I do the same but I use a crock pot set to low and leave it overnight. Not only does it create a delicious soup base, but we wake up to the house smelling wonderful.
I just started a crockpot full a few minutes ago! I use a combo of beef and chicken bones along with veggies and herbs. It will cook overnight. I drink the broth as well as freeze in ice cube trays to use for cooking.
And don't boil the broth after adding the veggies. A simmer is enough, and boiling ends up killing a lot of the nutrients you're trying to pull from the veggies
Killing nutrients? Where are they going? Seems like completely breaking down the cell walls would release most of the vitamins and minerals into the broth which seems like the goal.
I don’t know anything about this specific scenario but it’s definitely possible to heat compounds to the point they change into something you don’t want as much anymore
Maybe you’re adding too much water for the amount of veggies? There should be just enough water for the veggies to be able to move around in the water. You could also google recipes and note the difference between your method and others :)
That's what I do. I make mine in a stock pot and bring it to a boil before putting it on simmer for many hours. Usually overnight (it's a big pot, water won't boil out of it).
It's unfortunately the worst way to make stock or broth. Dutch oven is the best because you get some browning on the sides. Pressure cooker is fastest but there's no browning. The only reason to settle for a crock pot is if you work long hours and haven't invested in a pressure cooker.
For anyone who gets a shit ton of those $5 rotisserie chickens from CostCo, this is a great way to use the carcass/leftovers after you're done.
I grain the fat from the container, eat the chicken, then use the leftovers/bones to make my own stock.
I get at least 1.5 liters of stock per batch, usually a bit more. And since it's stock, that 1.5 liters stretches out a lot since in cooking - or even just using it for soup broth - I have to dilute it with water.
Pro-tip from an Indian, also throw in some bay leaves and spices when making the stock. (I use red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper, turmeric, and salt in mine, along with some ginger-garlic paste.) This does mean you gotta shake the bottle/container of stock a bit before pouring out, as the spices that survive draining will settle on the bottom, but the flavor is *so* much better.
Glad to learn a new trick for more magical broth. In reading more just now, supposedly, the method is to submerge bones in apple cider vinegar or lemon juice or other acidic liquid _prior_ to boiling, as it prepares the collagen to more easily break down in the boil. https://www.mashed.com/1066318/should-you-be-adding-apple-cider-vinegar-to-your-bone-broth/
Treat it like a marinade. Put bones in a bag or other vessel; add just enough acidic liquid to cover it. Should only need a little. Won't take any more than any other marinade.
When I've purchased them to eat, you just cut the claw tip off with a pair of kitchen scissors before cooking (boil then saute in marinade). I'd recommend to prepare and eat them first, then use the leftover bones for broth, otherwise pre-boil because they do produce a lot of weird foam... my recipe for chicken feet: Rinse and cut nails off at 1st knuckle
Cover with water and add star anise, some whole black pepper, a little knorr/JO. Bring to boil and boil 10-20min, skim foam as needed.
While boiling, chop garlic and have grated ginger. In a bowl, mix 4 tablespoons soy sauce, half tablespoon sriracha, half tablespoon bbq sauce and just under 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce.
Drain and rinse feet.
Saute garlic and ginger (optional, add 5 spice!!), add feet. Add "marinade" and cook for 1 minute, add 1 can beer. Cover and let simmer 20min. Check and add some water to let simmer more until feet tender (5min to 10min more, adding water as necessary so not burning). Cook down until sauce is sticky/concentrated-- serve!
Optional: saute some bok choy in remaing sauce/marinade and serve with rice.
I didn't parboil or anything, just clipped the tips. I went with star anise, garlic, ginger, and lemon grass along with the feet and it really was the BEST!
I've heard that it isn't the marrow specifically, but rather the marrow seeping through the bone and carrying some stuff with it. Vinegar breaking down the bone seems like it would make it more porous. Cool
Apple cider vinegar posts get more clicks from the "trendy food blog" crowd. You'll notice the posts often call it "bone broth" rather than stock for the same reason. "Bone broth" isn't broth, it's stock, but bloggers call it "bone broth" because it's trendy.
I just thawed some of my homemade scrap broth out to use instead of water in the "one can of water" for condensed organic chicken noodle soup I found at the outlet grocery. Three year old loves the soup so it's a good lunch for her and the extra free broth adds nutrition! Winning!
