Bone broth help

[nparks]

I am processing 9 birds this weekend for the first time and am looking to utilize as much of the bird as possible. Any tips for making bone broth? This will be my first time!

Also, any storage tips for the broth would be great!

 

[ChickenLady2014]

I am processing 9 birds this weekend for the first time and am looking to utilize as much of the bird as possible. Any tips for making bone broth? This will be my first time!

Also, any storage tips for the broth would be great!

Hi nparks, my husband and I processed 37 birds this past fall. Depending on your kettle size will determine how many carcasses you can put in the pot. We had a lot of extra roosters from my hatching in the spring last year. They were pretty scrawny. I would put a number of carcasses in the pot, adding lots of celery, whole onions with skins, garlic & unpeeled carrots. I would simmer on low until the meat was falling off the bone. Then I would pour it thru a strainer saving the broth, dumping the bones on a baking sheet. I then would pick thru the bones pulling out any viable meat. This I bagged in freezer bags to use for a quick kettle of soup or taco's. You then pop the sheet pan of bones into a 300° oven until they are dry & golden. I then would put the bones back in the kettle, cover them with some of the homemade stock & let this simmer for a couple hours. Some of the chicken stock I pressure canned for use throughout the year. Some I used with the roasted bones. I will say that regardless of what you decide to do with the carcasses (using them for chicken stock or bone broth) I had collagen rich broth either way. Good luck on your venture.

 

[Maeschak]

I am processing 9 birds this weekend for the first time and am looking to utilize as much of the bird as possible. Any tips for making bone broth? This will be my first time!

Also, any storage tips for the broth would be great!

For older birds I do this: slaughter bird, scald, pluck, eviscerate, chill. Then I come back after all the birds have been done and I remove the feet, neck, back, wings, wing tips, and skin. The skin is put into the freezer so that I can make schmaltz (chicken lard great for frying potatoes) and gribenes later. I also freeze the wings for later eating (but the wing tips are for stock).
Set the remaining parts aside temporarily (necks, feet, wing tips, and backs).
Cut the meat from the bone and pressure can the meat. (Pressure canned chicken looks like dog food but is absolutely delicious and is easy to make a meal from).
Now take all of the remaining stuff with bones (meatless carcass, neck, wing tips, back, etc) and roast the meat/bones in the oven. Once it is all roasted put it into the pressure cooker with the feet and cover with water AND some sort of acid such a Tablespoon of vinegar (the vinegar draws the minerals out of the bones for better bone broth).
Now pressure cook all the parts on high pressure for at least 1.5 hours. Strain the concoction and let the stock cool in the fridge. Once cooled, scrape the fat from the top of your broth and save it. That fat is schmaltz that is made as a byproduct from your making stock.
Then I pressure can the stock.
FYI you can absolutely add a few bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, onions etc to the pot before pressure cooking the roasted carcasses etc, it just depends on whether you want a straight chicken bone broth or a very seasoned stock.

As for amounts all I can tell you is this: I use about 6 chickens/parts/carcasses in a 16 qt cheap Walmart pressure canner/cooker. If I break the bones up after roasting I can fit the all the chicken stock parts into the pot and cover the bones with 7.5 quarts of water. For me, this produces exactly 7 quarts of awesome chicken stock or bone broth.

I hope there is something here that you can use-

Good luck!

 

[Maeschak]

For older birds I do this: slaughter bird, scald, pluck, eviscerate, chill. Then I come back after all the birds have been done and I remove the feet, neck, back, wings, wing tips, and skin. The skin is put into the freezer so that I can make schmaltz (chicken lard great for frying potatoes) and gribenes later. I also freeze the wings for later eating (but the wing tips are for stock).
Set the remaining parts aside temporarily (necks, feet, wing tips, and backs).
Cut the meat from the bone and pressure can the meat. (Pressure canned chicken looks like dog food but is absolutely delicious and is easy to make a meal from).
Now take all of the remaining stuff with bones (meatless carcass, neck, wing tips, back, etc) and roast the meat/bones in the oven. Once it is all roasted put it into the pressure cooker with the feet and cover with water AND some sort of acid such a Tablespoon of vinegar (the vinegar draws the minerals out of the bones for better bone broth).
Now pressure cook all the parts on high pressure for at least 1.5 hours. Strain the concoction and let the stock cool in the fridge. Once cooled, scrape the fat from the top of your broth and save it. That fat is schmaltz that is made as a byproduct from your making stock.
Then I pressure can the stock.
FYI you can absolutely add a few bay leaves, peppercorns, salt, onions etc to the pot before pressure cooking the roasted carcasses etc, it just depends on whether you want a straight chicken bone broth or a very seasoned stock.

