During the winter months, few experiences match the comfort of sipping on a mug brimming with hot, aromatic chicken bone broth. Although local markets stock a plethora of animal and poultry bone broths, creating your own at home elevates the taste to a myriad of levels higher, utilizing cost-effective ingredients, while also being surprisingly easy to make.

Bone broth is a tantalizing concoction made by simmering animal bones alongside aromatic ingredients such as onions, carrots, and celery. The confusion often arises when bone broth is mistaken for stock, when in actuality, bone broth is cooked longer and therefore richer in collagen, from hours of slow simmering. The precise duration varies, but ranges between eight hours to a full day, which breaks down the collagen from the tissue into a health-boosting, collagen-rich broth.

Embarking on your bone broth journey requires roasting bones at a high heat of 450°F until they reach a light brown hue, which is then transferred into a stockpot with cold water and other crucial aromatics, like onion, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves. Simmering slowly is key, while remembering to skim fat and foam intermittently so that the broth develops a rich and flavorful profile between eight to twelve hours. Replenish the water as needed to ensure bones are submerged and finally eliminate the solids for a clear finish.

Bones rich in connective tissue or marrow paves the way to a richer, more flavourful bone broth. Beef knuckles, necks, or marrow bones are ideal for a beef bone broth, while chicken carcasses, necks, feet or wings are suitable for a chicken bone broth. Storing your homemade bone broth in an air-tight container can keep it fresh in the fridge for five days or in the freezer for half a year, making it a long-lasting nutritional powerhouse for any kitchen.

To ensure your homemade broth cools down swiftly before storage, transfer it into a large bowl that can fit snugly into an ice bath. Continuously stir until the broth chills to roughly 40°F, usually within an hour, before relocation to a refrigerator or freezer.

Despite the convenience of buying premade broth, many store-bought versions fail to capture the depth of flavors compared to home cooked broth, often being diluted and excessively salty. One contender worth considering would be Brodo that maintains a gel-like texture indicating the rich collagen content when cooled, derived from organic chickens, vegetables, and grass-fed cattle, making them wonderfully savory and wholesome.