Bone broth

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So I made a chicken for my family last Sunday. So we ate it, and there was the carcass left. I'd been doing some reading, and an article or two I read suggested that bone broth is more beneficial for your joints and stuff than glucosamine and chondroitin supplements, and it also has the benefit of added collagen. So yeah, I had some bones from my family meal, and was like "huh, let's try this out." If it didn't work out, I'd normally be trashing the chicken bones and scraps anyway.

Anyway, it's pretty simple. I had some stock leftover in the bottom of the pan from cooking the chicken, so I threw that in the pot, then I added water, then threw as many bones and little scraps of chicken into the pan as I could. Then later, 2 potatoes and 2 carrots, and the leftover canned corn from the dinner, and then later about a handful of barley. Added pretty much no seasoning that wasn't already on the chicken scraps, except a few shakes of Italian Seasoning, a mix of oregano, basil, thyme, etc. Also I added some lemon juice to make the soup more acidic and draw minerals out of the bones. Anyway, it turned out very good, I think. The only problem was, I should have made the broth separately and put it through a strainer to get all the bones out, but live and learn. Anyway, it turned out to actually be a VERY good soup. It was good, because it was flavorful, except I added no salt. The bones gave it a nice rich flavor. It's good because salt for some reason really aggrevates my blood pressure.

But yeah, I'm quite liking this soup. It makes me feel very full for some reason, it's light years better than any canned soup I've had. It's really cheap, too, make a big chicken, take the meat off, save it to eat later or whatever (or if you feed multiple people at a time with it) then get the bones you normally throw out, make soup. For the price of 2 carrots and 2 potatoes, I got the equivalent of 5-7 cans of soup, and reheating it is as simple as cooking canned soup. The only weird thing about bone broth, though, all the gelatin comes out of the bones, so your soup will actually have somewhat the consistency of jello. But, when you heat it up, it's soup again and not jello.

Anyway, I'm just giving this as a tip here. It's a pretty cheap meal plan thing, make a chicken one day, then make soup, you'd have a lot of protein rich food for cheap. I'm doing this as I've given myself a bit of tendonitis from weightlifting (doing an overhead squat with my feet out weird actually) and in general I've been pulling tendons and stuff lately. I wanted to do glucosamine supps, but they're very expensive. So I figured I'd try this. Overall, it's at the very least very filling soup that's good for you. I feel a bit less pain today. I'm not entirely sure one way or the other, if it's placebo or not. I really wanted to introduce more collagen to my diet, and this seems like a win win over anything else. Anyway, collagen probably won't lead to massive bulk like whey protein/etc, but your body needs it to keep everything working, so yeah. Oh yeah, also if you need calcium, magnesium, etc, this is perfect, too, especially as some people are very allergic to milk, and it seems a lot of ASD people react negatively to milk.

Just figured I'd share the bone broth thing with you guys.

Congrats! You made soup!

You know what's even tastier? When you roast the bones/carcass before making the soup.

I'm a huge foodie, let me know if you have any questions, though it seems like your cooking instincts are right on!

So I've heard. I might do that, I don't know. This soup to me is like "lazy soup." I do think next time though I won't add any extra salt, I'll probably spice it a bit more. I didn't use a crockpot, either, just the stove for about 2 hours on sorta high heat. Still better than any canned soup I've had.

Yup, it's good stuff! Though I sometimes do it on the stovetop or in the oven, In fact, I keep a crock-pot full of water in the kitchen on Thanksgiving, and the minute the turkey is carved, in go the bones overnight on low. Wine is also good for acidification, if you don't have lemon (but of course red wine will color the broth.)

BTW - canned broth should gel like your stock, but it doesn't due to the level of processing. What you made is basically the same stuff as canned but way, way better.

I do this too (but in a pressure cooker for speed). It's good and good for you. That easing of pain was not a placebo effect. When people say, "chicken soup heals everything" it's this they are talking about. Not that junk that comes in a can. I make extra and freeze it.

My brothers do this, too, and yes it is a healthy, tasty way to eat. Unfortunately, I can't eat soups, as they upset my stomach. I think it's the oils and grease in them, but I'm not sure. This means that when I have scraps and stock left over, I have to throw it out, as I live alone, so have no one else around to use it. I also have the same problem with gravy. However, I was able to reuse some stock recently, in small portions. I had made up two packs of stew chunks in a casserole dish in the oven. I put BBQ sauce on them and rotated the dish about half way through the cooking time. I did cook them a little long, so they were a little tough, but they were still moist. The longer cooking time rendered out most of the fat though, so that was good, and much of the BBQ sauce mixed with the meat juices in the pan. I ended up putting this flavored stock onto the meat when I reheated and ate each portion. It kept the meat moist and flavorful. I plan on reusing some of my stock like this in the future, as I was able to stomach it this way, and it improved the food.

I need a new crock pot. This time I am getting an oval one instead of round. Poultry will fit better in the oval one. Unfortunately, these pots don't fit well under the sink faucet, though, which discourages me from using an appliance I like. It makes great meals, and in the summer you can use it to cook up food without heating up the house.

One time years ago, I found ducklings on sale at a super market. I had tried duck at a chinese buffet restaurant and liked it, so I picked through the ones in the store looking for the shortest one, so it would fit in the round crock pot I have. I did manage to find one just barely short enough. It came out great in the crock pot! It fell off the bones, and tasted so good with all the seasonings I put in. It was too long ago for me to remember exactly what I seasoned it with, but it was soooooo delicious. I was still living with relatives back then, and they liked it too.

Enjoy your cooking! Food is about my only vice. I'm not a great cook, but I manage okay, and things like the crock pot are a big help.

Questor, I have a twofold solution: First, refrigerate your stock - any fat will come to the surface (don't, as that will sometimes emulsify fats and prevent them from separating) and solidify, making it easy to pick off and discard.

Second, put the refrigerated stock into ice-cube trays. Then you can turn them out into a zip-top freezer bag, keep them frozen, and reheat exactly the amount you need. (Make sure you wash the trays well in hot soapy water - stock is a nearly perfect place to build a bacteria culture if you aren't careful with it.) Starch- thickened gravies don't freeze well, but you can freeze cooking liquids before you thicken them for gravy, and then make your roux to thicken them after defrosting.

I buy healthy grass raised beef bones to make bone broth with from a small company
http://www.alderspring.com/
They do a great job shipping w/ dry ice to wherever you are in the U.S.