Chicken Broth

Step 1:When using a whole chicken always, always, always brine the
meat.

Whether chicken, beef, game, or fish, brining simply allows the meat to sit
completely submerged in salted water.

This is an age-old method which draws out impurities and prepares it to

receive any flavoring you wish to marinade or cook in. Complete submersion
means there is no chance of pathogens adhering to the meat surface.

Place meat in a bowl or pot, cover with water, and mix in salt.  (For a quick,
one hour brine:  1 cup salt/1 gallon water.  For a longer brine:  1 tbs.
salt/two lbs.  meat.)

Length of time:  On your schedule, but parameters are a minimum of one

hour (for already-thawed meat), and a maximum of up to 24 hours. Allow
brining at room temperature.  When done, strain out meat and pat dry;
throw away the brine.

Step 2: Roasting

LOW AND SLOW.  Repeat this three times.

Good!  Now you know the total philosophy of cooking meats nutritionally. 
Simple, isn’t it?

Great, great grandma thought so, too.

And modern science confirms that high heat alters and changes the natural
protein.

So, if you want to make it more complicated you can, but just follow below
parameters until your meat is done, and you’ll be well on your way to
making the best bone broth on the face of the earth.

It’s really easy—don’t make it hard!

Slather your brined bird with any traditional oil (butter, ghee, tallow, lard,
bacon fat, etc.) and place in lightly oiled roasting dish.
You can also sprinkle on herbed flavoring at this time.  No experience with
that?  Try salt, pepper, and a little parsley for your first time and go from
there.

Or make up Foodwifery’s S.O.S. Herb Mix (Featured Below) to keep in a

handy spot by your stove, and sprinkle liberally on the chicken and, well,
anything else your heart desires.

Roast in oven for 12 hours at 200 degrees.  (Try starting at 7:00 p.m., and
out at 7:00 the next morning.  Do it on your schedule!) For further browning
at the end, increase heat to 350 or so until skin is desired color.

If you’re using a crock pot, cover and cook on LOW for 12 hours.

Pam’s comments are in BOLD: I prefer roasting my chicken the way

my Father taught me. Brine it. Preheat oven to 450. Slather
chicken with butter, salt and pepper. Put chicken in oven and
immediately lower heat to 350. The bird will cook in about 1-1.5
hours. Test thigh with meat thermometer for doneness. This is great
“Sunday dinner” chicken. Just make sure you save all the bones and
skin for the broth.

If desired, you may add flavor and nutrients to your bone broth with
vegetables, such as onions, celery, garlic, carrots, etc.  They can be roasted
WITH the meat, or added later in the brothing process.  Either way will
work.  Either way is nutritious.

When meat is done, you’ll know by the browned skin, steamy texture,
‘relaxed’  posture of the bird, and how easily you can pull the meat away
from the bone.

Step 3: Cooking the bone broth

Remove bird and allow to cool down to warm temp.

This is the best and easiest time to remove meat from the bone.  Do it
quickly by hand, setting meat aside for future meals. Usually, I’ll place the
meat in a quart canning jar, and place in my refrigerator.

Place ALL bones, and other parts of bird (skin / joints / connective tissues /
neck / feet / organ meats, if available) in stock (or crock) pot.

Add in fresh or roasted veggies, and cover completely with water.  Bring to
boil, then turn back heat to maintain a steady simmer. 
Wine or apple cider vinegar added during this time supplies acid needed to
draw the minerals out of the bones and into the broth. Add a couple of
table spoons for beef bones and 1 tablespoon for chicken.

Good, nutritious chicken broth takes at least 12-24 hours to cook.

Large animal bones like beef or bison 24-72 hours.

Time and heat is what causes ALL the bone nutrients, gelatin and minerals
to transfer into the water, so don’t short yourself on time at this point.
(Remember, it can be on your schedule:  I’ve gone as long as 30 hours
when the opportunity to remove the pot from heat did not present itself!)

Monitor occasionally to ensure water has not evaporated.  When done,

remove from heat; allow to cool.

