How to Make Homemade Chicken Bone Broth

There is nothing better than the delicious and wholesome goodness of homemade bone broth!

Not only does it benefit the body by adding to your diet certain beneficial nutrients that aid the healing and sealing of your gut, it can also help your joint and skin health!

I once heard an old proverb that says that “Chicken broth resurrects the dead!” – I don’t know how true that is, but I have felt much better after sipping on some delicious chicken bone broth when I wasn’t feeling very well!

While bone broth is not difficult to make, it does require time…

The chief ingredients are bones, water, vinegar, and salt to taste! And when it comes to using the carcass, make sure you include everything – the bones, the skin, the neck and the gizzards! And if you’re so inclined, add in the feet!

Optional items to include in your broth are: carrots, celery, onions, garlic and your favorite herbs! Adding in these items make the broth your own flare!

How to make Homemade Chicken Bone Broth

The Essential Ingredients You’ll Need:

• 1 large or 2 small chicken carcasses (and don’t forget the skin, neck, gizzards and feet!)
• 4-12 cups of water (1-3 liters)
• 1-3 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar (Red Wine Vinegar works well too)
• 1 Tbsp. of salt – adjust to taste

Optional Ingredients:

• 3-4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2-3 celery sticks, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2-3 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2-3 whole garlic cloves
• 1 tsp whole or crushed black peppercorns
• a few branches of your favorite herbs (my go-to choices; rosemary, thyme or parsley)

Let’s put it all together:

• You’ll want to put all the essential ingredients in a large pot or slow cooker
• Next add in any optional ingredients you desire.
• Heat on high until the broth starts to boil, then reduce the heat to low. You should only see very small bubbles in the center of pot.
• Cook at low temperature for a minimum of 6 hours, but as much as 24 hours.
• Once the broth is ready, let cool for an hour or two.
• Next, you’ll want to strain your broth by using a metal colander. Using a cheesecloth is optional at this step. I usually strain the broth right into canning jars with a wide mouth and a mesh strainer.
• Once the jars are filled, you can keep them in the fridge for about 4-5 days.

Some key points about homemade bone broth:

• High temperatures can corrupt the gelatin in your broth, so make sure the water is barely simmering.
• Beware! Some slow cookers do not have a low enough setting, so you may want to use a large pot on the stove or find a different slow cooker that grants you the ability to control the temperature better!
• If your broth doesn’t gel, it could simply mean you didn’t let it simmer long enough… just try cooking it longer next time!

Here’s some helpful kitchen tips:

• If you have more bone broth than you can use in say, 4-5 days, you can freeze it. Divvy up your delicious broth into small canning jars – making sure you leave an inch at the top of each jar to allow space for the liquids to expand, thus preventing your jars from breaking.
• Use ice cube trays to freeze your bone broth into handy cubes that are easy to reheat.
• Drink up the bone broth by the cup (or canning jar) or use it to make sauces, soups and stews.
• Use water you’ve used to boil veggies to make your broth and make good use of the nutrients lost from the veggies – they’ll now be in your broth!
• Each time you have chicken, keep the bones and freeze them. Before long you’ll have enough to make a new batch of homemade bone broth!

Here’s to your health! Drink up!

Until next time,

Peace, love and safe travels!

~ Sheri

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