Nourishing and wholesome bone broth that always gels

Chicken bone broth is not just delicious, but it is also extremely nutritious and surprisingly easy to make. It is a true staple in your kitchen since you tend to use it for so many recipes. It gives simple wholesome food a deeper and fuller flavour that you won’t get any other way.

I make bone broth every fortnight, and I love how simple the process is. It takes hardly any time to prepare, and then all you need to do is wait while it is simmering and extracting all the goodness that is in the bones. I use a method I’ve learned from my parents that is a rather old-fashioned method.

It is extremely simple really. It is often called a haybox or fireless cooker. But my parents just always said they put the pot to bed. In which case, they just wrapped the stockpot in a towel and then wrapped it up into as many blankets as were available. This would keep the pot warm for hours on end, and afterwards, you would take it out and reheat it before eating. It works brilliantly, and it works anywhere that you have blankets. Making it a perfect option for camping or off-grid living. Or for those of us that just don’t like wasting energy.

What is bone broth actually?

Bone broth and regular stock look quite similar and can be used in the same way. What makes them different is how they are made. Where your standard traditional stock is simmered for a handful of hours, bone broth tends to be simmered for a lot longer. Like a couple of days.

Both stock and bone broth are made from the bones of animals. And both can have some vegetables or herbs added to them to round out the flavour a bit. But did you know that traditionally broth was never made from bones but rather the meat of an animal? Hence making bone broth a rather strange and inaccurate name. Not that it really matters, all that matters is that it is delicious and nutritious to boot.

But if chicken stock and chicken bone broth are both made from chicken bones, then why make the bone broth? Since it takes a lot longer to make. Well, that is because although chicken stock contains plenty of healthy nutrients. Bone broth contains far more healthy nutrients, amino acids and well as containing lots of collagen and gelatin. This is because that extra-long simmering time enables all of these nourishing nutrients to be extracted from the bones.

Why is chicken bone broth so good for you?

Bone broth contains lots of important nutrients as well as essential amino acids and collagen. All of these nutrients help to support your health and reduce inflammation in your body, as well as keep your skin looking young.

Like protecting your gut by lining its inner walls. It can do this because of the amino acids like glutamine and all the gelatin that is in the bone broth. And because it seals your intestinal lining, it keeps unfriendly bacteria from being able to do any damage. Thereby preventing any inflammation that those pathogens might cause.

Preventing inflammation through consuming bone broth can be a more important step towards health than you might think. Since inflammation can present itself in a multitude of ways. Like fatigue, autoimmune diseases, frequent aches and pains, fibromyalgia, allergies, as well as arthritis. Especially arthritis is very close to my heart since it is a very common ailment in my family. And some years ago, I noticed that I started getting some symptoms as well. Luckily I was able to revert most of those symptoms by adjusting my diet.

“All diseases begin in the gut,”

Hippocrates

Using chicken bone broth in your kitchen

Chicken bone broth has so many uses in a kitchen that it will be impossible to name them all. But as a general rule, you can just remember. If ordinarily, you would use chicken stock or even a stock cube, you can substitute that for bone broth.

One of the most obvious uses would be for dishes like soups and stews. And I find that that is truly a wonderful and easy way to use your broth. It gives a mouthfeel to the soup that is impossible to get with regular stock. The complex and deep flavours that are in bone broth. Will also give whatever soup or stew you’re making a complexity and fullness of flavour that is hard to surpass.

But there are less obvious ways to use your chicken bone broth than just soups and stews. For instance, you could use it in your risotto or other rice dishes where you rely on the water to evaporate instead of pouring it off. Or use some broth in your gravy, bechamel, or other sauces that would usually require water or stock. It is also wonderful when used in dishes like pasta, enchiladas, Indian curries, or other sauce-based dishes.

My preferred way of using my precious bone broth is in one of our favourite meals. Ramen noodles! We absolutely love this extremely nourishing and comforting food. There are few things better than freshly homemade ramen noodles combined with the thick and flavourful chicken bone broth that coats every delicious noodle. A bone broth that is flavoured with nothing more than a dash of sea salt or some authentically fermented soy sauce.

And if none of those applications appeals to you, then you can always just drink it straight from a cup.

How to make chicken bone broth

A delicious kitchen staple, this chicken bone broth will lift any dish to new heights. While at the same time nourishing your body and keeping inflammation away.

Makes 2 litres
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 12 to 36 hours

Ingredients:

• 2 medium chicken carcasses
• 2 litres of water
• 1/4 cup of vinegar (apple cider vinegar is a popular choice)
• Salt to taste when done

Preparation:

I keep my chicken bones in the freezer till I need them to make more chicken bone broth. So if you do the same then make sure you take the bones out of the freezer a good 12 to 24 hours before you want to start making your broth.

You might want a nice big cleaver for this job. But a tough kitchen knife that you don’t mind blunting a bit will do the job too.

On your cutting board, lay your chicken bones and try to chop them in half lengthwise while making sure to never have your fingers too close. After all, you’re trying to chop hard enough with a sharp enough blade to cut through bone, so make sure they aren’t your bones.

