Sometimes the simplest ideas, take the most time.

I have been reading a lot recently about the benefits of bone broth and I have spent the near $6 to try it. I don’t care what they say, it is NOT good enough to drink (in my opinion). Unless, you like salt less chicken water, then by all means! GO FOR IT!

We love composting. I’ve mentioned it before. What I didn’t realize, is how much goodness we were tossing and not using for broth/stock. We constantly buy (or grow) ingredients to to make soup, jambalaya, any dish involving boiling rice or pasta (depending on the dish, obviously) and other savory dishes without an inclination that we could easily make our own. We are always tossing out onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, chicken bones, and pieces of discarded chicken (and sometimes the flavorful fat) from dinners. There may have even been a few pieces from our peppers.

I read a few places (the interwebs, a homestead magazine, etc.) that you can freeze these items you would usually discard. At the end of the month or so (you don’t want to keep it too long as it can make everything taste like freezer burn) toss them all into stock pot, add a few herbs and spices, and simmer that liquid gold for a few hours (you can also use a crock pot). And that’s exactly what we did.

The key element to the bone broth portion is allowing the bones to soak when cool in acv to make sure the “goods”, as in gelatin, can seep out of it. Others have raved that roasting the bones prior, will add flavor and depth to your stock/broth. I did add a few tablespoons of acv to the mixture prior to it boiling, but I didn’t get fancy and roast the bones (I only try to get fancy with dessert items).

Halfway through the simmering process, we tossed in some fresh savory, time, and oregano. We even added some old bay leaves in the cupboard– we hardly use them for anything else. I also used pink Himalayan sea salt (because, they say it’s better for you) and I like a more salty broth. We kept adding herbs to taste. To each their own.

Once we thought it was done (i.e. we wanted to close the kitchen and go to bed), we strained and then composted the remains, and filled a few mason jars– we then put them in the fridge. This will help it slightly seal and prevent bacteria from growing, something you have to watch out for when making broth. I have heard the faster you can get it to cool, the better. I never knew. We now have 4 medium sized jars and one large jar to play with. We will definitely be using these up in no time. Winter brings comfort food and things like gravy to the table. Mmmm. Gravy! I can’t wait to make some beef broth/stock as well. That one will be a challenge as we don’t usually consume a lot of beef with bones in it. Maybe we should start!

Since this was our first time making broth, we will keep this stock to ourselves. Next time, I might use filtered water, stop dropping the spoon in the bottom (and using my hand to dig it out) and offer it up to friends looking for a hearty non-store-bought version of awesomeness. And when it’s time to eat Mr. Duck, can you imagine the tasty broth/stock we will make? Mmmm!

Maybe you can challenge yourself to make a tasty Turkey broth/stock?! It’s the perfect opportunity with all of those scrap items from your future feast. Why not?! I’d love for you to tell me how it goes!

Happy sipping/cooking!