Homemade broth is a health food, and makes your harvest goes further. How do you make yours?

does anyone else believe that homemade broth or stock is extremely good for you.

its also a good way to make your harvest go further

post up what you think or if you have any information to go with it.

also if you do make it, how do you make it?

My dad makes stock by collecting trimmings (like carrot tops) from all the vegetables we eat, and then boiling it once he gets enough. Definitely healthy. And tasty

We do basically the same thing.  We keep a one gallon ziplock in the freezer for vegetable trimmings.  It usually has enough in about 2 weeks since the really good things go to the chickens.  But *simmering* is the key for me.  It keeps the broth from getting any bitter flavors.  I've boiled it hard before it was no good!

i like using a crockpot in the summer when its too hot to cook with fire. set it and forget it, and you have great broth for whatever recipe you desire.

I do not know the actual health values of stock, but as it seems to be a way to get all of the nutrition from an animal.....going by the delicious flavor I can assume it is really healthy. Chicken soup was probably one of the first medicines!
It seems to me such a waste to throw bones in the garbage and not use them for a stock

we really enjoy our chicken and turkey stocks:

we debone or piece out a chicken or turkey(or duck etc) and ROAST the rib cage, neck, wings etc. we place the items on a sheet pan and bake  in the oven for about 1/2 hour @ 375F or until golden brown.

Then place the parts and pan drippings in a pot and cover with water. We simmer usually4-6 hours or over night with the lid just a bit askew to let out a bit of steam. then strain and chill. I scrape off most of the fat but we like to leave a few tablespoons for flavor.

Then you can reduce the stock again for a stronger flavor. sometimes we will add onion scraps, sprigs of thyme or other herbs. sometime the simpler the stock the better it tastes.

Because we roast the parts first our stock is rich and more flavorful. After adding some salt it is almost a perfect soup as is. it is now ready for dumplings, noodles, veggies, etc.

The more you reduce the stock the less space it will take up in your freezer or fridge.

thanks for the post auntythelma

i love making turkey stock its so good in the winter when its freezing cold out.

i skim off the fat after it cools and store it for cooking. just a little bit to add flavor to certain meals that would otherwise be pretty bland.

once again thanks for the tips

oh i also wanted to add that i have been reading up on how good gelatin is for you, and that bone stock is one of if not the best source of it. some people eat a tablespoon of gelatin a day to get them going and supply energy.

hubert cumberdale wrote:
thanks for the post auntythelma

i love making turkey stock its so good in the winter when its freezing cold out.

i skim off the fat after it cools and store it for cooking. just a little bit to add flavor to certain meals that would otherwise be pretty bland.

once again thanks for the tips

oh i also wanted to add that i have been reading up on how good gelatin is for you, and that bone stock is one of if not the best source of it. some people eat a tablespoon of gelatin a day to get them going and supply energy.

I love to make stock.

Mostly bone stock.

Or if I buy already cooked chicken or roast a whole one, like the roasted or fire pit kind I use those bones as well.
Shrimp shells, lobster shells make good stock.

Add cold water to bones or veggies, bring to a boil, and simmer on low, this creates a nice clear, less cloudy stock.

Like Aunty said roast the bones in the oven until nice and golden brown for a nice flavor, also veggies can be roasted as well.

My usual ingredients in any stock:
onion                                         
celery                                                 
carrot
parsley
garlic
peppercorns
bay leaf
thyme

As I understand it -
There are two different things we are talking about here - one is a meat or vegetable stock and the other is a broth or (bone broth) - the later is the one were we get the most minerals and usually gelatin.  Both types are real good for you, but the broth is the best for gut healing and treating illness.  I think some people boil their chicken low & slow and end up achieving a broth with meat in it - hence chicken soup that jells when refrigerated.

You can roast or not roast, as mentioned above.  
You can use cooked or raw bones when making your broth, but broth is made by boiling so if you pre boil your bones in a cooking dish you may just pull most of their goods out in that process.

When making broth - allow your bones to soak with a few tablespoons of ACV (apple cider vinegar) added to the water for around 30 minutes before you start the low temp - long time simmer.  This is said to help pull minerals from the bones and bone marrow.

I get two batches - first I make my roast or chicken.  I remove the meat and drippings, leaving the bones, fat and bits in the crock.  Then I add water, spices, veggie tops to these leftovers plus the ACV and low simmer again for at least 24 - 36 hours to achieve healthy bone broth.

I agree using a crock makes this so easy.  At this time of year I set mine up on the back porch.
I've been known to comment "what are the neighbors cooking, it smells delicious" then my daughter reminds me I had her set up the crock on the porch that morning.....

yea i forgot to mention broth and stock are different. thanks jami. something inside me figured everyone here already knew.