As for amounts all I can tell you is this: I use about 6 chickens/parts/carcasses in a 16 qt cheap Walmart pressure canner/cooker. If I break the bones up after roasting I can fit the all the chicken stock parts into the pot and cover the bones with 7.5 quarts of water. For me, this produces exactly 7 quarts of awesome chicken stock or bone broth.

I hope there is something here that you can use-

Good luck!

Ps- I then pressure can the stock as well. That is how I store it. But you can absolutely freeze it - it freezes great. Just pour the stock into old yogurt containers or whatever.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some good stuff from the others above. We I butcher chickens I cut them into serving pieces and double wrap those in freezing paper. I find that wrapping them that second time in freezer paper really helps keep them fresh. I put the rest of the parts (back, wings, neck, feet, gizzard, and heart) in a zip-loc type bag for broth.

Side note: I know where the feet have been. But I blanch them in boiling water for about 15 to 20 seconds. The toenails twist off pretty easily and the skin peels off. That gets them clean enough for me. If you blanch them too long the skin tears really easily and is a real pain to peel off. There is a learning curve involved in learning how to do this and it can get tedious but the feet really add to the broth. If you are only doing this once it may not be worth the effort to learn how.

When I cook the edible chicken parts I save the bones in a zip-loc until I have a gallon bag full? Then I cook those bones overnight (probably 20 hours) covered in water in a crock pot on slow. I strain the bones out and discard. That liquid is used for my batch of broth.

When I'm ready to make broth I put a carcass (in parts). a bay leaf, about a dozen peppercorns, carrot, celery, oregano, and basil in that crock pot and cover it with that liquid from above. I usually need to top it off with more water. Then I again cook it overnight on low.

The next morning i strain the big bits out and pick through them for the meat. That meat goes into the freezer in vacuum bags. It goes great in tacos, soups, or stews.

I de-fat the liquid. I freeze it until I have enough for a full canning with my pressure canner. I normally get about 19 pints of broth from three batches.

Use any of these methods or create your own out of parts of these three. You will get the best broth you have ever tried.

 

[nparks]

Thank you for all the great information! Can’t wait to get started, but I do have a few more questions:

Do I need to let the meat rest in the fridge before quartering them?

Is a pressure cooker necessary vs boiling canning? I intend to can vegetables this summer too, will a pressure canner make life easier?

How long is pressure canned broth good for?

 

[nparks]

After some research, I answered my own question about the necessity of a pressure canner for the broth.
However, will I be able to use the pressure canner for all other things?

 

[bobbi-j]

After some research, I answered my own question about the necessity of a pressure canner for the broth.
However, will I be able to use the pressure canner for all other things?

You can use a pressure canner for a lot of things. I don't know if you have laying hens, but when we process our spent hens and older roosters, I pressure can the meat. Best. Thing. Ever. I use my pressure canner for string beans and tomatoes (even though I know you can water bath tomatoes - I do that too, just depends on my mood). Beef stew meat is another good thing to can. Buy tough cuts of roast, cube them, can them. I love the Ball Blue Book on food preservation. It's a great resource.

 

[Maeschak]

After some research, I answered my own question about the necessity of a pressure canner for the broth.
However, will I be able to use the pressure canner for all other things?

Just as an FYI- if you pressure can the meat (which I do with most of my birds that aren't 'prime') you DO NOT need to rest the birds at all after butchering... You can pressure can the meat immediately after butchering- this is a real time saver for me.

 

[Ms Biddy]

Can I ask what kinds of things you like to make with pressure canned chicken? Sounds like a very practical thing to do with tough birds.