Whole Chicken Broth
There is something undeniably supportive about the rhythm of a weekly broth. It becomes a natural cycle to go through each week with the payoff of deep nourishment. It can also serve as the medium for medicinal herbs — broth with herbs is the very foundation of nutritional wealth — feeding vitality and restoring you at your root.
After making broth for some time now, the easiest method I’ve found that produces the most gelatin rich broth is this one.
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken —- 3-5 pounds, Mary’s Organic whole chickens at Natural Grocers is $12.99. Wisdom’s Chicken is our local producer and can be found here and here.
2 tsp apple cider vinegar to help extract minerals
Filtered or spring water to cover the chicken, add more throughout the process as it evaporates
1 tablespoon salt
1 tsp whole peppercorns
Optional, but add great medicinal value:
1 onion quartered, no need to take skin off
1 large or 2-3 medium carrots roughly chopped into large pieces
3 celery stalks roughly chopped into large pieces
2 small, or 1 large bulb of garlic chopped in half
2 inches of fresh organic Ginger root roughly chopped -- find at Natural Grocers
5 ribs of fresh organic Thyme added whole
3 stems of fresh organic Rosemary added whole
5-10 slices of Astragalus root to help build immune defense, find at Rebecca's Herbs.
Remove any organs from the body cavity. Rinse the chicken under cold water, then place the chicken in a large stock pot. Add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot around the chicken. Cover with water. Add the vinegar. Add the ginger and astragalus if you have them. Add the salt and pepper. Turn on high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer with the lid off.
Periodically, remove any foam that rises to the surface. Skim it off with a spoon and discard. Do this every 20 minutes or so until no foam remains. Simmer for 2 hours then remove the whole bird and take off the breast meat and leg meat. Save for soup or any other recipes with shredded chicken.
Put the carcass back in the water and simmer another 3-5 hours. Turn off the heat—- if you have rosemary and thyme, add them now — cover with a lid —— and allow to cool. Strain through a colander and store in mason jars. Use for soup in the next few days or freeze for a future use. Make sure to leave a couple inches at the top of the jar if you freeze to avoid breaking.
Enjoy!
Dr. Jane Litsey