(Chicken) Bone Broth
Description
This will probably take 2 days - but is almost entirely hands-off - so plan accordingly. This batch cooked for about 14 hours over 2 days. You can also use a crockpot on low and have most of the 'work' done as you sleep. I am not including measurements here because this is a technique or process rather than a recipe.
I briefly talk about stock vs broth in the video and how there is much disagreement on what those terms mean. This "recipe" is for liquid achieved by simmering animal bones for a considerable amount of time in a small amount of water with some kind of acid to extract the gelatine and collagen from the bones. The final product should be a gel when cool.
I highly recommend you watch the video - there's a lot more information there than there is here.
Ingredients
Instructions
Roasting
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Skip this step if you are using a carcass that was already roasted (like leftover chicken)
Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Spread bones out on baking sheets and roast for about 30-50 minutes (depending on how many bones you have in the oven), flipping bones half way through until they are browned and smelling yummy.
Into the Pot
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Put all the roasted bones into a pot big enough to accommodate them with at least a few inches to spare - bigger is better here. Scrape any skin, fat or meat bits (the fond) that are stuck to the pan into the pot as well. You can add optional aromatics to the pot at this point.
Add enough water to just cover the bones. Too much water and you may not achieve a gel consistency in the end. Add whatever acid you are using and turn the heat to high. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat so that the pot just simmers. Add a lid and cook for about 12-16 hours*.
*You can do this in your slow cooker, overnight for a night or two, on low. Or you can cook it for however many hours you have available on the first day, turn it off, store it (outside if it's cold enough or in the fridge) and then bring it back up to a simmer on the following day and cook it for the remaining time.
Strain & Chill
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Strain the bones out of the broth while it is still warm, then chill the liquid. Once it's chilled, you may have a light yellow layer of chicken fat (schmaltz) on the top that you can carefully scoop off and keep in your fridge to use for cooking all sorts of wonderful things. You won't be able to get it all off and that is fine too. Underneath the schmaltz will be your bone broth - either a gel or a liquid. Either is fine but if you are determined to have a gel, you can try to cook it down farther with the lid off to evaporate out more of the water. Season however you like and store in the fridge or freezer (see note, below).
Note
I forgot to mention in the video that we freeze our broth in small vacuum sealed bags, you can also use Ziploc style bags or glass canning jars (but you MUST leave space at the top for expansion - we've had some broken jars in the freezer and it isn't fun). I believe you can pressure can the broth as well but that isn't an area with which I have much experience.