Bone Broth page

[wayofnature]

I currently buy my bone broth but I want to start making it, more cost effective. Does anyone have any tips on obtaining bones and recipes? much thanks!

[Diana Renata]

Oh it's easy! Make friends with your local butcher for obtaining bones cheap.

Bones + water + crockpot = bone broth.

[Melantha]

Where do you buy bone broth? All the broths in the supermarket are made with flavor enhancers, even the ones that claim to be made from bones and meat. I literally went from 1-2 migraines a week to fewer than one every two months when I stopped using packaged broth/soup products.

Whenever I roast a chicken, I put the carcass in the slow cooker, fill with water, and cook on low for 24 hours. I buy bones from my beef guy. He has ones called "soup bones" that have some meat, and some he sells as "dog bones" that have a lot of marrow. One soup bone and one dog bone, roasted, put in the slow cooker (maybe an onion), covered with water, and simmered for 24 hours, makes pretty good broth. You can add a splash of something acidic if you're really serious about leeching all the minerals out of the bones, but I dislike how that affects the taste, so I don't do it.

[ChristineCrain]

Yeah most butchers sell soup and/or dog bones. The marrow bones are the ones you want for making stock out of so you get the nutrition out of the bones.

[mayness]

I make my broths in the crockpot too. I read a "recipe" once that suggested pre-heating the crock pot a bit, putting the bones in and pouring boiling water over them (instead of just starting with the bones and cold water). I have no idea if it makes a difference but now that's my routine. =]

You can add onion, carrot, celery... some people add some spices...

Whenever I cook chicken, I collect all the bones in a bag in the freezer to save them. That way even if I'm just cooking a couple of chicken thighs, I know the bones aren't going to waste. I do the same thing with veggie ends/peelings/etc to make vegetable stock.

[Melantha]

I've heard that if you want to extract the most minerals from bones, you want to start by putting the bones in cold water and heating it up. Oh, I forgot to add my favorite broth/stock: turkey! I get two batches of broth from a turkey carcass, so I usually freeze the Thanksgiving leftovers and use them to make stock later in the year, too.

[Lovestoclimb]

question for the bone broth people...

I am going to be making my own broth this weekend. I have three bones in each bag that I have. What is the ratio of bone to water?

[Diana Renata]

I guess it just depends on how strong you want it. I never really thought about ratios. If it's too rich, you can water it down. If it's too thin, you can reduce it.

[Lovestoclimb]

makes sense. thanks DR!

[LX]

I used about four pounds of bones and enough water to cover them. I roast the bones first because I think it makes the flavor better (if I start with say raw beef bones as opposed to a roasted chicken carcass). I will generally add celery tops, old carrots, and an onion. For spices I almost always add bay leaves and a handful of peppercorns. Do not add salt to your stock as it will become too salty once the liquids concentrate.

For chicken:
A few annato seeds
A few whole cloves
Sage

For beef
Thyme
A few cloves
A dash of ginger
Red wine (if I have any leftovers)

My crockpot will cook for 14 hours before turning itself off so that's generally how long I cook my stock for. I add more water as it seems necessary (don't want to boil it dry). When I'm done I've usually extracted enough gelatin that the stock will gel in the fridge. It doesn't seem like very much, but it's fairly potent. I freeze it in 1/4 cup portions in cupcake papers (once frozen I throw them into a ziptop bag). Then when I just unwrap one of the "pucks" for sauces or several to make soup.