bone broth

[addiesmama]

Hi,

anyone ever made chicken stock/bone broth? Did you make it with raw chicken/bones? Can it be made with raw chicken?

After it is made do you have to reduce it before making it into soup. I also posted this on allergies forum, but any help id so greatly appreciated!

[changingseasons]

I make it ALL the time, and eat a bowl of noodle soup with it every day.

I usually buy whole, free-range chickens (we can't afford organic), and roast the bird first. Then strip the meat and use the bones to make broth. Or I'll throw them in the freezer until I have a few carcasses saved up and make a big batch of broth.

You can use raw bones too. I have also used chicken thighs/legs, thrown it all in the boiling water, then taken them out after an hour or so to strip the meat (then throw the bones back in).

I usually let mine simmer about 24-48 hours to get all the good stuff out of the bones. :

[addiesmama]

Thanks for the help! I made mine using raw chicken backs that had some meat on them. The broth looks good and smells great, but i became nervous about the fact that i put raw chicken in it. I let it simmer for 12 hours so the meat was cooked well. Does it sound like i did it right?

i hope i am making sense. Thank you for your help, i am so new at this and just trying to do what is best for my family!

[joybird]

You can also add a tbsp or two of cider vinegar. That helps leach the minerals out of the bones.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by addiesmama

Thanks for the help! I made mine using raw chicken backs that had some meat on them. The broth looks good and smells great, but i became nervous about the fact that i put raw chicken in it. I let it simmer for 12 hours so the meat was cooked well. Does it sound like i did it right?

i hope i am making sense. Thank you for your help, i am so new at this and just trying to do what is best for my family!

You're making perfect sense.
The problem with chicken is that when it is not cooked or undercooked, it's the perfect breeding ground for salmonella. However, salmonella is killed by the heat of cooking. I remember being scared half to death that I was going to kill someone the first time I cooked a whole chicken.
There should be no need to reduce the broth unless you want to freeze it for use as "bouillon cubes". In which case, reduce it by 8 (my personal preference for this reason: one ice cube = 1 oz. 1 cup = 8 ozs., if you put 1 bouillon cube in a measuring cup and fill it to one cup, you have exactly the equivalent of one cup of broth).

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

I usually let mine simmer about 24-48 hours to get all the good stuff out of the bones. :

Do you keep adding water or how do you keep it from boiling dry? Mine has reduced by 1/2 in about 3 hrs already.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

Do you keep adding water or how do you keep it from boiling dry? Mine has reduced by 1/2 in about 3 hrs already.

I just boil for about 1-15 minutes, and skim off the weird foamy stuff. Once it stops spitting out foamy gunk, I turn it down to LOW and just let it simmer for a day or two. Usually once I turn the burner down, my water level doesn't go down much, but you can always add water if it gets too low.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

I just boil for about 1-15 minutes, and skim off the weird foamy stuff. Once it stops spitting out foamy gunk, I turn it down to LOW and just let it simmer for a day or two. Usually once I turn the burner down, my water level doesn't go down much, but you can always add water if it gets too low.

Okay -- but I could never feel comfortable leaving something to simmer when I went to bed. (I'm a chicken...haha) So, if I make broth, but don't simmer it overnight, am I missing out on most or all of the good stuff?

Very, very OT - but if we found a foamy gunk spitting sacrificial chicken, would we get the smilie?

[changingseasons]

That's a good question... I'm not sure. I guess the longer you simmer, the more stuff you'll get, but I don't know if there's really a minimum simmering time. You might post a question about it in the Traditional Foods forum- those mamas might know.

[tanyalynn]

Okay -- but I could never feel comfortable leaving something to simmer when I went to bed. (I'm a chicken...haha) So, if I make broth, but don't simmer it overnight, am I missing out on most or all of the good stuff?

I think the typical rec for chicken bones is 12-24 hrs, so if you start it in the morning and stop just before bed, you should be fine.

That said, our old house had an electric oven and I could put 2 pots in the oven, set at about 190 or 195F and leave it overnight. Now that we have a gas oven I'm not comfortable doing that (and I don't think I can control the temp that closely and I don't want it to all boil away), but that's another option, if you're comfortable with having the oven on overnight.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

I think the typical rec for chicken bones is 12-24 hrs, so if you start it in the morning and stop just before bed, you should be fine.

Thanks! -- I did a little searching and 12-24 hours seems to be the consensus. I could probably get closer to 18 before I would need to turn it off. I never even thought about sticking the pots in the oven! That's a great idea.

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

I just boil for about 1-15 minutes, and skim off the weird foamy stuff. Once it stops spitting out foamy gunk, I turn it down to LOW and just let it simmer for a day or two. Usually once I turn the burner down, my water level doesn't go down much, but you can always add water if it gets too low.

Thanks! I missed the foamy stuff though and now its all mixed together. Hopefully nothing to worry about.

[WuWei]

Here are "Broth is Beautiful" instructions per Weston Price: http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html

simmer, not boil.


Pat

[kjbrown92]

I have yet to get foam on my broth.
I don't like the stove on all night either (gas stove), so I use my slowcooker on high until it boils, then put it back to low, and leave it for 2 days. I don't reduce mine. I freeze it in pint containers. I do the same thing with beef stock.
And mine is usually roasted chicken bones.