Chicken Feet Bone Broth serious gel

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #1

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Incredible gel like meat gelatin. So good!

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Add a few tablespoons of red wine vinegar(this helps leach minerals from the bones) to two pounds chicken feet. I use free range. Water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover, then turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer for 36 hours, crushing the bones after about 15 hours.

The secret to serious gel is a very very gentle simmer. Also you need plenty of connective tissue and skin with your bones.

When done, strain the broth from the bone meal. Refrigerate the broth. Season the broth when you drink it.

(Arlene) #2

When we had our chickens butchered a few years ago, I cooked up the feet to make broth. It was gelatinous, like you have said but quite frankly it tasted and smelled horrible. They were very clean, so that was not the issue. I’ve been afraid to try this broth ever since. My dogs don’t even like the chicken feet.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #3

I have tried many kinds of bone broth, and chicken feet smell and taste like the most delicious chicken soup! It is my favorite and I’ve made it many many times. I simmer it low and add nothing but a touch of vinegar.
IDK why yours was not good.

(Arlene) #4

Thanks so much, Brenda. Perhaps something weird happened. Just maybe I’ll be brave enough to try again.

(jketoscribe) #5

When I was a young child my grandma made broth with chicken feet and I loved sucking on the little bones. But we moved to a tropical island (Okinawa) when I was 5, and there were no chicken feet to be had. I missed them, though my mom still made wonderful broth in her pressure cooker.

Five years later, on our very last day on the island, on our way to the airport, we were delayed by an overturned truck at the island’s ONLY traffic light. Spilling all over the road were hundreds of chicken feet!

But when we returned to the US in 1970, stores no longer carried chicken feet.

A few years ago we found a farm with pastured chickens, and the owner had frozen bags of feet and heads. I was so excited to use them in my soup, but disgusted when I opened the pot because they looked like hands. The broth was great, but I could not stand to touch the feet.

I make my broth with wings. There’s plenty of cartilage for thick gel, and I don’t get grossed out. I’m sad that this is all in my head, but I just can’t being myself to use chicken feet.

Btw, I make my broth in an electric pressure cooker in as little as an hour. It tastes just like mom and grandma’s. It’s beautifully clear and produces a thick gel and a lovely layer of schmaltz (fat) on the top. I mix some back in and freeze some of the schmaltz for other cooking (like chopped liver–so good!).

If you are up for it, definitely use chicken feet. But if your head does a number in you, too, wings work just as well.

#6

What I do when I use chicken feet for broth is cut off the tips, to remove the nails. I throw the nail tips into the compost bin…I don’t cook with them.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #7

Yeah. Agreed. Nails are creepy and could harbor bacteria. I like to live dangerously and I just clean them really well first. Lol

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #8

I’ve heard this. I can’t bear to do anything with wings but deep fry them. Wings are one of my favorite keto foods! Plus here? They are expensive!!

#9

I agree Brenda. If they are cleaned thoroughly, they are perfectly fine for adding to the soup. In fact, I love the idea of using as much of the animal as possible, and not waste anything. I admit, I take the short cut, cut nails off and throw them away to save time and not deal with smells or bacteria or anything.

(Jan) #10

We’ve only had chickens for a few years, and we butchered some of our older hens ourselves the first time. No problems, until I started boiling some of the feet to make stock. I know it was only my imagination, but I could swear I saw a toe twitch in the boiling water. Freaked me out! Now we get them butchered by pros. No more twitching…

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #11

Wow.

(Arlene) #12

The first year we raised meat chickens, I went a little overboard in the planning department, as I am prone to do. :wink: Instead of raising a few chickens for my husband and I, I raised enough chickens for the whole family. When butchering day came, I came armed with all my book knowledge about chicken butchering, then we set up an assembly line and set out to butcher 200 chickens. It all went very well, considering we were novices, and everyone put a years-worth of chicken in their freezers, but it was a very, very long, smelly day. Since then, we drop our much smaller batch of live chickens off at the processor, go have breakfast, then come back later to pick up our ice chest full of bagged whole chickens. Some things are just worth paying for!

(Jan) #13

oh, I so agree! The pros are much better than I ever can(
(or want!) to be. And you don’t have to look the chickens in the eye…
I’m glad we did it (once); I think if you’re a carnivore, you need to know
where the meat is coming from & be OK with that. But I don’t mind if my
poultry processor does it for me. We had a bunch of “surprise” ducklings
last summer, so we’re gonna have some freezer duck as well very soon. (yum!)

#14

I have so much respect for what you did, Arlene. You went whole hog, and truly understand the work behind the operation. I think we all become accustomed to seeing food under a plastic wrap at the store, and not have a clue of how it got there.

(Arlene) #15

Thank you, Fiorella. We butchered a hog once as well. The process was simple, but once again I found out how much time and hard work are involved in this. Mainly, it boils down to experience, the right tools, and a walk-in cooler. We had none of those, so the process was a huge lesson, as well as a very long day. Without the right tools, you have to cut up all the meat with the saws you have on hand. You can’t say “I’m tired, I think I’ll finish this up tomorrow”. Without a cooler, you have to process all the meat immediately and get it in the freezer. These days, I hire a mobile butcher to process both hogs and beef. I lovingly raise all my farm animals. I DO know it is a great privilege to eat nutrient-dense meat.

(Jan) #16

It’s my goal to give my animals the best life I can, right up until the last moment. And then to utilize everything. Respect.

#17

I really respect you for that, Jan. Amazing that you do that.

#18

@Brenda, how many litres of drinkable bone broth would each of those jars make?

I just made some and I think that it will look like yours once it chills (but I did not use feet and it may not gel that much). I used similar sized jars. I want to know how many to put in the fridge and how many for the freezer.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #19

2 pounds chicken feet made at least 3 pints broth, but I only use water to cover. I like mine concentrated so it will gel. It really depends on how much water you use and how long you simmer it. I simmer it covered but there is a tiny vent, so some liquid is lost.

#20

Thanks, but if I am making a one litre (quart) thermos of broth in the morning, would I put in a few tablespoons of gel with hot water or do you just drink it straight? I just tasted mine and it is really good straight. I was hoping to dilute it though, so that it would last longer. I am hoping to add plenty of sodium and and potassium to help me get enough of those. Up until now I have been using bullion powder (yuck, but good and salty, and I add more salt).