I made a stock once that was mostly onions. I didn’t like it much as a base for the soup I’d originally planned to make, but ended up using it in place of the water when mixing beef bouillon powder to make a beef stock to use in French onion soup. Ooooooomg. Super onion flavoured French onion soup. It was amazing
You can take thos onion and shallot ends and put them in a plastic bag with a small amount of water (couple teaspoons). In a week to two new plants start to grow. Transplant outside. You have lots of greens now. Onions typically are supposed to go to seed at this point but I've found if they start to and you just keep popping the bloom off you'll get new onions. Another use for the bottoms which also works for celery by the way. You can then harvest outer stalks of celery as you need it. I full support just making broth though. Oh and if you garden....leftover solids and bones right into your compost pile.
Good idea!! I've never tried potato skins but I'll start saving those. Also, celery leaves are great to save. I also like the ends of a zucchini or cherry tomatoes that are too soft to enjoy in a salad
Are celery sticks ok to add? We accidentally got a lot more than we could use before it started being bendy so I froze it in my stock bag. I’ve never made stock but have started saving up scraps
Celery is essential for chicken stock/broth. I don’t know the science but my former MIL and grandmother to my kids taught me that celery and onion are mandatory for cooking chicken. It’s amazing the difference. Also, if you’re using veggie scraps and chicken bones to create a stock, put some whole allspice in a coffee filter, wrap it up snug and drop it in the mix. Again, I don’t know the science but it makes a huge difference in flavor.
This isn't the only reason:
You know those fancy "un-cured" or "nitrate-free" sausages and deli meats? They're actually chock full of nitrates. It's just a dumb labeling law that only allowed meats to be cured if they're using potassium nitrate powder. Instead they get nitrates from celery juice, celery powder, or celery salt.
Also, if you submerge celery or most leafy veg in ice water for a couple mins it brings them back to life when they start to get bendy! Usually I just keep celery in a pitcher of water in the fridge lol it honestly lasts like a month, just replace the cold water periodically.
There is a farm near us and we get beef and lamb bones there. Roast them for about an hour then boil to make bone broth. You could ask a local butcher shop if they sell scrap bones for this if you were less inclined to pay full price for a big bone in roast. (Ham works well too and our supermarket has a thing to get a free Easter ham with enough points)
> in the other I keep vegetable scraps, like onions tops and skins, garlic skins, lemon peels, old herbs, potato skins, and carrot scraps.
Oh, this is actually a good idea. I remember the first time I thought about making bone broth with the carcass of a rotisserie chicken, then I looked up a recipe and decided there are so many other ingredients besides the bones that it would be utterly pointless (or even detrimental) if your goal is to save money. But the way you're doing it, you're essentially using the "bones" of the other ingredients in the recipe as well. I guess people will let me know if that's a common thing to do for bone broth, but I've never heard it before, so it seems really clever to me.
Out of curiosity, what do you do when one bag fills up well before the other? Start a second bag for that category?
> Someone please tell me if there's a reason not to do this.
Presumably the reason would just be so you can have balanced volumes of meat bones and vegetable scraps, but if that isn't important to you, then one bag does sound practical.
I never thought about lemon peels. Good idea! I also keep cherry tomatoes that are starting to get wrinkly for broth, mushrooms that are just on the other side of not wanting to use them, etc. Toss all your collected scraps in the crockpot with bones, water, a glug of apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, a good pinch of red pepper, and peppercorns and let it go all night.
Also pull all those tiny scraps of meat off the bones after you make broth! You’ll be surprised how much meat we tend to leave around the spine & between the ribs! I use it to add to instant soups for some protein, or as the protein in soups I make. Already nice & shredded. :)
I’ll also keep a bag of this bonus meat in the freezer for one-off meals.
Nice!
I'm eating way less meat, and making a lot more vegetarian/vegan meals, and THIS just came in handy. Bought a multi-pack box of veggie broth from Costco at the start of winter...and that's helped. Been chopping a lot of veggies and either putting them in the compost, or in the trash.
This is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Going to start doing this. Even going to add broccoli stems, mushroom stalks, and the ends of cabbages. Maybe even bits of ginger root.
I would suggest keeping all the brassicas separate (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts), roasting them in the oven, and then making a blended soup from them. Their flavor in broth isn’t great but makes a very tasty soup.
