Ellen's Fabulous Chicken Broth
Guest Article: © The material on this page is copyright by Ellen Ussery, January 2008. It was published in the February/March 2008 issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine.
The best use for old hens declining in productivity is the making of broth. As advised in the article on butchering, you should clean and save the feet when you slaughter your birds. (You can save the heads as well, but always save the feet.) There is no more valuable addition to the stockpot.
This page was added to the site December 12, 2008.
Chicken broth is not only a delicious base upon which to build a flavorful soup or sauce, it is also an extremely nourishing food. Properly prepared, it is an excellent source of minerals, including calcium, magnesium and potassium. It is rich in gelatin—an extraordinary digestive aid—and, although it is not a complete protein, it will help the body more fully utilize protein from other foods. Modern research has also confirmed that chicken broth does indeed help prevent and moderate colds and flu.
What follows is not so much a recipe as some guidelines as to how I make chicken broth now, based on my own experimentation and requirements. I will also tell you how I used to make it, and why I have made the changes. I think it will be helpful to understand the possibilities, then experiment with your own chickens and your lifestyle. If you can find a method that fits comfortably into your schedule, you will be more likely to make it on a regular basis. But let me say up front that it is almost impossible to make a failed chicken broth. Once I added too much water relative to the amount of chicken parts I was using. But even this was still usable as a soup base. I just had to add more flavoring ingredients to the final soup.
Of course, the quality of your chicken is of primary importance—if you have raised them yourself, you are off to the best possible start. When slaughtering your chickens, be sure to clean and save the feet, which contribute a lot of collagen, the source of that all-important gelatin. But collagen can be found in all connective tissue, so as long as you have some muscle meat, skin, and tendons, all will be well. You can use other “spare parts” such as the neck, hearts, and gizzards (even the heads). If you cut the chickens into serving pieces and do not want to eat the backs, you can reserve them as well for broth making. In addition, the carcasses of cooked birds such as roast chicken can be saved. We hold all these ingredients in the freezer wrapped tightly in plastic until ready to make broth.
I start with a whole stewing hen, surround it in the pot with as many of the above ingredients as I have on hand, then cover, just barely, with water. I then add two tablespoons of vinegar per gallon of water and let sit for an hour. This soak in the acidulated water helps to extract the minerals. I then bring to a boil and carefully skim off the scum that rises to the surface. After that I reduce the heat for the gentlest possible simmer, and cook until a poke with a fork indicates that the meat will easily come off the bone. The length of time this takes will vary, depending on the age of your chicken. The older, more flavorful chickens can take up to 6 hours, whereas a young bird might be ready in an hour or so. At this point I take out the stewing hen, or whatever fresh chicken parts I started with, let them cool slightly, and remove the meat, which I reserve for later use. Note that you need to be careful that no tiny bones stay with the meat.
At this point I should say that I used to cook the broth in a huge stock pot. But recently I have been using a two-gallon slow cooker. This way I have no worries about the flame going out on my gas stove during the long cooking. Other benefits are the slow cooker’s timer, and easier meal preparation when I don’t have to contend with a crowded stove top.
After you have removed the meat from the bones, put them and the skin back into the pot. I used to then simmer the broth for another 15 to 20 hours. However, the firmness of the gelatin, once the broth was fully chilled, varied considerably. Recently I have come to understand that, once gelatin is extracted, too much additional cooking will break it down. If a firm gel is your goal, you could just strain out your broth at this point and refrigerate. But I want to extract not only the gelatin, but as much of the minerals as I can from the bones. So what I do now is just let everything sit in the pot until the next day for a period of passive extraction. Then I bring it to a boil and cook it for about 10 to 15 minutes just to make sure it is free of pathogens. To be honest, I am not sure that this passive method does extract more minerals. I hope that someday the question will be experimentally tested in a lab. In the meantime, I am happy to speculate.
I know some people who are not comfortable with letting the pot sit out at room temperature, and therefore put it in the fridge for the passive extraction. And there are others who go through several more cycles of cooking and resting that can last for three days. Experiment to see what works best for you.
Whenever you decide to stop, just strain out the solids and refrigerate the broth. I usually put mine into half-gallon canning jars. After a day in the fridge I have a very solid gel and a nice layer of fat on the top. This fat will seal the broth and protect it from spoilage so it is always ready in the fridge. I have kept it this way for several months. But if you like, you can always freeze it. Another thing I noticed when I started using my passive method was that the fat smelled and tested fresher. When I cooked it for 24 hours I used to throw the fat out after I “unsealed” the broth. Now I feel quite comfortable using it as a cooking fat when I have run out of my precious duck and goose fats.
You may have noticed that there is nothing but chicken in this broth. I make my broth that way because it gives me total flexibility later. You could, however, add salt and some aromatic vegetables (carrot, onion, parsley, celery) for the final cooking.
We often start a meal with a cup of broth. Many times I just heat it up and stir in some flavorful miso, such as the red pepper and garlic miso from South River Miso Company. Otherwise I add salt, then simmer with any of the following : a garlic clove and chopped parsley, trimmed shitake stems that I have frozen, shredded spinach, or coconut cream concentrate and fresh ginger. The possibilities are endless.
[Note from Harvey: As for the spent residues once you’ve strained off the stock? Feed them to the flock: Ain’t nothin’ they like better than—chicken!]
Addendums, July 2010:
(1) Recently I have found that cracking open the long bones, using my Felco pruners, results in a more consistantly gelatinous broth. Even when I use just “used” bones (those saved from a roaster, for example), plus a few feet, if I crack the bones in this way, the broth gells quite well.
(2) I make a puree of green vegetables, using any leafy greens that I have on hand, as well as asparagus, chard stems, lightly peeled broccoli stalks, lettuce a bit past its prime—anything green, really. I steam these in just enough water to cook the vegetables thoroughly without burning, then add salt, pepper, cayenne, or any other herbs or spices I feel like. Then I puree and add an equal amount of broth. Or I might freeze for later use. Adding some cultured cream or cultured coconut milk, I have a deeply satisfying and nourishing “Life Restoring Soup,” as it was called by Willa, who gave me the concept. (The added fat helps you absorb all the minerals.) Good cold as well as hot. Easy to make in bulk and have on hand for daily use and as the base for a quick and easy meal.
Ellen Making Broth