Where do you get your bones (for broth)?? (x-posted)

[changingseasons]

Specifically looking for chicken, turkey, lamb (NO BEEF!!!). X-posted in my tribe to get suggestions locally, but also just need an idea of where to start looking.

I have recently discovered the fabulous benefits of bone broth, and now use it in almost everything I cook!

The problem is- I can't find anywhere that has just bones. So far, we've just been buying whole chickens/turkeys and using the carcass to make broth. But we go through a lot of broth, and can't afford to be buying whole chickens every week... so I was hoping to find somewhere that I can just buy bones. I have been to my local Safeway, Fred Meyer, and a meat store just down the street from me (B&E Meats), and NONE of them do any carcass cutting- so they have no bones! Where do the stores get their meat from? I don't know where else to look...

And again, I can't use beef (bummer- because everyone has beef bones) because DD is allergic.

[kittyhead]

do you know of any butcher shops? maybe look one up? i make our stock from the bones of the chickens that we eat, but i do sometimes buy chicken backs from the butcher. if there is a whole foods near you they have an actual butcher, not just a meat deptartment like the supermarket. also, our supermarket usually has turkey necks, which make a fine stock.

[changingseasons]

Ooh- there is a Whole Foods near me. I didn't check there- just assumed they would be the same as the other grocery stores... thanks!

Our grocery store does have turkey necks too... but I wasn't sure about getting them since they're not organic and probably are loaded with abx, hormones, etc. That's why I figured it would be easier to get just bones. Any thoughts about that?

I guess I need to keep looking for a real butcher. I assumed the meat store down the road from me would be one...

[sunny*pa*mom]

The meat vendors at my farmer's market sells them. Maybe your local one does too?

[cristeen]

You need to work your way back up the chain to the people who process the meat or even to the grower. Some butchers still do it, but most don't anymore.

I buy duck direct from the grower, and they offer carcasses/wings for 10-35 cents/lb. 15 pounds of that is a couple dollars, and that made me a couple gallons of stock.

Try eatwild.com for a grower near you, and see if they're willing to sell you the bones or put you in contact with their butcher/packager so you can talk to him about it.

[kjbrown92]

Is there an Asian market around you? Ours has packages of chicken feet (which are supposed to be really good for broth - though the packaging grosses me out) and other ... parts. And they're really cheap too.

[tanyalynn]

I asked about chicken bones at my local grocery store a while back. The butcher told me that there are much stricter laws regarding cutting up poultry than there are for pork and beef--very few grocery stores cut-up their poultry on-site, it's done at a central (regulated, visited by the health dept) location and shipped out that way.

That said, many Whole Foods do cut up their own chicken on-site and have frozen backs and necks. Check a freezer near the meat area (or just ask the butcher, of course). In Austin & Houston, the chicken backs/necks are 99c/lb.

I almost started calling around to big poultry processing plants to see if they ever sell the leftover carcasses. You can ask the local grocery store where their store cuts up chicken--it may be a drive, and I don't know if they're at all setup to sell to the public, but that's another option.

I'm glad you started this thread--I haven't bought bones since I moved to Houston and it's making me sad. And if I could get duck or other poultry carcasses from a local farmer at prices anything near cristeen's experience, I would be elated! So I think I'll get to work.

[changingseasons]

Thanks for all those ideas! I'm going to start making some phone calls tomorrow and see what I can find.