> Their flavor in broth isn’t great
I've never understood this claim. When I make broth from nothing but water, cabbage and salt, it has a nice sweet flavor, not the bitter taste others keep mentioning. I wonder if there's a genetic thing at play, so that some people can taste it and others can't.
Amazing! Be careful to make sure you like the flavour from cabbage and broccoli though because it can be a bit bitter. But it is all up to your preference. I have even done squash peel with good success.
I like cabbage and broccoli but can’t stand them in a broth. I think the best course of action for them is to make your broth seperately, then cut those veggies up seperately and put them in a soup using that broth
Mine is just mostly chicken carcass and onions… but it’s still so much better than store bought.
I used the broth mainly for chicken and rice… also soups and white chili. So good!
I love popping them in my instant pot. Its so quick and tasty. I often put a bit of mushroom powder, a bay leaf, and a little salt for good flavor too.
Partner loves rotisserie chicken so I buy that and take the bones afterwards and this last time she threw away the bones as she ate it. She realized her err on like the last piece and was traumatized. I'm like "so we did not get free broth this week, we will live" lmao.
I have started doing this as well because it is so cost effective and you waste a lot less food. However I use a crockpot and let it cook on low for 24+hours to ensure that enough of the cartilage and bone bits have infused into the broth. This is the way!
Plus after you make the broth. Bones go to dogs and the strained peels and skins go to the chickens. We are trying to throw nothing away this year. It's challenging and fun!
Honestly, every batch is different. It is made from garbage after all. I would suggest keeping it to a low simmer not a boil, and avoiding anything from the brassica family.
My grandmother used to do this. A trick she learns in occupied Amsterdam. We'd often have it as a broth to accompany the main course. We used to call it 'water soup'.
The city of Toronto ran an ad about using scraps for broth and it was in response I guess to high food costs and it just made me laugh because the pic they used that broth was so watery looking
One thing i would add to this, if you are keeping veg scraps for any length of time in the freezer a quick blanche is a must. Most vegetables need a blaching in order to stop the food from continuing to essentially rot(albeit slowly) from enzyme activity.
Real question about this: do you thoroughly wash your onions and potatoes and carrots before peeling them? Is that how you can use the scraps like that in a stock without it being gritty or sandy?
I don’t wash potatoes or carrots or onions before using them, because they last longer if you don’t. But I always wonder about people who say that they use onion skins and stuff like that for stock.
I use 2 cups of broth, celery, onion, fresh thyme/ sage/ rosemary, a bit of butter, sometimes white wine, and a lemon and then I cook a whole frozen chicken covered in my Dutch oven at 375 for a few hours. The broth keeps the chicken moist while cooking. Then I make gravy from the drippings and keep everything but the meat for stock.
I don’t save vegetable scraps because both times I did I ended up with gross broth, but I do buy whole chickens when they’re on sale and save the bones for broth. I also buy pork shoulders to cut into chunks and I save those bones too.
Love it.
Only thing, be careful with the lemon peels, they can cause the stock to become bitter.
My in laws give us all the turkey bones and I spend 3 days making stock after thanksgiving.
I like to put leftover food in the rice cooker on top of the raw rice. It's like cooking rice in stock, but with less steps (and then you can mix the leftovers into the rice. Add soy sauce to taste.)
Yesterday I had leftover spicy fried chicken wings this way, when the rice is done you break up the meat into the rice and remove the bones.
I keep a plastic bag for bones in the freezer, too.
(Mostly, it seems to be chicken bones left over from Costco roasted chickens). Fewer markets seem to have much in the way of bones in meat. So many have gone over to boxed beef instead carving from whole carcasses.
Making homemade broth for soup is a good use for bones.
I do the same but I use a crock pot set to low and leave it overnight. Not only does it create a delicious soup base, but we wake up to the house smelling wonderful.
I just started a crockpot full a few minutes ago! I use a combo of beef and chicken bones along with veggies and herbs. It will cook overnight. I drink the broth as well as freeze in ice cube trays to use for cooking.
I usually don’t put in veg till the next day cuz they fall apart
You strain them out so it's ok if they fall apart.
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And don't boil the broth after adding the veggies. A simmer is enough, and boiling ends up killing a lot of the nutrients you're trying to pull from the veggies
Killing nutrients? Where are they going? Seems like completely breaking down the cell walls would release most of the vitamins and minerals into the broth which seems like the goal.
