Chicken Bone Broth

What are the benefits of bone broth?

Chicken bone broth is often called liquid gold because it is golden in color when extracted and is loaded with lots of nutrients. Consuming bone broth regular has been thought to help with the following:

• Heal the gut – A cup of bone broth a day can help with leaky gut syndrome. Thanks to the gelatin in the bones.
• Protect the joints – Bone broth contains collagen and glucosamine to help restore joint integrity.
• Firms the skin & strengthens hair – The collagen in bone broth help to improve skin’s elasticity and rebuild hair follicles.
• Strengthen the immune system – Bone broth contains a large amount of minerals that support the immune system.

Where do I get the bones for chicken bone broth?

The cheapest way to make chicken broth is to save you leftover chicken or turkey carcass for making bone broth. A great way is to use the carcass of a rotisserie chicken you can get in many grocery stores and Costco. Really, any leftover bones will be fine.

Just make sure you did not chew the meat off with your teeth because you don’t want to get any bacteria from your mouth into the bone broth. Add the whole carcass into the pot and add vegetables and water.

The get the most gelatinous broth, I recommend using chicken feet. I like to use a combination of chicken necks and chicken feet in my bone broth. I get my chicken necks and chicken feet from US Wellness Meats. These come from organic pasture raised chickens.

Other chicken parts you can use include chicken backs, wings, and drumsticks.

If you have a chicken carcass or access to chicken bones but no time to make chicken broth, just freeze the chicken parts in a freezer safe bag until you are ready to make bone broth. Add them frozen to your pot when ready to cook.

If organic chicken bone broth is important, look for chicken bones that carry the organic chicken label.

What do I add to chicken bone broth?

Vegetables and seasoning in bone broth

Vegetables and herbs are added to the bone broth to provide flavor. I like using a combination of onion, celery, carrot, leek and garlic. You can omit the vegetables if you are on the carnivore diet and looking for pure animal based bone broth.

You can add any combination of seasoning. I found my favorites to be peppercorns, thyme, coriander, sage, rosemary and fennel.

Apple cider vinegar

The apple cider vinegar is added to help leach out the minerals from the chicken bones. It helps to soften the bones as they simmer.

Slow cooker chicken broth vs stove top vs instant pot

Bone broth can be made on the stove top, in a slow cooker and in a pressure cooker.

Slow cooker bone broth

My favorite way to make bone broth is in the slow cooker (aka crock pot). I like that I can plug it in and leave it all day and over night and not have to watch it or worry that my house will burn down. Slow cooking it allows it to cook long enough to leach out the most nutrition.

Instant pot bone broth

Some people prefer to use an instant pot to make bone broth. The benefit of using a pressure cooker to make bone broth is that it cooks the broth in a fraction of the time. However, I found that my broth is not as gelatinous and I worry that my broth is not getting the most nutrients pulled from the bones compared to using a slow cooker.

How to store bone broth?

I store my bone broth in 16 oz mason jars. They can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or stored in the freezer for 6 months. If storing the bone broth in the freezer, make sure you don’t fill your mason jar to the top. Leave room for expansion or else your jar can shatter in the freezer.

Chicken bone broth uses

All of the nutritional benefits of chicken broth are explained above; however, bone broth has many culinary uses. I love to incorporate it in my everyday cooking so I can sneak in healthy nutrition into my family’s diet. I often use chicken bone broth in place of water in savory recipes. I use it to make gravy and thin out scrambled eggs, or use it as the base for chicken soup.

Equipment for Making Bone Broth

• Slow Cooker
• Instant Pot
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Strainer
• Funnel
• Mason Jars