If you feel uncomfortable with this step or don’t have a knife, then skip this step and use the whole bones.

Add the chicken bones, water, and vinegar to the stockpot and leave to stand on the counter for half an hour to an hour.

Bring the stockpot with the chicken bones to a boil, making sure to skim off any scum that rises to the top.

Keeping the broth at the right temperature

At this stage, you can choose between several options.

• You can leave it to simmer on the stove.
  • Simply leave it on the stove for a minimum of 12 hours but ideally more around the 24-hour time mark. I’m not a fan of this method since it takes up stove space. But if you have neither a slow cooker nor thick blankets, it is a good option.
• You can use a slow cooker.
  • Instead of bringing it to a boil on the stove, you could add the bones, vinegar, and water to your slow cooker. Then set it to low for 18 to 30 hours. It needs that bit longer because it takes longer to get to temperature. This is a nice and easy way that is very hands-off that gives you a delicious chicken bone broth that is beautifully clear.
• Or you can use my favourite method, which is the haybox or fireless cooker method.
  • After it has come to a boil, you can simply leave it to simmer for 10 minutes. Then pop it into a big towel that you then wrap up into more blankets. You can do this using a box or basket that hold the blankets. Or you could put it in the bed and wrap all the blankets around it. Or you can simply have a pile of blankets in your hallway that hide a pan. You could even have your toddler kiss it goodnight as mine does.
  • Make sure to bring it back up to temperature after every 12 hours so that it never drops below 70 C or 160 F. And repeat until in total it has been about 24 to 60 hours. This is because although temperature loss is minimal, it does still lose heat.

Straining and finishing touches

After your chicken bone broth has been simmering and infusing with goodness for long enough, it is time for straining the liquid off. Keep in mind that the longer it simmers, the more nutrients and goodness it will have been able to extract.

I find that the easiest way to do this is to strain your broth with a mesh strainer. Into your second largest pan so that it can hold all of your bone broth while it is cooling down. It can also be nice if you keep the lid on your stockpot at an angle as you would normally do for straining other things. This will prevent any bones from falling into your strainer. Which makes straining it a bit more challenging.

If you want, you can already taste it immediately and add some salt to taste. Or you can wait until you will actually use it in whichever meal you create with it. I prefer personally to salt it afterwards. Since I often use it to make homemade ramen noodles. And that allows me the freedom to flavour it however I like.

If you prefer the flavour of more typically French type broths and stocks. Then you might like to add some onion, celery, and carrots. As well as some herbs that you would often find in a bouquet garni, like bay leaf, thyme, and parsley. This will give you a chicken bone broth that might taste more familiar to you. Since it is how most western kitchens flavour their stocks and broths.

Once the chicken bone broth is to your liking. You can store it in a closed container either in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for a couple of months.

Tips for making your broth even more delicious every time

Even though making chicken bone broth is really very easy and simple. There are some aspects that you might not have thought about that could help improve your broth’s flavour.

I find that chopping the bones helps a lot and helps best when they are chopped lengthwise. This helps to expose the maximum amount of bone marrow to the water. Thereby releasing more nutrients and important amino acids, which in turn increases your broth’s health boost.

Soaking your bones in some vinegar and water will help dissolve some of the calcium as well as make the collagen in the bones more accessible. The longer the bones stay in the pot, the better the result, so I often leave mine overnight when possible. But do make sure you have a non-reactive stockpot. I always use an enamelled stockpot.

I find that keeping your chicken bone broth at a consistent temperature tends to give a more flavourful broth. It also gives a broth that consistently gels from all the gelatin and collagen that has been able to be extracted. So if you don’t want to keep your slow cooker or stove on throughout the night, then wrap your pan up in a towel and some blankets to trap as much heat as you can.

If you prefer your broth to be clear, then it is well worth ensuring that you never let it come to a full rolling boil. This will cause the fat to emulsify and thereby giving it a cloudy appearance. So keep it at a gentle low simmer, and your broth will be lovely and clear. Not that clear bone broth tastes better than cloudy bone broth, at least not that I can notice.

Lastly, the time that you simmer your bones will be an important aspect of how nutrient-dense and how much gelatin and collagen it will contain. Because it simply takes quite some time to extract all these wholesome compounds.

Add it to your old fashioned cooking skill list

Now that you have mastered making delicious wholesome chicken bone broth, you can add it to your old-fashioned cooking skill list. Chicken bone broth is such a staple in the kitchen. That you will find that when you use it in your dishes, everything is just so much more nourishing and delicious.

Talking about staples in the kitchen. If you want to learn how to make more homemade kitchen basics, then why not try some of these.

• Basic egg pasta tutorial +quick carbonara recipe
• Easy homemade yoghurt in a slow cooker
• My daily bread, a high hydration dough
• Wheat tortillas recipe, perfect for a sandwich wrap

I would love it if you would let me know in the comments down below. Or send me a DM on Instagram of what old-fashioned cooking skill you want to master. Or of what kitchen staples and basics you have already mastered.

May your chicken bone broth always gel and be full of flavour.

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