I agree using a crock makes this so easy.  At this time of year I set mine up on the back pouch.
I've been known to comment "what are the neighbors cooking, it smells delicious" then my daughter reminds me I had her set up the crock on the porch that morning.....

ive had the neighbors come over a few times when i make it outside and say what smells so good.

i just usually add veggies and such to my bone broth because i like how it tastes.

Speaking of crock pots, I know of a chef who was having his home kitchen done over from scratch.  Had nothing to work with at home during the process, and "needed" carmalized onions for something.  He sliced up a bunch, added a healthy 'plop' of butter, and left going all day in the crock pot.  He said he had a perfect batch ready when he got home.

I consider broth, made with meat, and stock made with bones. Actually either way I always use the term  stock, whether it has meat, bones, or all veggies. I guess it depends on where one learned to make it. But there is a difference in viscosity, flavor, and nutrients between "seasoned water" made with bones or without bones. Also cartilage will also give "flavored water" viscosity or that gel factor. The cartilage in younger animals will also produce more viscosity.

That is why in classic french cooking demi glace is made with veal bones. For flavor and incredible texture. When it cools it gets so firm you can hold chunks of it in your hand.

I like the crock pot idea and will try the apple cider vinegar.

I make bone stock every couple of weeks in the fall and winter.  I can store enough to get me through to the next cool season.  I love to super condense some of the stock and then pour it into ice cube trays for freezing.  It gives you the perfect level of stock to add to rice.  And, when the kids are off, I can warm up a cube for a quick "shot" of all the minerals an ailing body needs. 

I read somewhere that Dr. Weston A. Price would like to see a brothel on every corner as a replacement for fast food joints.  In case you are wandering down the lusty path let me clarify:

This would be a kiosk selling a variety of long simmered bone broths sold inexpensively so that anyone could afford it and it would be a healthier alternative to the fast foods that are out there now.

I like the idea but would hope that the broth could come from animals that have been raised in a healthy manner.

Before now, I had never left a chicken carcass in the crock pot for more than overnight, but having forgotten about it for over a day, I now have the nicest, golden stock I've ever made!

What surprised me though, was that all of the chicken bones dissolved in my fingers when I picked them up to separate them from the meat. Easy access to marrow, and while the skin stayed relatively intact, I noticed no cartilage undissolved. Doesn't this make it super healthy?

I am wondering if anyone else has done this and simply blended the bon es in with other bits to make a patee or spread of sorts. It also occurred to me the bones could indeed be fed to the dogs in this state as there are no pokey parts.

I've read about bones softened by various methods being eaten by folks - personally I don't see a problem with it if you know for certain there are no stabby bits.  Maybe run them through a blender to be sure?

I don't know about the bone parts.  I just wanted to comment that Dr Weston Price talks about the most healthful broths being slow simmered for at least that long.  Alice Waters talked about the best broths made by the french that were simmered 72 hours.

be sure to post this info in my "stock/broth as a health food thread" so all the info is in one place.

ive never left it in there that long before. the longest was about 15 hours.

I also do it!
As I am French, and as my mother used to cook for us "veau en gelée", I will ask her the recipe and translate it here for you!
It is full of carrots and onions and is eaten fresh out of the fridge.

Thanks for the vinegar trick.

I use the left overs from grilled chickens for meat and bone soups.

And about time: I boil with veggies, not so long. I drink the juice, eat the veggies, and just add water and more veggies and cook it again! So it all gets out of the bones little by little.

I chew the bones, and then give the rest to the cats. Some can go into the compost as well.

I make terrific broth in my pressure cooker. I save chicken bones along with necks, organs, etc in the freezer, and when I have some time I fill up my pressure cooker with bones and water. I bring it up to high pressure (the second red ring on my Kuhn-Rikon cooker) and then I can leave it on "1" on my electric stovetop for ages. If the seals are getting old on the cooker I may come back to find that it has lost pressure, but I just bring it back up to pressure and keep it there for at least an hour before straining and freezing the broth.

I will usually run it overnight and often for more than 24 hours. When I open it up the broth is golden and clear and the bones are soft enough to break with a light squeeze. I strain it into freezer containers (when I tried pressure canning broth, I had a lot of explosive bubbling, wasting broth, as the jars cooled) and I give the pile of softened bones and bits to my chickens, breaking the bones with my fingers during the walk to their pen.

I think of this broth/stock as a health food. It is full of minerals and protein. I've also made broth from prosciutto bones, beef bones and pork bones, but only when they are from a whole animal we've butchered. Bones always make the best tasting broth when they've been roasted first, to get some browning action going.

The suggestion to make broth in the pressure cooker came in the owner's manual, I think. The one time I tried making broth without it I let it boil too vigorously and ended up with very cloudy broth, almost an emulsion. I consider the pressure cooker method to be more foolproof!

I agree for taste.
I usually consider that pressure cookers "brake" too many things in the food, the cells of proteins etc...
So I don't want to cook anything with pressure and so high temperatures.
At least I would not put the organs but really just bones.