Chicken Scraps:
Chicken scraps to save include: bones, joints, wings, carcass, skin, innards - they can be raw OR cooked scraps, whatever you don’t eat. Again - save in bags or containers in the freezer, and when you have enough, make broth!

Important Note: you have to be eating chicken *that has bones/skin/etc* in order to save chicken scraps, duh! If that sounds new to you, here are three recipes to try out:

1. Easy Baked Chicken from the Kitchn - simplest guide for whole chicken pieces
2. Olive Oil Roasted Chicken - a VERY delicious recipe and super simple
3. Whole Roasted Chicken is how I get most of my chicken scraps - this recipe (by Ina Garten) is the very first way I learned to roast chicken (I personally don’t tie it up anymore, and I now believe that salting ahead of time is the most important thing you can do for a roasted chicken!)

Potentially controversial opinion: Personally, I do save bones/scraps that may have touched my mouth when eating the chicken… I’m going to freeze them and then boil the broth anyways, so I’m not worried about any germs, but - obviously do what you wish!

Step 2: Make the broth
When you’ve saved several bags of scraps, it’s time to make broth! To do this, I use either my Instant Pot on the slow-cooker function (you could also use a slow-cooker), or a large pot on the stove. For chicken broth, you can use a combo of chicken AND veggie scraps, that’s what I usually do!

Rough ratio: I recently used about 1 gallon bag of chicken scraps (roughly 3 chicken carcasses) and 2 quart-size bags of veggie scraps to make one full 6-quart-sized Instant Pot of broth, which resulted in ~12 cups of rich broth at the end.

Broth Instructions:

1. Fill the pot about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way with frozen scraps, then fill with water to 1-inch below the top.
2. If using the stove top: put the lid on the pot (helps it heat up faster), then turn on high and bring to a boil. (This is my preferred method if using raw chicken pieces and/or a lot of chicken bones that I ate off of 🤣.) Once boiling, turn down to a simmer, tilt the lid a bit to allow steam to escape, and simmer for about 3 hours or until very flavorful.
   
3. If using the Instant Pot or a Slow Cooker: put lid on, press slow-cook, set for about 4 hours, and cook till flavorful (I added an extra hour here because on slow-cook it will take a while to heat up).

• Another option: to speed the process along, you can also use the "Saute" function to bring to a boil first before slow-cooking the rest of the way. If doing this, I recommend putting a lid on it, tilted slightly to help speed the process. Note that the "saute" function automatically turns off after 30 mins, and it usually takes about 40 mins to come to a boil this way, so this option is slightly less "set and forget," but works well if you'll be in the kitchen anyways for ~30 mins after starting your broth.

Veggie broths are the fastest kind of broths, so veggie broth will likely be done in 1.5-3 hours. Once it tastes good and/or once the color is extracted from the veg and the veg turns kind of brown-ish, it’s done. Chicken broth takes slightly longer, about 3-4 hours.

When I make scrap broth it is VERY imprecise, because the whole point is convenience! I don’t really think you can “overcook” it here, so don’t worry about that. If you want to be extra particular, you can taste the broth as you go and see how it changes.

My preferred timing is to start the broth in the morning while I'm making breakfast, slow cook until midday, then remove from the heat, allow to cool all afternoon, and then strain it and pack it up in the evening.

Step 3: Cool and Package
This is actually the most time-consuming/messy part of the process, but still very easy (and so worth it)!

1. When the broth is done cooking, remove from the heat and allow it to cool (ideally).
2. Prepare your jars or containers for freezing. I like to ladle as much broth as I can into the individual jars first, straining it with a funnel and small sieve over the jar(s) and leaving about 1.5 inches of "headspace" at the top**. (I have this funnel and these sieves and use them often, but this set, this set, or this set might be better if you don't already own sieves/funnels).
3. Once I've gotten as much broth as I can out of the pot with the ladle, I then set a large colander - big enough to contain all the scraps - over a clean pot that's a bit smaller than the size of my Instant Pot. I then pour the whole pot of scraps and broth into the large colander, straining the remaining broth into the pot below. The scraps will be waterlogged at this point, so I like to press hard into them to get out all the remaining broth. I then pour the strained broth into remaining jars or containers.
4. Finally, label each container with “____ broth + ____date” using painters tape and a sharpie. Once the broth is cooled to about room temp, move to the freezer for future use.

**Important note for freezing: the broth will expand when frozen, so make sure to leave some “headspace” in the containers, and be especially careful if you are freezing in glass, as I’ve found that curved or strangely shaped jars are more prone to breakage from expansion. These are my preferred jars* to freeze in, and I do so often with no breakage, although I also use super cubes and sometimes plastic containers saved from takeout. Personally I am NOT a fan of freezing in plastic bags as I find that they always seem to leak, but do what works best for you!

*(not sure why they are currently so expensive on Amazon! I recommend checking out your local hardware store, as that's often my favorite place to buy kitchen stuff and support a local small business!)

Questions you may be thinking about:
Salt: I personally don’t salt my broth until later when I’m cooking or eating it, but feel free to add salt to taste if you wish.

Flavorings: Of course, as you continue to make scrap broth, you can experiment with adding spices or aromatics if you’d like. Sometimes I’ll save certain kinds of scraps to make a specific kind of broth; for example: mushroom stems, onions, ginger peels (or just whole ginger), and tough lemongrass stalks make a delicious Thai-inspired broth.

And… that’s it for your scrap broth overview! Start saving those scraps and happy broth making! Again, more videos/photos here on Instagram. If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear them!!

PS. Some of the text above includes affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!