Recipe: Rich Chicken (or Turkey) Broth

Note 1: We 1st started doing this after eating Thanksgiving or Christmas Turkey probably 20 years ago. We had eaten the Meat which was readily accessible from the Bird. But what to do with the Carcass which still had little pieces of Meat all over it? This Recipe is easy and produces a Rich Broth that is ever so good. Now we use it for almost all of our Chicken or Turkey Carcasses. Just as the Grandmas would say: "Nothing should go to waste."

Note 2: We use only Free Range Chickens which have been organically fed.

Note 3: Carcasses should be as "fresh as possible". This is going to preserve optimal food value and taste. That means doing this as soon as possible or freezing up the Birds until we have a batch to cook.

(1) Place Chicken Carcasses in big Stainless Steel Soup Pot. Carcasses are Bones with major amounts of Meat removed and eaten at another time. This evening, we used what were the remains from 6 Chickens (all were originally in the 3 to 3 1/2 pound range). Four were from Birds which had been oven roasted. Two were from Birds that Richard had removed the Meat (Breast without Bone, Legs, Thighs, Wings) so we could fry it. We accumulated these in the Freezer until we had enough to cook down.

(2) Press Carcasses lightly down in Soup Pot to take as little room as possible. Add enough Filtered Water to cover 90% up the Carcasses.

(3) Add about 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar. From what we have read, Vinegar helps leach out the Calcium into the Broth in the Cooking Process. This makes an excellent "Bone Broth".

(4) Bring to a Boil and gently simmer for 12-24 hours. We usually do this over the course of 2 days. For smaller amounts, this can be done in the Crock Pot.

(5) Cool until easy to handle.

(6) Carefully go through Carcasses and Broth. Separate out small pieces of Meat.

(7) Strain Liquid. Separate out Bones and discard. (Bones will show that they are beginning to disintegrate.)

(8) Freeze Broth and Meat in containers sized according to use. We put some in containers of straight Broth and others in containers which have both Broth and Meat. This evening, we made 7 Quarts from the 6 Carcasses. They will be excellent starters for Chicken Soup, Chicken and Noodles, and who knows what other Culinary Delights. We find the Broth is just what a Person needs when they may be recovering from a Cold.