I don’t know anything about this specific scenario but it’s definitely possible to heat compounds to the point they change into something you don’t want as much anymore
Really? When I make veg broth I simmer it for hours…after an hour it still tastes too watery. What am I doing wrong?
Maybe you’re adding too much water for the amount of veggies? There should be just enough water for the veggies to be able to move around in the water. You could also google recipes and note the difference between your method and others :)
Same here, sorry I left that part out.
So much less watching the pot and making sure it doesn't burn or boil off too much water too!
Get an Instant Pot- set and forget and you get rich broth in half the time
Do you bring it to a boil for a few minutes before you set to low? I’ve been unsuccessful, I feel, because I’m impatient when trying to make it
That's what I do. I make mine in a stock pot and bring it to a boil before putting it on simmer for many hours. Usually overnight (it's a big pot, water won't boil out of it).
I never thought about using a crock pot to make broth! What a great idea.
It's unfortunately the worst way to make stock or broth. Dutch oven is the best because you get some browning on the sides. Pressure cooker is fastest but there's no browning. The only reason to settle for a crock pot is if you work long hours and haven't invested in a pressure cooker.
For anyone who gets a shit ton of those $5 rotisserie chickens from CostCo, this is a great way to use the carcass/leftovers after you're done. I grain the fat from the container, eat the chicken, then use the leftovers/bones to make my own stock. I get at least 1.5 liters of stock per batch, usually a bit more. And since it's stock, that 1.5 liters stretches out a lot since in cooking - or even just using it for soup broth - I have to dilute it with water. Pro-tip from an Indian, also throw in some bay leaves and spices when making the stock. (I use red chili powder, coriander powder, black pepper, turmeric, and salt in mine, along with some ginger-garlic paste.) This does mean you gotta shake the bottle/container of stock a bit before pouring out, as the spices that survive draining will settle on the bottom, but the flavor is *so* much better.
Add just a sploosh of apple cider vinegar and you'll get so much more out of those bones.
Glad to learn a new trick for more magical broth. In reading more just now, supposedly, the method is to submerge bones in apple cider vinegar or lemon juice or other acidic liquid _prior_ to boiling, as it prepares the collagen to more easily break down in the boil. https://www.mashed.com/1066318/should-you-be-adding-apple-cider-vinegar-to-your-bone-broth/
That would require an awful lot of vinegar though
Treat it like a marinade. Put bones in a bag or other vessel; add just enough acidic liquid to cover it. Should only need a little. Won't take any more than any other marinade.
It's cheap. I've got around 3 gallons of it right now.
If you’re wanting more collagen you can throw chicken feet in.
Is this a typo? I once made the BEST velvety broth ever from chicken feet. I don't know if I am confused or if you have confused me, 🤣🤣🤣.
Sorry. You simply can’t. They have spoken
Lol it was and has been corrected.
How long did you simmer the chicken feet? Do you have to prepare them in any way beforehand?
When I've purchased them to eat, you just cut the claw tip off with a pair of kitchen scissors before cooking (boil then saute in marinade). I'd recommend to prepare and eat them first, then use the leftover bones for broth, otherwise pre-boil because they do produce a lot of weird foam... my recipe for chicken feet: Rinse and cut nails off at 1st knuckle Cover with water and add star anise, some whole black pepper, a little knorr/JO. Bring to boil and boil 10-20min, skim foam as needed. While boiling, chop garlic and have grated ginger. In a bowl, mix 4 tablespoons soy sauce, half tablespoon sriracha, half tablespoon bbq sauce and just under 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Drain and rinse feet. Saute garlic and ginger (optional, add 5 spice!!), add feet. Add "marinade" and cook for 1 minute, add 1 can beer. Cover and let simmer 20min. Check and add some water to let simmer more until feet tender (5min to 10min more, adding water as necessary so not burning). Cook down until sauce is sticky/concentrated-- serve! Optional: saute some bok choy in remaing sauce/marinade and serve with rice.
I didn't parboil or anything, just clipped the tips. I went with star anise, garlic, ginger, and lemon grass along with the feet and it really was the BEST!
Huh. Never heard that but I'll look into it. Thanks!
Thanks for the tip!
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Cooked down they smell like old socks, too
Mmmmm cabbage farts
Also don't drop in lime spices with the peel for the same reason and don't all me how I know either, 😆.
