Since I acquired the Stump's Baby about a year go (I think), one of our more common smokes has been marinated chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on. I marinate them overnight in store-brand Italian dressing, smoke until *very* done, then pull. Some for dinner that night, but most vacuum packed and frozen (oh, and some to the next-door neighbors whose two pre-teens really love it). I discard the skin and bones, but lately I've been thinking of making broth from the bones and the bits of meat that are left. I do that when we have whole chickens or turkey, but didn't think about it until this past weekend when I was pulling the 20 lbs. of thighs as part of a block party cook. Anybody do this?
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Absolutely! To my mind, broth doesn't care if it's carcasses or bones from chicken parts; it makes up good either way. For additional flavor, I add raw backbones and wings (along with some onion, carrot and celery pieces) if all I have on hand is roasted/smoked chicken bones and bits.
That said, I know acorgihouse says she routinely makes delicious broth from the smoked carcasses only, maybe in her IP? Maybe she'll chime in here.
At any rate, I'd say you'll have a nice batch of broth from the leavings of those 20 lbs of chicken thighs.
Kathryn -
I’m slowly learning my way in making broth. My wife thinks it’s the fountain of youth. I agree that the chicken bones will work fine. I chimed in to share something I only learned late last year. Every time you peal an onion save the peel in a ziplock bag in your freezer. They add a beautiful rich color and flavor to broth.Comment
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I do this too, for organic onions which I still wash well. For non-organic onions that may have unwanted chemicals in their outermost surfaces, I toss the skins, carolts and Oak Smoke. Cooking on occasion for immune-compromised people makes me more cautious than the average bear.
Kathryn
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HouseHomey would be the man on this. He is AKA the Chicken man in many parts. He's laid up with a knee, but I am sure he can chime in and offer wisdom.
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I've done similar with Chicken Thighs by adding all the skin and bones and some Onion, carrot, and celery to the IP. I've never used the peeled part of onion though. Maybe I should use that and save the good onion parts for eating. Usually I add some Low Sodium Better Than Bouillon to the IP too. I wonder what the Italian Dressing Flavor would do to the broth?Comment
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If you strip off the chicken skin anyway, you could also fry those on the stove top or the smoker, and make tallow from the fat renderings. I think Meathead has some recipes on that.
Found it!
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I make chicken broth all the time. I eat a lot of chicken, although not as much as I used to. When I worked full (or more) time, I batch cooked on a day off every week. I worked 12 hours shifts that averaged 14 hours long, with up to an hour each way travel time, so I often ate nearly every meal at work. I would routinely get the two chicken pack of organic roasters from Costco, cook them both (either in oven, or my propane turkey fryer, or sometimes one or both in smoker.) I've made broth from all of those. I used to do it in CrockPot, I'd put one chicken carcass in the CP, with water, turn on to 12 hours low (longest cycle) and then cook it for a few days. Every time it came near the 12 hours (or every time I was home and awake) I turned it off and back on and started over. So, easy to roast the two chickens, make broth over the next several days, put the other chicken carcass in freezer for the next week, or later.... Was a regular routine for me. I don't love dark meat, so used the breasts and wings, gave the thigh meat to dog, and I had chicken for stir fry, chicken salad, to put sliced on green or Caesar salad, and then broth for whatever. Cooking long time at lower heat (non-boil), and adding the bones for plenty of collagen, makes perfect broth IMHO. As an aside, I have purchased chicken feet at the Asian market near here, and added. They add a lot of collagen, broth turns out like jello, but they are heck to clean and I'm never really sure.. Nowadays, I don't go through so much, rarely eat as often, and medicine has killed my appetite so I don't eat nearly as much. I still do same, but more often one chicken at a time. Now I use my Instant Pot, I can usually fit a smaller chicken carcass in there pretty easily. I use skins, bones, everything but necks and backs (don't want to eat spinal tissue, we all have our creeps). Put it on the longest pressure cycle, for my pot is the meat/stew setting which goes for an hour. When it winds down and releases pressure, I sometimes run again, but more often just turn off and then back on to slow cook cycle. It also does a 12 hour slow cook cycle, and I do the same thing for a day or two, off and back on every 12 hours. Sometimes after a day or so, I ladle out half the liquid, then fill back up with water and start again. If you pressure, and then slow cook 24-48, the bones will be crumbly and everything pretty spent, so wouldn't go longer than that. I use this chicken broth for literally everything, keep in quart jars in fridge or freezer. I add celery tops, or onion pieces, occasionally, but I am exceptionally lazy and typically just use the chicken.
Re: the smoked chicken.. If you are only doing meat scraps and bones, should be fine. If you use the smoked skin and outer parts, keep in mind there will be a smoky taste to your broth. Not a bad thing, but just keep in mind that your wonton soup might not be best with smoky broth (but then, it might...) and act accordingly.Comment
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We get the 10 pound bags of chicken legs from Wally for $7, strip the meat and skin for sausage then make bone broth from the remains. Yields a little over 6 pounds meat/fat/skin, so I assume around 3-4 pounds of bones. We pressure cook for 3 hours with some carrots, celery and onion along with a teaspoon vinegar. Result is thick flavorful bone broth that we either freeze or pressure can. I think its about 7-8 cups water in the pressure cooker.
Same has worked in the past for turkey carcass, so thigh bones will be fine.Comment
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please don’t judge my spelling. I use talk to text.
20 pounds of chicken thighs, that’s my love language.
so there are a few schools of thought here. Typically, I make chicken stock with raw bones and or raw chicken.
you certainly can make a broth with the carcasses and bones from cooked chicken. However, one of the main reasons you make a chicken stock slowly over a number of hours is to get the gelatin. When you use cooked chicken parts, you’re not gonna get the gelatin into your stock. That’s totally fine because you’re eating the chicken and not wanting to waste the bones. So it depends on what your purposes are for the stock or broth.
you certainly can make a flavorful broth with the leftover parts and pieces however, I would discard any skin and not put it in there. It’s likely to be a little oily and will also just color dark the broth. But if you like the way it tastes then throw it in. I never used cooked bones anymore. I will every now and then just to get a little flavor in a little bit of liquid when there is no other choice.
as a general rule when using raw bones, there would be no fat in there. If I have to I will buy chicken whole and remove the skin and throw the whole chicken in. That’s where I get my stock from. I personally do not add any vegetables in that stock. It’s just pure chicken. When it’s done I’ll vac seal it and pull it out as I need it. When I warm it up, I will then reduce it a little more with a little bit of carrot, onion, and celery if need be.
So with cooked bones and carcass, you can kinda do the same thing and then just strain it to get all the bits and pieces out.
I never saved the trimmings from the carrots and the onions and such because they are so cheap and it discolor my stock using the outside part. Plus, that’s where all the contaminants are.
we eat a lot of chicken I usually buy them whole or I buy chicken thighs. When I buy them whole, I save the back bones and cut off the wing tips. And throw them in a bag and usually once I get two full Ziploc‘s then I’ll make a batch and that I yield me about 4 to 6 quarts.
lately I have taken to boning out my chicken thighs so I can have more bones. That stock is great in a rice or soup. hope this helps.
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What Kathryn said. It’s exactly how I do it as well.Comment
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