I Made Chicken Broth From Scraps!

There's a particularly awesome blog I just started following, which I am really excited to share with you nice people!

Budget Bytes - My stomach is full, and my wallet is too.

I. Love. This. Page!!

First of all, she's a great writer and doesn't take herself too seriously, which is a major plus here at This Fuckin' House.

Second, she has an outlined expectation of cost per serving for every recipe, with damned close estimates for almost every ingredient. Best of all, every delicious recipe I have read boasts under $2 per serving!!

But wait, there's more! Not only does her blog offer all of the above, but she also idiot-proofs her recipes with breakdowns of steps with photos for each part.

She's actually my inspiration for Basic Banana Bread's format.

What does the talented Beth Moncel have to do with This Fuckin' House? Well, today's post is about how she first touched my life with a guilt-reducing staple, Chicken Broth!

There are so many things right about this whole concept. First of all, I buy whole chickens when they're on clearance and chop them myself, so I find myself with carcasses that still have deliciousness, but no clue how not to waste them.

Mind you, this all happened in my first year of marriage, in which I knew little of frugal cooking, so I was just double wrapping those delicious super tools and tossing them! I know, take a minute to weep, as I did for three days once I realized the carnage I had done.

I figured there had to be some way to make use of all the bidbits left on those meaty treats, since I never saw my mom throw out the carcasses after butchering our farmed chickens. Did it occur to me to just ask her? No, because that would make sense!

Off to google and reddit I went, until I found a thread about enhancing home made broth. You can imagine what a hack I felt like  when I discovered not only did people utilize every part of a chicken, but also think-tanking on how to make said method even better!

I realized I had hit a goldmine, including a link to Budget Bytes, and This Fuckin' House has never been the same since!!

For those of you who didn't click the link above, here's her recipe:

Chicken Broth

Author: Beth M

Serves: 12 cups

The Shit List

• vegetable scraps
• chicken carcass

How to Handle That Shit

1. Pick the skin from the chicken carcass and make sure you’ve gotten all of the good meat off. Leave the cartilage as this will “melt” into the broth, adding flavor and nutrients. Yes, cartilage has nutrients. It’s like taking a joint supplement pill, but it tastes better.
2. Make sure your vegetable scraps are clean by rinsing well with cool water. You can use the ends and stems of carrots, celery, herbs, onion skins, or any piece of a vegetable that you normally cut off and throw away. The vegetables WILL effect the flavor, so make sure you use vegetables that “go” together. I used celery, carrots, parsley stems, and onion skins.
3. Add the chicken carcass and vegetable scraps to a large pot and cover with water (about 12 cups, depending on how big your chicken was and how many scraps you have). Bring up to a boil over med-high heat, then reduce to low and let simmer with a lid for 3-4 hours.
4. After simmering, pour the broth through a colander into a large bowl or pot. Remove the colander and throw away all of the scraps. Cover the colander with a cheese cloth or another clean, lint-free cloth and pour the broth through once more to remove small particles.
5. Divide the broth into smaller containers to help facilitate cooling. Refrigerate until cold and then transfer to the freezer, remembering to label and date each container.

Beth's Notes

NOTE: While cooling in the refrigerator, the fat will rise to the top and harden. It can be removed at this point if desired, but I find that it adds a great deal of flavor. If your broth thickens or gels after refrigerating, don’t be afraid. That is normal and a good sign that you got all of the flavor and nutrients from your chicken!