Chicken Bits!

Here at Wicked Raven we grow a lot of things - one thing we don't grow yet is our own chickens.  We used to have a co-op style coop with a neighbor, but it got to be too much for us as we all work full time (some of us more than one job), most of our kids grew up and moved on, our kids got hurt and had to have physical therapy 30 miles away,  and a critter got in and killed a lot of the chickens!  We will try it again one day when other life things aren't cropping up and we get to spend more time on our farms.

One of the things I love is home made chicken broth.  It is easy to make and is really an upcycle/recycle process the way I do it.  It has less sodium and no goofy fillers or chicken feet parts!  It tastes good and is a crock pot recipe!

When we are making a chicken dish, we clean the chicken and take off the extra fat, skin, and any of the gizzard, neck and tails and we put them in freezer until the time comes to make some broth - or when we have too many "chicken bits" bags in the freezer and they have to go!  We also save the bones from the chicken or if you have a carcass from a roasted chicken - it can all go in the crock or the bits bag.  You can also use turkey.

Start with your bags of chicken bits and your biggest crock pot.  Put the bits in the crock and add 5 quarts of water.  Add 5 stalks of celery diced, 1 whole onion diced, a couple of cloves of smashed garlic,  and about a tablespoon of sea salt.  I don't use much salt in the original broth as I may be adding it to recipes that have salty items - such as sausage or onion soup mix.  It's easier to add more later than have it too salty from the get go.

 Let the whole thing simmer about 8 hours - I usually let it go overnight in the crock pot.  Let it cool and strain the solids out.  Don't discard any chicken meat that may be in there - I always get at least one jar of chicken meat while making broth - don't waste it!

The above photo shows my broth cooking in a large stock pot.  This was a time when I had a lot of chicken bits in the freezer and time to process it all in one batch.

Once the broth is strained, reheat it and pour into the size jars you need, lids and seals on them and process in a pressure canner - quarts for twenty five minutes at 10 pounds of pressure or pints for twenty minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.  If your canning book says something different though - please do follow yours - I have seen differing directions!

Use as you would any chicken broth.  Healthy alternative to the store bought stuff and you know whats in it from beginning to end.  You can process the chicken meat right in the same canner as your broth jars.  Make sure you put the date on the label so you are rotating your broth stock regularly.

Don't be afraid to use other ingredients as well - we have also made beef stock with the fat and "bits" from steaks and such. It was wonderful!  Veggie broth is great as well - Celery tops and carrots work great for this.  Customize your broth to your tastes and have fun with it!