Since the pandemic, it has become increasing more difficult and more expensive to purchase chickens on-line. The benefits to purchasing on line is that you can buy sex-linked birds and assure that you are getting hens. We want hens because they lay the eggs!
What to do? Well sometimes we get a broody hen. This time it was a beautiful cochin. She is an excellent mother when it comes to her eggs and chicks. What we didn’t know, we just couldn’t know, was that the majority of the chicks would turn out to be roosters.
Chickens processed at an early age will be tender, like the ones you buy at the grocery store. By the time these roosters were large enough to have plenty of meat on their bones, they would not be tender. The solution? We are always looking for ways to minimize waste around here. The solution is to use the ever popular Instant Pot.
I am very fortunate to have lots of help around here. My daughter, Kate, knows here way around chickens. From eggs, to hatchlings, to culling, she is the one to call on. She is also the reason that we have a mighty feather plucking machine. With 3 good sized roosters and 2 non-lay hens, it was time to put Kate to work.
Once I have cut the chickens into good sized pieces, they go into the Instant Pot. I like to add an onion a few cloves of garlic, salt and a few herbs into the pot as well. Add enough water to cover the chicken, set the pot to pressure cook and the timer to 1.5 hours.
Once I can open the pot, I remove the chicken, and I allow that to cool. I also save the broth, we will come to that later. I am very maticulous about cleaning the bones. I remove any veins, ligaments, cartilage, etc. I only keep the meat, I know that my family does not like the “other bits”, and I also know that my pups do. I use the meat to make enchiladas, soup, and freeze what I can’t use immediately. For the pups, I freeze the “other bits” to use as treats. Everyone is happy.
I strain the broth to remove any herbs that will make the broth cloudy. I make sure that my jars and lids are clean. I was everything with hot, soapy water and I allow them to air dry. It is not necessary to sterilize jar when used for freezing. It is important to allow the broth to cool down, since the jars are at room temperature. Don’t fill the jar to the top. You must allow room for the food to expand as it freezes. The pressure can build up in the jar and break the glass. Leave at least 1-inch of space at the top of the jar. Only use wide-mouth jars, the ones without shoulders. This is very important.
I repeat this process for all the birds. Yes, it took a few hours, but while the chicken is in the Instant Pot, I can complete other tasks, like make the enchiladas, and even freeze a few for another day. But who am I kidding? Most of the enchiladas were eaten that day. I also make red rice using the chicken broth. It tastes much better with fresh chicken broth.
After I removed all the meat, frozen all the puppy treats, I am still left with plenty of bones. I gather as many of the bones as will fit in the pot. Then I add enough filtered water to cover the bones, being mindful of the maximum fill line. I add 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar to pull out the gelatin and minerals from the bones. I add a small onion, plenty of garlic (an entire head of garlic), some herbs, usually fresh from the garden, but dried will also work, a small carrot, and some sea-salt. I like to have my bone broth seasoned since it will be a hot beverage. I set the Instant Pot to low pressure for 2 hours.
When I can open the pot, I strain the broth and I repeat the process above. But I still have lots of bones left. I put them back in the Instant Pot, add water and cook them for another two hours. When I can open the pot, I strain out the bones. By this time the bones should be pretty pliable. Any that are not, I do not use. I put the rest into my high speed blender, and I blend on high for a minute or so. I am left with a gooey mess. I lay this out on a lined cookie sheet, assuring that no small splinters are left. I do this very carefully with my fingers. I then freeze the bone sauce and cut into slices for puppy cookies or smaller pieces for treats. My dogs love when I put a small bit of a cookie in a bowl with warm water on a cold day. It’s a treat for them just like a warm mug of bone broth is for me.
In the homesteading lifestyle, we don’t waste much. That’s one of my favorite parts of living on my land, with my family.
