Don't throw away(or compost) those bones and chicken carcasses! You can use those to make nourishing, healing broths and stocks! It's best to not mix species, chicken for chicken stock, beef for beef stock, etc.. My boyfriend and I always buy whole chickens from the store because it's cheaper than buying pre-cut, individually packaged cuts. It also saves on packaging usage and turns into many meals. After you remove the wings, legs, breasts and tenders, you are left with the carcass and neck. Throw all of this into a big stock-pot or slow cooker(everyone needs one of those). 4 or 5 quart pot should do nicely. Fill with COLD water and bring to a low boil. You can also add a little splash of apple cider vinegar to extract the most minerals but I think it adds a funky taste to the broth. Skim all the scum off and turn the slow cooker or stove to low so that only one bubble comes up every once in a while. I've found that if you cover it on stove-top, it boils even on low so I leave it uncovered and just add more water when I need to. Make sure you keep skimming any scum that is on top. Cook for 12-24 hours. 24 is ideal to get the most nutritional value but if you can only do 12 that's fine. Now at this point it doesn't even smell good, but that's ok because you are going to use it as a soup or sauce base. A lot of people sip warm plain broth as a health drink, but I haven't tried it. Now line a colander with cheese clothe or a towel, put it over another pot or jars(you may need help with this stage) and pour the stock to strain out the solid pieces. The bones should be soft enough to feed to your dog or cat(if you have one). If they are not soft, you should probably cook your broth longer. If you want, you can refrigerate the broth and then take the fat off the top once it has congealed but i usually just leave it unless there is a lot on top. Now you have stock/broth(I still don't fully understand the difference) to use as a base for delicious soups and sauces! I just add a bunch of veggies, herbs and usually some browned ground dark turkey meat. I really can't stress the importance of buying organic, when you eat animals that have been mistreated, basically poisoned and are sick, you get that juju too. When you eat animals that are treated with respect and lived a happy life you get that juju! For a more complete recipe for broths get a Nourishing Traditions cookbook. Sally Falon has got tons of info and great recipes!
we don't have enough bones here that often to do anything with them. the few we do have go into the worm bins and the worms pick them clean for a few months to a year before they get put out into the gardens... if i had a bone grinder i'd use that to get them down to small chunks/grit as that will make a very good garden amendment. in the old days when every calorie was critical people broke the bones apart to eat the marrow and then the bones would be boiled to get every bit of nourishment from them, then some parts would be carved to use for different things and some would be fed to the other animals or tossed on the heap. eventually they get turned into plant food... some people now use them to make an animal grazing deterrent called bone sauce.
Excellent post. Not only is broth very good for you it is also important -ethically- to try to use every part of the animal that has been killed so you can eat. My mother always used to make a stock from the carcases but it seems to have fallen out of common practice with the introduction of stock cubes etc. It is a shame because nowadays we tend to throw away all the most nutritious parts of the animal ie bones, offal etc and keep the least nutritious parts like the muscles. paul
After my bones and prawn shells get turned into stock they then get put into my stink bucket. A rubbish bin full of water with an onion bag in it full of manure, bones, shells, molasses and crusher dust. I also put in all the fruit fly attacked stuff Theres lots of black soldier flies eating what is above the water line adding nutrients and controlling smell and vermin. They can be used as chook food too. The tea is diluted and watered into the garden. The bag will eventually be emptied into the garden rinse and repeat. Wear gloves and wash hands its ugly
Oh my! Your description really puts some wild images in my mind!! Paul, convenience and 'now' are what rule people's lives now. Most people don't think they have time for traditional cooking anymore, like soaking and sprouting grains and nuts before eating, fermenting. That's why there's fast-food and TV dinners. Also why so many people are sick. And songbird, you can also collect them in a bag over time in the freezer! I just keep the carcass in the freezer till I'm ready to make soup. I think the bones would be easier to process after they've been boiled if you really wanted to do something with them for the garden. Chicken bones at least, they get very soft and easy to break. I haven't done much with cow bones
A broth will not congeal, it will stay liquid even when fully cooled. A Stock does congeal as it cools to a jelly like consistency, this is caused by the dissolved cartilage. You can take stock and turn it into broth by adding water and heating. We save all the bones from making our chicken, beef and fish stocks, then grind them into bone meal which is spread on the gardens and around the orchard trees. we also will bury crushed, boiled bones in new garden beds or grind them for a chicken, free choice supplement along with oyster shell, they are a good source of calcium.
Any recommendations on a quality bone grinder? We raw-feed our dogs and need one to process their food. Now reading this post, I realize it would also come in handy for making garden amendments too! Thanks in advance!
perhaps repurpose a sink food disposal grinder? i'm not really sure though as i've never had one. as a kid we had a dog which took care of it all. i'm thinking a pig would also chomp most things. i'm quite happy with using the worm bins for as few bones as we get these days. buried in the soil with the worms there is no smell (dirt works very well). we don't eat a lot of meat (once or twice a week is normal). several months ago i had taken a bone and put it in a container and left it in the garage and forgot about it. very stinky when i found it again. took it and buried it under 10cm of dirt with a bunch of earthworms and compost worms and they picked it clean within a few weeks. just put nearly 100kilos of worms/worm poo/processed veggie and fruit scraps/paper etc out into the gardens along with the spring plantings. the bones go out there too. i figure the fungi, bacteria and the other soil critters will mine those bones as needed and the plants will eventually get what they need too. nothing complicated...