Free bones at the butcher?

[Aletheia]

I was just wondering if I would seem like a peasant if I asked at our trendy organic foods market what they do with the bones that come out of the prepared cuts of meat and poultry... does anyone happen to know what the protocol is there? Do you think it likely that they'd just give you the bones that came out of the "boneless, skinless chicken breasts?" Just curious.

[Feb2003]

I'd suck up my pride and ask...actually when I did they showed me a case where they are selling "soup bones" LOL

BUT I didn't see any chicken...people are for some reason more squemish about chicken bones/meat so there might not be as much demand...you might as well ask...

[rachelsmama]

It's worth asking. Around here you can usually buy a bag of chicken bones for pretty cheap. There's even a bit of meat left on the bones, so it's great for making soup.

[Jimibell]

Is there a reason why you don't want to just use a whole chicken? I throw mine into a pot (according to the recipe in NT) and it tastes so good and I have plenty of chicken for many days and of course I get the delicious stock as well. It costs me about 20$ to buy the whole chicken (about 4 lbs) from the farmers market but I get so many meals out of it I think it's a great deal.
Just a thought......

[velcromom]

It depends on whether they actually cut the meat themselves - a lot of places don't anymore - most of the major grocery chains don't. But if this is a specialty place they might be doing it themselves. I would definitely ask, I know that I'd love extra bones - never enough broth around here!

[spughy]

Chances are good someone else has already scooped you on it, but I've found that one gets nothing but respect from butchers when you start asking for the bones and offal and whatnot. I think they tend to look down on the type of people who buy only boneless skinless chicken breasts.

[quietserena]

If you don't want to ask in person, you could call and ask. That way they don't know who you are.

[AJP]

Definitely ask, if it's a place that does the actual cutting. Who cares if you seem like a peasant? I agree you're more likely to earn some respect rather than get looked down on, whenever I've asked butchers for anything out of the ordinary they've always been very helpful even if they didn't have what I asked for. If you don't want to feel like a beggar by asking for free stuff, ask if they sell the bones left over from boneless cuts. If it's just scrap to them, they may simply give it to you, or sell it for a very small price. The butchers at the natural foods co-op where I shop are very helpful, and have given me free stuff (fat from local, grassfed lamb and beef).

[tanyalynn]

The only problem finding chicken bones is that it takes special licensing and oversight to cut up chicken, vs. beef, pork, lamb or whatever (I asked). Many regular grocery stores don't do this, but, many Whole Foods stores _do_ cut up chicken on-site--ours sells the bones. So they may not have them, but it's worth asking.

[Ruthla]

My local supermarket often sells packages of "soup bones" (the leftovers from cutting up chicken cutlets) for very cheap- a huge package is usually around $1.

I never boil a whole chicken because then nobody seems to eat the meat; genearlly we roast the chicken ,eat it, then make soup from the leftover carcass. Sometimes we eat so much soup that we need more bones- and the "bones' package is much cheaper than buying a whole chicken, or even the cheapest meat such as drumstics, wings, or thighs.

[momtoalexsarah]

If there are any organic farms in your area, give them a call and ask that when they have animals done (most do for either their own use of some small freezer sales and custom orders) they often get bones and such back.
We have beef pork and chicken and many of our customers want boneless cuts and don't want the bones back - so they come back to us.
Each year I get a bunch of our chickens cut up to sell the parts to the cottagers here and I have the butcher put 4 chicken backs (pretty meaty still) into a bag and I sell these for a dollar a pound. I make my money on the cut stuff so I can sell these at a loss just to be rid of them - we make lots of stock but I can only use so much.

[lindsayjean]

When I bought my 1/8 of a cow they would have thrown away the bones had I not asked for them. I wonder if I could get more if I asked for the bones that others perhaps do not want? Hmmmm. Too bad the place is 1.5 hrs from my house.