Smoked Chicken Bone Broth

4 smoked chickens covered and resting.

My husband loves to smoke all kinds of meats and anything else he can think of. I gave him a barrel type pellet smoker a few years ago and just this summer I bought him a Pit Boss, which was a larger upright one, for his birthday. He was excited and has used it quite a bit, but not as much as he'd like.

While shopping at the grocery store, I came across 4 chickens that had been marked down to half price. They just magically hopped into my cart and whispered in my ear that they were excellent smoking material. It appears hubby thought so, too, because they ended up in the smoker with a nice coating of a new rub recipe that hubby wanted to try. The chickens were good, but the rub needs a bit a tweaking. I wasn't so fond of all the cayenne pepper that was in it, and hubby had even cut the amount in half.

Cooking with veggies

Now, my turn for excitement. I took the meat off the bones and froze it and put all the bones and skin in the crock pot and covered them with water and added a tiny bit of vinegar to draw out the calcium. I let them cook over night. In the morning, I took out my 20 quart stockpot and transferred the carcasses and stock from the crock pot into the pot. I added onion, celery, garlic, broth and carrots and brought it to a boil, then simmered it for a good 24 hours - making the total simmering time about 36 hours.

Straining through cheese cloth

I then strained out the bones and veggies and then transferred that back to the pot, giving it a second straining - this time through cheese cloth. As chilly as are temps have been, when the pot cooled down some, I took it out to the garage to chill overnight.

The next day, the broth was brought back in the house and I peeled the solidified fat off the top. The broth was heated, brought to a boil then put in hot jars to pressure can.Since this broth was cooked with vegetables, I processed it for the vegetable broth time. 

It always amazes me when I do this. Why? I ended up with a total of 13-1/2 quarts of broth from something I might have thrown out! The onions that were added were parts of onions that I might have thrown out. I save the tip end and root end (I remove most of the brown wrap from the tip and the roots from the end since they are not very clean, and keep the white part). I also keep the tough outer part of the onion that lies beneath the brown protective covering. All of this goes in a freezer bag and kept in the freezer. I will also keep the leaves and tougher stalks from the celery and freeze them as well. Then when I do a broth, I take all the frozen veggies and add them to the water with the carcass. My only cost may be the carrots, garlic and any seasonings I may use plus the cost of electricity to cook it.

13.5 quarts of broth from 4 smoked chicken carcasses.
Dehydrated veggies in background.

If I figured correctly, it cost under $2 for lids and veggies for 13 and a half quarts of delicious and healthy broth. (I did not factor in the cost of the electricity.)

Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee

Finally! After a long, dreary winter, spring has arrived! My favorite part about the spring is gathering up the fresh greens and flowers that are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are super tasty. This year I have dried my dandelion leaves, flowers and made the roots into a wonderful roasted "coffee".

The "coffee" is a not actually coffee but makes a wonderful substitute. It has a nice flavor - a somewhat coffee, caramel and chocolate flavor combination. It's hard to describe, but with a little bit of cream and a touch of honey - it's pretty much heaven! The spring crop of roots are much more mild than the fall crop. The fall is more robust and bitter and packed with more vitamins and minerals because the roots are storing all the nutrition required to make a strong plant in the spring. Fall is the best time to harvest for drying roots for their medicinal value and for the most robust coffee, but I love the spring harvest as well! 

I dig up my dandelions whole and try to get as much as the root as possible. They are long and do easily break off. I found it best to try to run a long screwdriver or a dandelion removing down next to the root as closely as possible and break the ground around it by wiggling it back and forth. If difficult to remove, I will do this around the plant. A shovel works, too, but it leaves a lot more mess to deal with and depending where you harvest your plants, you may not want to leave holes behind.

After digging the dandelions, I pre-rinse with a hose to get rid of as much dirt as possible. Then I put the whole plant in a 5 gallon bucket and rinse, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain.... until the water looks quite clean. Next, I cut off the top part of the plant and put in two separate piles.

I then put the roots in a bowl and soak for a little bit. Then I rinse a few more times and try to swish off as much of the remaining dirt as possible.

I then use a scrub brush to take off the remaining dirt. I like putting a small cutting board in the bottom of the sink to have something to scrub on. If the roots have a lot of off-shoots, I'll break them apart to get in between them.

Then I put them in my food processor and chop until the pieces resemble brown rice.

Next I pour them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 225 degree oven and let them dry. This can take about an hour. 

I then check to see how they are drying by stirring every 10 to 20 minutes or so. Drying times will depend on the day, your oven, how large the pieces are, etc.

After the pieces are dry, I increase the oven temperature to 325 and continue to bake. Now the roasting process has started. I kept a close eye on it and mixed every 10 minutes. I love this part because when the root is almost ready to remove from the oven, it has the most amazing aroma of baking a chocolate cake or brownies! 

Some people will remove the root as soon as they see small wisps of smoke coming from the root. I put mine back in a bit longer. I like a darker roast. I find it to have a bit more of a robust flavor. 

After removing from the oven, I let it cool and then put it in a jar. The contents in the jar are much more true in color to the actual end product. 

To use:

Put water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the dandelion root, stir well and boil for 1 minute. Make sure it doesn't boil over because it will produce foam on top. You will need 1 tsp. of Roasted Dandelion Root Coffee per 8 oz of water (adjust to taste). Serve with a little cream and honey if desired.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a qualified/licensed instructor or certified to teach wildcrafting, using herbs or explaining how to identify any plant I use or speak of in these posts. This is only describing what I did and how I use the item described in MY home with MY family. I am not to be held responsible for any misinformation or any mishaps if anyone decides to try this at home. If you decide to try this method - it is at your own risk. Please research and study any plants, methods and side effects of the plant describe in this post.