Step 4: Collecting the broth

Use a ladle to strain your broth through a fine stainless steel strainer and
into a glass canning jar.

Behold:  Liquid Gold!

Keep broth refrigerated in glass container.  A half-gallon canning jar works

great for easy dispensing later.

NOTE:  Do NOT discard fat that rises to the top and hardens when cooled. 
There is a powerhouse of flavor, nutrient density and culinary satiation.

Personally, I leave the fat on the broth. Some people skim it off as
the broth cools, so that they can use it in cooking. Either way, as
long as you are consuming it, it is all good.

Note: You can re-use the same bones one more

time for chicken and 4-5 times for beef.
Easy Peasy Broth

I keep a plastic container in my freezer and fill it with end pieces or peels of
organic vegetables like carrots, onions, or celery. Also, I toss in the skin and
bones from a chicken after it’s been roasted. Also egg shells. I also make
sure I save every part of the chickens that I buy. Organic, properly
raised chickens are expensive. I buy a whole chicken and then have
it cut into parts. I have the skin, bones, backs and neck put in a
separate bag to make stock with later. I will sometimes also
purchase extra feet, heads, necks and any internal organs I can get.
These parts will adds extra collagen and nutrients to your broth.

All of the usable scraps that I keep from my cooking that I’ve done
throughout the week go into the container.

When the container is full, then it’s time to make easy peasy bone broth.

Simply pour the contents of your container in a stainless steel or glass pot,
cover with water, and simmer on low for 12 hours. Super low-if you have
gas burn turn the dial so that it is just enough to keep the flame on.
Or pull your pot to one side so it is partially off the heat, if you can’t
get a low enough simmer. (I don’t use a crock pot or a pressure
cooker because the temperature is too high. You know you have
made great broth when you refrigerate your stock and it gels).

When it’s done, strain out the broth — and you have a quick, easy, supply of
bone broth. I have a 20 qt stockpot that I use to make broth. So that
I can make a lot at one time. Once it is done, after remove all the
solids, I simmer it down by half and put it in 1 cup silicone muffin
cups and then freeze. That way I have a ready supply on hand
without taking up a huge amount of freezer or fridge space.

Reserve the cooked vegetables and bones for compost. Or make 1 more
batch of broth-just add more fresh veggies.

Vegetable Broth

In large pot, melt ½ cup butter, ghee, or chicken fat, and sauté the following
until wilted: 1 large onion, 1 carrot, 1 bunch parsley, 2 celery stalks, 2
turnips, 3 tomatoes, and any other veggies you might like. Add 1 TBS of salt
and 1 tsp. of black peppercorn. Add 10 cups of cold water.  Bring to boil,
then down to simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain out vegetables.  Yield:  2
quarts.

Beef Broth

You can brine, roast, and simmer with beef same as for chicken above, or
totally skip using actual meat, and use only quality beef bones.

There is no need to brine bones; simply roast, and continue with making
broth.  Be sure to scrape out all the lovely droppings from the roasting pan
to put in the broth.
Flavor, flavor, flavor!

Enhance with different herbs and spices for variety. I don’t recommend
adding anything other than carrots, celery and onion. That way you
can use your broth for anything, not having to worry that you put in
“the wrong” strong tasting herb for your recipe. You can always add
flavoring later.

Keep broth refrigerated in glass container.  A half-gallon canning jar works

great for easy dispensing later. I do the same as with the chicken broth.
Simmer it down to half and freeze in muffin cups.

NOTE:  Do NOT discard fat that rises to the top and hardens when cooled. 
There is a powerhouse of flavor, nutrient density and culinary satiation.

Another Note: in the GAPS Diet, meat broth made from meaty bones
is only cooked (at low temperature) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours for chicken
meat broth (crock pot is 4 hours) and 4 hours (a lot longer for crock
pot.) for beef meat broth. For bone broth (without the meat),
chicken bones are cooked 18-24 hours and beef bones for 48 hours.
And yes, you can reuse the bones when your meat stock is finished.
See article under "Files" on the WAPF Traditional Moms of San Diego
facebook page.