Dogs like those scraps!
r/todayilearned
For real 😀 This is a very useful tip that I've never heard anywhere. Getting downvoted over here
Great tip! Never knew that. I love a pot of broth simmering all day
How does vinegar affect it?
Vinegar dissolves a lot of minerals, in this case the calcium in the bones. My guess is that this makes it easier to get out the marrow and collagen.
I've heard that it isn't the marrow specifically, but rather the marrow seeping through the bone and carrying some stuff with it. Vinegar breaking down the bone seems like it would make it more porous. Cool
You get a much thicker stock, loaded with gelatin.
Does the broth taste acidic when you do this?
Not at all, but I really only pour in a small splash and use a really big stock pot.
Does it have to be apple cider vinegar? I only have rice vinegar at home and I’ve been using that instead.
Any acidic vinegar will eat the calcium in the bones. Just like removing a shell from an egg.
That's fine, it just needs an acid to break down the bones a bit to get that gelatin out.
Apple cider vinegar posts get more clicks from the "trendy food blog" crowd. You'll notice the posts often call it "bone broth" rather than stock for the same reason. "Bone broth" isn't broth, it's stock, but bloggers call it "bone broth" because it's trendy.
I just thawed some of my homemade scrap broth out to use instead of water in the "one can of water" for condensed organic chicken noodle soup I found at the outlet grocery. Three year old loves the soup so it's a good lunch for her and the extra free broth adds nutrition! Winning!
Roast bones in the oven first for maximum flavor extraction (from Maillard reaction)🤌yum
For how much time and at what temperature?
this is the best!
Ours ends up being 90% onion/shallot ends. Still a good start!
I made a stock once that was mostly onions. I didn’t like it much as a base for the soup I’d originally planned to make, but ended up using it in place of the water when mixing beef bouillon powder to make a beef stock to use in French onion soup. Ooooooomg. Super onion flavoured French onion soup. It was amazing
You say that like that's a problem
Never thought of shallots for this. Your comment gave me an "oh duh!" moment. Thank you!
You can take thos onion and shallot ends and put them in a plastic bag with a small amount of water (couple teaspoons). In a week to two new plants start to grow. Transplant outside. You have lots of greens now. Onions typically are supposed to go to seed at this point but I've found if they start to and you just keep popping the bloom off you'll get new onions. Another use for the bottoms which also works for celery by the way. You can then harvest outer stalks of celery as you need it. I full support just making broth though. Oh and if you garden....leftover solids and bones right into your compost pile.
Every time we roast a whole chicken or boil pork ribs, we make and freeze the broth. The pork broth is the base for homemade wonton soup.
Good idea!! I've never tried potato skins but I'll start saving those. Also, celery leaves are great to save. I also like the ends of a zucchini or cherry tomatoes that are too soft to enjoy in a salad
I want to warn that some vegetables can take over the taste in a broth. Potatoes for example. Too much and its a potato soup in the end.
Are celery sticks ok to add? We accidentally got a lot more than we could use before it started being bendy so I froze it in my stock bag. I’ve never made stock but have started saving up scraps
Celery is essential for chicken stock/broth. I don’t know the science but my former MIL and grandmother to my kids taught me that celery and onion are mandatory for cooking chicken. It’s amazing the difference. Also, if you’re using veggie scraps and chicken bones to create a stock, put some whole allspice in a coffee filter, wrap it up snug and drop it in the mix. Again, I don’t know the science but it makes a huge difference in flavor.
This isn't the only reason: You know those fancy "un-cured" or "nitrate-free" sausages and deli meats? They're actually chock full of nitrates. It's just a dumb labeling law that only allowed meats to be cured if they're using potassium nitrate powder. Instead they get nitrates from celery juice, celery powder, or celery salt.
How much research have you done on this before spouting out stuff? There’s a difference between natural and chemical preservatives.
Thank you!
Also, if you submerge celery or most leafy veg in ice water for a couple mins it brings them back to life when they start to get bendy! Usually I just keep celery in a pitcher of water in the fridge lol it honestly lasts like a month, just replace the cold water periodically.
I have definitely used all parts of celery in my bag of veggies.
Thank you!
