My Favorite Way to Make Chicken Broth

This is my favorite way to make chicken bone broth!

  1. Bake a whole chicken like as follows (alternatively you can use a Baked Chicken or Roasted Chicken Recipe from Nourishing Traditions or from the The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children):


            a. Thaw the chicken, dry it with paper towels if you remember to. 

            b. Optionally, stuff the chicken with one or more of these:

  • Onion

  • Carrot

  • Celery (1 o2 2 stalks maximum)

  • 2-3 cloves of garlic 

  • Thyme (fresh, if you have it)

  • Salt and pepper


    c. Put salt, pepper, and dried thyme around the outside of the chicken.

    d. For best results for the chicken, use a roasting pan that allows air flow around the chicken.  If you don’t have one, prop the chicken up on some more veggies like cut onions, so that air flows under the chicken.  (This is not so important for the broth, but it is much better in case you want to have the chicken itself as a chicken dinner.  Otherwise the bottom skin gets mushy.)


Example: VonShef Stainless Steel Roasting Pan


    e. For a large chicken: bake at about 175-180 C (350 F) for an hour.  For a small chicken, try about 45 minutes. The baking times vary based on the size of the chicken.  With practice you get used to judging this. You can also Google to find recommended baking times based on the weight of your chicken and temperature of your oven.

            f. Flip the chicken over. You can use two wooden spoons, one in each end, to help you flip it.

            g. Bake for the same amount of time as the first side, minus 10 minutes or so.  

            h. Brush melted butter on top of chicken.

            i. Bake another 10 minutes or so.


Bake till the inside is done per a meat thermometer (at least 74 c or 185 F).


    2. Now you have two choices:


            a. Eat the chicken for dinner and save the bones and veggies for the broth, or

            b. Cool off the chicken, remove the meat from the bones, and set the meat aside in the fridge for later.

    3. Once you have removed the majority of the meat from the chicken (or eaten it) throw EVERYTHING else except the meat into a pot (that is, the bones, thyme, veggies, grease, fat, etc.)  Cover the chicken with water with about an inch of water above the bones. Smash the bones down with a wooden spoon if you need to get them to stop floating in a big chunk.  Bring to a boil briefly, and then bring down to the lowest simmer you can. 

    4. Add about a tablespoon of vinegar. This helps draw out nutrition from the bones. (It’s not a big deal if you forget this.)

    5. When foamy stuff rises to the top, scoop it off with a spoon and discard it.  Those are impurities.  You can also check the broth occasionally as you are making it, to remove foam.  (It’s not a big deal if you forget this.)

    6. Keep the broth at the lowest simmer you can (to preserve the health benefits) but make sure it at least has bubbles coming up regularly.

    7. Simmer for at least 6 hours or overnight, until you have a nice golden rich broth.  In my experience it takes a lot longer than 6 hours, but it varies based on the temperature etc.

    8. Add salt and pepper to taste.  How much you add depends on how much you baked it with and how big the chicken is.  It could be ½ tsp of pepper and a tablespoon of salt, or less, or none (if you baked it with lots of salt).  Add the salt gradually and taste it till it tastes good.  


Without enough salt it tastes bland and icky.  Like dishwater.


With salt, it magically transforms.


(You can also add the salt when you start to simmer it, but I put this step at the end because this post is for beginners, and it is easier to add salt than remove it).


    9. Strain out the vegetables and bones and discard them (or feed them to animals, compost them, etc.) 

    10. Cool off the broth and store it in the refrigerator (for up to about a week) or in the freezer in containers.


Notes:


  1. This recipe is flexible.  You can do it without all the ingredients.  You can substitute rosemary instead of thyme (but be careful because rosemary is strong).  You don’t have to put butter on the chicken but it makes it really nice if you are having it as a chicken dinner.

  1. Herbs that go well with chicken broth are parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and celery seed.  I just really like the one with thyme, and I usually have thyme around.  Celery seed is also really good with chicken broth.

  1. You can also brine the chicken in salt water before you bake it if you want (wet or dry brine).  Just google “how to brine a chicken” or something.  This makes the chicken more juicy for the chicken dinner.  It doesn’t really matter for the broth.

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