I was so excited to finally find locally sourced chicken bones last weekend. Normally, I get beef knuckle (aka soup) bones from my farmers market. While, that works on a regular basis, I love the chicken soup flavor and buying a whole chicken locally (which I have done) gets pricey. The chicken at my farmer’s market where I get my eggs is around $18, crazy I know, but they have grass-fed eggs with orange yolks there that are amazing. I found an easy recipe for roasting a whole chicken on epicurious. Just dry the chicken inside and out for a crispy skin and roast it for an hour at 350 degrees with salt and pepper. That’s it.
Anyway, I was looking for local chicken feet for the connective tissue which yields more gelatin and I finally found a butcher shop in West Hollywood called Lindy & Grundy, which is basically a paleo lover’s dream shop. They source all their animals from local farms, fed healthy diets. Plus, they make use of the whole animal not just the popular bits. I just stopped by without pre-ordering chicken feet and possibly the necks, which I plan on doing in the future. In the picture is a mix of chicken bones, which they sell ready to go in a sealed package. I got this package because I saw some feet, but it also includes heads, necks, and other mystery bones. I asked the woman behind the register and she said the heads and necks are great for flavor so I decided to give it a shot. Luckily, I’m a pretty adventurous offal eater.
I also bought two breakfast sausages, which had some liver in them. I’m always trying to get more liver into my diet, it’s incredibly nutritious, and a piece of their homemade scrapple. Scrapple is basically boiled down pig parts which they later use corn meal to make solid. It taste like a mix between foie gras and bacon…yeah I know what your thinking… how come I haven’t heard about this before? I have no idea, but it was a delicious way of eating more offal. Plus, I’ve missed bacon. They don’t sell pig at the farmer’s market.
Finally, I wanted to tell you what I normally put in my bone broth besides bones:
- chicken or beef bones (chicken feet and beef knuckle bones has the most connective tissue)
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion (white or yellow, include skin for additional nutrition)
- 1 sprig of dried rosemary (I get a ton from my farmer's market, and dehydrate it regularly for broth)
- sea salt
- 1 or 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar (for drawing out minerals from bones)
- I add the bones frozen, they defrost in the warm water in the slow cooker.
- Then I add the rest of the ingredients, and slow cook it on high until it starts to simmer.
- Then I put on low for the rest of the time which is usually 24 - 48 hours for beef bones. For chicken bones, 20 to 24 hours should be more than enough.
- I prefer to add pepper to the finished broth when I am finally ready to drink it.
You gave excellent directions for the bone broth recipe. I love seeing the picture of the actual food in the crockpot. I am going to make this broth this weekend. Do you continue to add more water as you cook it? Do you fill the crockpot to the top with water? Do you add more spices or just rosemary? So excited to try it!
You can add whatever you like. For water I filled the crockpot bc I don't know how much gelatin is in these bones. If it doesn't gel up just add less water next time. My slow cooker is 6 quarts and for a beef bone, I leave the water an inch or two from the top.
Lauren, do you usually drink this as is or use for cooking other soups/meals? I've been making chicken broth with broiler chickens for soups. Cooking it for about 6 hours so the bones start to break down, but this seems much more serious. 🙂
I've used it for soups, although if the broth gels up. I usually heat it so there is just some steam, and drink it with salt and pepper so I don't ruin the gelatin, which I heard boiling does. Cooking in the slow cooker is really easy. You just add the ingredients you want, and turn it and let it run. The apple cider vinegar will help draw out the minerals from the bones.
Hi Lauren, Bone broth is wonderful, just like taking natural vitamin shots.
In flue season we have a cup in the morning and at bedtime. All around us folks are coughing and hacking and we don’t get sick. Just what our grandmothers told us to eat! We eat a lot of drumsticks and save the roasted bones in the freezer, then when we want to make a big pot of broth we throw in the bones with some raw backs and let them simmer for 24 hours. I also add some celery, garlic, parsley stems, whole pepper corns and a couple of bay leaves. Amazing flavor and lots of gelatin.
Take care and be healthy! Karen in Canada
Hi Karen! My grandmother uses the whole parsley leaf too including the stems to flavor her chicken broth. I will have to try your combo next time. Thanks!