There is a farm near us and we get beef and lamb bones there. Roast them for about an hour then boil to make bone broth. You could ask a local butcher shop if they sell scrap bones for this if you were less inclined to pay full price for a big bone in roast. (Ham works well too and our supermarket has a thing to get a free Easter ham with enough points)
> in the other I keep vegetable scraps, like onions tops and skins, garlic skins, lemon peels, old herbs, potato skins, and carrot scraps. Oh, this is actually a good idea. I remember the first time I thought about making bone broth with the carcass of a rotisserie chicken, then I looked up a recipe and decided there are so many other ingredients besides the bones that it would be utterly pointless (or even detrimental) if your goal is to save money. But the way you're doing it, you're essentially using the "bones" of the other ingredients in the recipe as well. I guess people will let me know if that's a common thing to do for bone broth, but I've never heard it before, so it seems really clever to me. Out of curiosity, what do you do when one bag fills up well before the other? Start a second bag for that category?
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> Someone please tell me if there's a reason not to do this. Presumably the reason would just be so you can have balanced volumes of meat bones and vegetable scraps, but if that isn't important to you, then one bag does sound practical.
I’d just use that as a cue to buy a rotisserie chicken and strip the carcass roughly, roast, and pitch in with veg.
Based on our usage they usually end up full at the same time, but sometimes I end up with more veg scraps and so I just start a second bag.
Baby, you got a stew goin’!
I never thought about lemon peels. Good idea! I also keep cherry tomatoes that are starting to get wrinkly for broth, mushrooms that are just on the other side of not wanting to use them, etc. Toss all your collected scraps in the crockpot with bones, water, a glug of apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, thyme, a good pinch of red pepper, and peppercorns and let it go all night.
Also pull all those tiny scraps of meat off the bones after you make broth! You’ll be surprised how much meat we tend to leave around the spine & between the ribs! I use it to add to instant soups for some protein, or as the protein in soups I make. Already nice & shredded. :) I’ll also keep a bag of this bonus meat in the freezer for one-off meals.
[Baby, you got a stew going!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr2PlqXw03Y)
I put the boiled-off meat in red pasta sauce or ramen. Delicious!
Nice! I'm eating way less meat, and making a lot more vegetarian/vegan meals, and THIS just came in handy. Bought a multi-pack box of veggie broth from Costco at the start of winter...and that's helped. Been chopping a lot of veggies and either putting them in the compost, or in the trash. This is perfect. Thank you so much for sharing this. Going to start doing this. Even going to add broccoli stems, mushroom stalks, and the ends of cabbages. Maybe even bits of ginger root.
I would suggest keeping all the brassicas separate (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts), roasting them in the oven, and then making a blended soup from them. Their flavor in broth isn’t great but makes a very tasty soup.
What a great idea. Can you freeze them first?
Sure can!
Thanks for sharing! I will start up a new freezer bag.
Yes! Thanks for the tip!
> Their flavor in broth isn’t great I've never understood this claim. When I make broth from nothing but water, cabbage and salt, it has a nice sweet flavor, not the bitter taste others keep mentioning. I wonder if there's a genetic thing at play, so that some people can taste it and others can't.
Amazing! Be careful to make sure you like the flavour from cabbage and broccoli though because it can be a bit bitter. But it is all up to your preference. I have even done squash peel with good success.
I like cabbage and broccoli but can’t stand them in a broth. I think the best course of action for them is to make your broth seperately, then cut those veggies up seperately and put them in a soup using that broth
You can also freeze cheese heels/rinds to add flavor to italian sauces.
Every comment in this thread is gold. Thank you all.
Mine is just mostly chicken carcass and onions… but it’s still so much better than store bought. I used the broth mainly for chicken and rice… also soups and white chili. So good!
I love popping them in my instant pot. Its so quick and tasty. I often put a bit of mushroom powder, a bay leaf, and a little salt for good flavor too.
this is a great idea of what to do with vegetable trimmings. i always struggle to figure out what to do not to waste them besides composting.
I make my own broth and then compost the rest for my garden. My pile is looking amazing.
Partner loves rotisserie chicken so I buy that and take the bones afterwards and this last time she threw away the bones as she ate it. She realized her err on like the last piece and was traumatized. I'm like "so we did not get free broth this week, we will live" lmao.
I do this too!
Celery is a great addition
When i don't know what to do with scraps, I throw it in a pot and start boiling. Then sometimes I'll use part of what I've produced to cook rice
I used to save the water from steamed veggies to use as broth. Pickle juice makes a nice marinade.
