Meat Chickens 101 - Part 4 - Bones to Broth

Fresh From the Farm

September 12, 2025

Meat Chickens – Part 4 - Bones to Broth

Originally published in The North Lake Outpost Newspaper

Y’all know I love making something out of nothing. Especially when it is something so tasty and nutritious and made almost entirely of something that I used to throw away. I still can’t believe that I used to throw out the chicken carcasses after cutting off the meat. And what did I even use for chicken broth? Oh yeah, I used water and that really expensive store-bought product, Better Than Boullion.

Times have sure changed around here. First of all, I am way too cheap these days to spend $6 on a little jar of something that I can make at home. Second of all, I can’t throw away all of these carcasses now that I know I can use them for something. And last, homemade broth is so much tastier and probably better for you than anything you can buy. Especially the stuff in the box. How do they get it so yellow?

The broth we make is a rich, golden-brown color and has a depth of flavor that you won’t get from the store. Much of the color and extra nutrients comes from the extras that we put in it. We are going from bones to Broth and from scraps to scrumptious! Once you get used to this kitchen staple, you won’t be going back to the store-bought stuff.

I used to make all of the broth at one time in the couple of days following the processing. This wasn’t bad, it was just that everything was on a large scale. A giant pot was needed for cooking down the carcasses; in fact, we used the scalding pot for this. Then straining gallons of broth into the largest stock pots I had then reducing it a little, before canning it. Then finding somewhere to store dozens of jars of stock. It was nice to have all of the broth done for the year, but since then I have found a little better way of doing it.

Nowadays we make up broth bags. I say “we” because my mom thought of this handy idea so that I could share bones with her all year long. It is much less work to make a gallon or two of broth at one time, rather than 30 gallons. The bags are just small enough to fit in an 8-quart instant pot or a small stock pot.

Two carcasses, a couple of heads and four feet are vacuum sealed in a bag and frozen. The whole frozen clump will fit better in your pot later if you break the carcasses in half before packaging them. Then when we want to make broth, we just pull a bag out of the freezer, run some warm water over the outside of the bag to release the contents and put it in the pot.

You can cover it with water and some salt at this point to make a decent homemade broth, but I suggest adding some things for a much better tasting final product. Veggies, or veggie scraps, are one of the easiest ways to make your broth taste better and will give you a deep golden color. I like to keep a gallon-sized baggie in the freezer to store all of my carrot, onion, garlic, celery, and mushroom “trash” pieces. This is mainly just the skins and stems of the veggies.

I add about a handful or two of this to the bones when I am ready to make broth. If there is a lack of any of the vegetables that you want, just grab one or two from the fridge, give it a rough chop and add it to the pot. Be mindful that too many onion and garlic skins will give it a strong flavor. It doesn’t show up too much when the broth is added to a soup or dish, but it isn’t as tasty when sipping a cup.

A generous amount of good quality salt, a teaspoon of black peppercorns and a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar are added to the pot. Cover all of that with cold water and start cooking. If you are using the Instant Pot, cook it on high pressure for 90 minutes, then let it natural release, give it a stir, and cook it another 30. Let it natural release, then strain it.

You can also make your broth on the stove. Start it out the same as above, but you will want to simmer it for a minimum of 12 hours, and up to 24 hours. This works just fine, but requires you to keep an eye on it and don’t let the water reduce so much that you burn it. Once it’s done enough, strain out all of the solids.

No matter which way you do it, you are likely to end up with a bunch of chicken fat on top. Again, I used to throw this out, not realizing just how amazing of a product it is. Now I pull it all off using a fat separator and store the fat in a jar in the fridge. If I end up with a lot of it, I will freeze it in ice cube trays then store the cubes in the freezer. Veggies stir fried, using chicken fat as the oil, are amazing!

Chicken fat is easy to separate and pour into ice cube trays. Once it is solid, you can pop them out, place in a baggie and store in the freezer. Use it in place of oil in sauteed or stir fried veggies. I like to use a cube to sautee my onions, celery and garlic in to start a pot of soup.

Now we have beautiful, fragrant, rich, deep golden chicken broth. You can store it like this in the fridge for a week or two, or you can pressure can it, freeze it or reduce it so that you have less to store. I like to put it in a large stock pot on the stove and simmer for a few hours. You can stop at any point, or just keep on reducing it until you end up with a thick, syrupy chicken consume.

The longer you cook it down, the longer it will last in the fridge. But it’s so sad to do all of that work, only to find a layer of mold growing on top of the jar when you forget about it. That has happened to me a few times. I have been thinking about going back to canning it after cooking it down, even if it’s only 7 quarts at a time. That is still a lot less work and time involved than doing all of them at once, then it can be stored on the shelf for as long as it takes me to use it up. No more waste.

The different stages of reducing the broth. The lighter broth on the left only went for about 24 hours. From there it can be reduced even more to save on storage space. The richer it is, the smaller the jar I use to store it in. Quarts and pints are pressure canned to be shelf stable, consume is kept in the fridge or frozen. 

As far as using it…this is about one of the most versatile staples in my kitchen. Broth replaces water in anything from rice to soup to beans. You can use it when deglazing a pan, or if your veggies are starting to dry out when sautéing instead of adding more oil. I like to add it to rutabagas or green beans when cooking them. It just gives everything a much deeper flavor and the color is beautiful.

If anyone is sick or “off their feed”, a nice warm cup of chicken broth will taste so good. It’s also a good meal replacement if you are trying to lose weight. It is a great electrolyte after a day of sweating and working outside. Just take a shower to cool off and clean up, then have a cup of warm, salty broth. It will surprise you how much your body appreciates it.

I feel like I can’t talk about broth without telling you about one of my favorite “tricks” to play on my kids when they were younger and at home. Back then I used to simmer the carcasses on the stove in giant stock pot. Any time I stirred the pot, I would make sure to leave a few heads peeking out and some feet with the claw side up, right on top of the pot. The boys would walk over to the pot to check on the progress and there staring back at them were a couple of wide-eyed chicken heads. They would look at me, roll their eyes and give it a stir. Fun times.

Next time you have a chicken carcass, even if it’s a mean rooster, an old hen or a store-bought rotisserie, throw it in a pot and make your family some liquid gold. Everyone will appreciate the flavors it brings to the table. And you will know you are serving your family something truly nutritious. Until next time, get in the kitchen and make something good.