They will disintegrate and start to taste really gross.  I actually prefer the taste of broth without veggies, no matter how long or short it's cooked.  Onions and carrots, even garlic, lend a sweetness that I don't appreciate.  I'm not totally sure how much total I get from each batch...I tend to remove a quart at a time and consume it the next day, then obviously at the end of the week I empty the whole pot.  So I guess I get at least 7 quarts.

Here is the link describing the process:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/perpetual-soup-the-easiest-bone-broth-youll-make/

She uses a chicken frame; I use a chicken frame and marrow/knuckles bones if I have them.  I use just bones and a splash of ACV, no other ingredients at all. I salt it when I use it. Someone in the comments says that they even take what's left of the frame after a week and blend it up in their Vitamix, bones and all!  

[philomom]

Hmm, I save chicken bones and carcasses in the freezer until I have a batch to fill the crockpot. I beat on them with a kitchen hammer to break the bones and I add whatever vegetable things I might have in the house... usually the wilt-y ones but no celery. My family does not like the taste of celery. Then I add half a lemon and few peppercorns and I let them simmer from dawn till 11 pm. I strain and put in the fridge. Next day, I scrape off the fat and I have very nice gel-like stock/ bone broth.

This is in the large oval crockpot. About 7 quarts.