I have plans to make chicken bone broth this week. Any advice?

[irisblue]

[mercuryblues]

1. Make

Sure the chicken is dead

[irisblue]

2. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Warpy]

3. Sure. Roast the bones for a few minutes first (won't take long, will deepen flavor)

Break the thigh and leg bones to expose the marrow, that's where the flavor will come from.

Do skim the nasty stuff that rises to the surface within the first hour of simmering. It won't hurt you but it does make the stock cloudy and unappetizin. If there is a huge layer of fat, take part of it off. If there is very little fat, leave it and consider adding a glug of very dry white wine* to the stock, fat and alcohol both carry flavor.

For a very plain stock, season with roughly chopped onion, celery, and carrot. My go to for herbs is thyme, whole peppercorns, and bay. If you are planning to use it for something like Italian wedding soup, add some garlic cloves and use basil and bay as your herbs. Or just play around and suit yourself.

Oh, and crowd the stock pan, IMO a stock gets better the more stuff that toies in inrelation to the water since I can always water down a stock that's too strong for a light soup but reducing it gets rid of too much of the aromatic ciomponents.


*I usually keep a very dry vermouth on hand for this. It's generally inexpensive, widely available, and works.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. In a pressure cooker or a large stock pot,

boil about 2 roasted chicken carcasses and leftover roasted bones from the legs, wings, thighs, and back with 1 large yellow onion (quartered), 1 large carrot (in thirds), 1 medium green pepper, 1 vine tomato (halved), 2 smashed cloves of garlic, 3-4 stems and leaves of parsley, about 1 TBS kosher salt, and 1 TBS or less of black peppercorns.

If cooking on the stove, it's about 3 hours. If pressure cooker, wait until the top starts to rattle, then lower heat to low and cook about 30 minutes on the highest pressure.

I let the stock return to room temperature, then using a spider strainer to lift out the bones and the bigger pieces of stuff. I put them in a strainer over another pot to catch the dripping stock. When it's mainly stock with little bits of stuff, I use a very fine strainer to finish the stock.

Of course I taste it and adjust seasonings.

And I store it in the refrigerator (dated and labelled) or freeze the stock in those quart plastic containers.

Liquid Gold.

P.S. It works the same way for beef bone broth. (Save those bones!)

[vanessa_ca]

5. Add apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

Extracts Minerals: The acidity helps pull minerals like calcium and magnesium from the bones.
Boosts Collagen: It aids in breaking down cartilage and joints, releasing more collagen/gelatin into the liquid.
Improves Texture: A higher concentration of gelatin gives the cooled broth a thicker texture.

Use approximately 1–2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per pound of chicken bones, or about 1–2 tablespoons per large pot of broth.
Add the vinegar to the water and bones, and let them sit for 30–60 minutes before turning on the heat. This allows the acid to start breaking down the bones.
Apple cider vinegar is preferred though white vinegar or lemon juice can also be used.