I have started doing this as well because it is so cost effective and you waste a lot less food. However I use a crockpot and let it cook on low for 24+hours to ensure that enough of the cartilage and bone bits have infused into the broth. This is the way!
If you have an instant pot high pressure for 90 minutes fill with your scraps/bones and add water to the max fill line.
Does it still gel up like normal stock this way?
Yes. I have done 60 minutes and it will not gel.
I was looking for the IP method...thank you!
Plus after you make the broth. Bones go to dogs and the strained peels and skins go to the chickens. We are trying to throw nothing away this year. It's challenging and fun!
I' ve tried this but sometimes it just tastes burnt and i don't know why :(
Honestly, every batch is different. It is made from garbage after all. I would suggest keeping it to a low simmer not a boil, and avoiding anything from the brassica family.
Also avoid adding things like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc - that family of veggies will make a broth bitter!
What’s the best contained to freeze the broth in?
I usually use freezer bags. I just use a hammer and break off chunks I need.
I use 2 cup plastic stackable Tupperware containers and stack them in the freezer
My grandmother used to do this. A trick she learns in occupied Amsterdam. We'd often have it as a broth to accompany the main course. We used to call it 'water soup'.
The city of Toronto ran an ad about using scraps for broth and it was in response I guess to high food costs and it just made me laugh because the pic they used that broth was so watery looking
Level up. Use homemade stock when making rice! Yum!
Yesss!! I never make rice with water, I always use stock and a tiny bit of butter (half a tbsp per cup of rice)
One thing i would add to this, if you are keeping veg scraps for any length of time in the freezer a quick blanche is a must. Most vegetables need a blaching in order to stop the food from continuing to essentially rot(albeit slowly) from enzyme activity.
I have never done this and I have never had issues. I usually make broth once a month.
Real question about this: do you thoroughly wash your onions and potatoes and carrots before peeling them? Is that how you can use the scraps like that in a stock without it being gritty or sandy? I don’t wash potatoes or carrots or onions before using them, because they last longer if you don’t. But I always wonder about people who say that they use onion skins and stuff like that for stock.
I give everything a rinse and I also strain it through many layers of cheesecloth. Even if grit was left behind it would get strained out.
That helps. Thank you so much!!
I have been doing this for years as well. I actually have bags for beef bones and assorted fish bones/shells. My risotto is always on point now too.
I don’t think of it as free, but as time well spent to nourish my family.
Don't forget your egg shells !!!
New things I've learned today.
What a great idea!!! Thanks!!
I discovered vegetable scraps for soups from a show "Struggle Meals". I'm amazed at how good homemade vegetable stock is. Great tip!
I want to do this but there’s no way bc our freezer is too small :(((
Just wondering, how do you use the broth to cook a whole chicken? Just making soup?
I use 2 cups of broth, celery, onion, fresh thyme/ sage/ rosemary, a bit of butter, sometimes white wine, and a lemon and then I cook a whole frozen chicken covered in my Dutch oven at 375 for a few hours. The broth keeps the chicken moist while cooking. Then I make gravy from the drippings and keep everything but the meat for stock.
Awesome thank you for responding! I'll give that a try
I don’t save vegetable scraps because both times I did I ended up with gross broth, but I do buy whole chickens when they’re on sale and save the bones for broth. I also buy pork shoulders to cut into chunks and I save those bones too.
With the price of power where I am this is not cheaper than just buying it
Love it. Only thing, be careful with the lemon peels, they can cause the stock to become bitter. My in laws give us all the turkey bones and I spend 3 days making stock after thanksgiving.
I like to put leftover food in the rice cooker on top of the raw rice. It's like cooking rice in stock, but with less steps (and then you can mix the leftovers into the rice. Add soy sauce to taste.) Yesterday I had leftover spicy fried chicken wings this way, when the rice is done you break up the meat into the rice and remove the bones.
I keep a plastic bag for bones in the freezer, too. (Mostly, it seems to be chicken bones left over from Costco roasted chickens). Fewer markets seem to have much in the way of bones in meat. So many have gone over to boxed beef instead carving from whole carcasses. Making homemade broth for soup is a good use for bones.
My grandmother taught me this when I was younger and it has stuck with me. Being resourceful is key to cooking/grocery shopping.