Bone broth is as old as, well, fire. Cooking left over bones, no matter how small. to extract the last bit of flavor and nutrition from whatever animal our hunter ancestors could kill was an essential survival practice. While we have advanced from broth-as-survival we still appreciate the wonderful flavors such efforts can provide us. Making your own broth is simple, economical and tasty. You can make it either with the leftover bones and meat scraps from a roasted whole chicken (see our recipe) or by first roasting a package of our backs/frames/necks.
Use it for making your own soups or to add to any recipe calling for chicken broth. We often freeze it in smaller containers to pull out as needed.
To roast backs, etc place them on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and roast in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees, turning once, until bones are browned and any meat is cooked. (Be sure to scrape the cooked bits and drippings into your stock pot. They add lots of flavor.)
What You’ll Need:
- roasted chicken backs (frames)/ leftovers
- 1 clove garlic (smashed)
- 2 stalks celery (broken in two)
- 3 large carrots (broken into large pieces)
- a small 3”- 4” piece of bell pepper
- water to cover
Directions
- Place everything in a large stock pot.
- Fill pot with enough water to cover.
- Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a very low, slow simmer. (The simmer should only produce a few small bubbles every minute or so.) When you smell the rich broth aroma it’s done.
- Remove from heat.
- Carefully remove scraps, veggies, etc.
- Strain broth.
- Cool as quickly as possible to room temperature. We often fill the sink with ice water and place the stockpot in it.
- Refrigerate
(If you plan to freeze the broth, first skim the thickened fat layer from refrigerated broth.)