bones for bone broth

brandy · Post by **brandy** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:07 pm

I think I"m going to try Jean's and Lesley's bone broth since chicken soup really helped and I think the bone broth will help also. My question is where do you get the bones? I understand I can save leftover meat bones and keep storing them in the freezer until ready to use but do you ever get the bones direct from the butcher? If so are they free or do you pay for the bones?

Thank you, Brandy

gluten · Post by **gluten** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:37 pm

Hi Brandy, I thought about the same problem " where do you buy beef bones" The supermarkets do not cut their beef from the hanging beef halves like in the past. The only bones would be from a t-bone steak or spare ribs. So, I thought about a butcher shop and he also buys his meat in boxes from the midwestern suppliers and cuts the meat for specfic cuts. If you ask them they may be able to order you some or tell you where you can purchase them. Jon

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:11 pm

I buy them (beef) from a local grass-fed farm but I think they're expensive....$3.50/lb with little meat. I always save any bones from chicken and stockpile them to make soup. I even save shrimp shells, which make a nice broth for seafood based soups (chowder, bisque, etc).

Lesley · Post by **Lesley** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:54 pm

Most of the supermarkets start to stock them around now. Marrow bones. They don't have any meat on them, but the bones supply the gelatin and the marrow the richness. I love marrow on toast with a sprinkle of salt. But...When you make the stock the marrow melts down and adds to it.

I often add a few ribs to the mix. The cheaper ones. Just to give it body and flavor.

Lamb bones also add to flavor.

Another great stock, one that isn't expensive to make, is turkey broth. I wish I could still eat it. You can get turkey backs, necks and wings cheaply, and use the same method. Roast the bones, and simmer all night. Use as a stock for soup. Oh, how I miss it!

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:53 pm

I am very lucky that in my town i have a butcher where ALL the meats are grass fed, they are pastured locally and there are no grain fields anywhere near where the beasts are pastured.
therefore all the meats they sell are gluten free(even those from other growers), they have nitrate free bacon that they cure themselves onsite, lots of organic free range meats, and even have some items that are considered rarish duck, quail, goat, rabbit, turkey etc.

they will do mince in any meat form that i want, i ring friday by 11am, check whats on special and make my order, it is ready for pick up 5pm same day (for my saturday cook up) and they will cut bones how i want them (so they fit in my pots etc)

for the mince, it only cost about $2 -$4 extra per kilo than the items in the supermarket that are grain fed, and not necessarily made fresh that day.
the bones are about $4 per kilo extra, again they are better quality than the supermarket and they cut them to the size that fits my pots.

it is worth investigating and making friends with a good supplier. I make batches of my bone broth every 3 - 4 weeks.
ringing ahead and having the order ready to go makes my hunting and gathering missions so much easier!

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:53 am

I live in a small town but with a large (relatively speaking) food coop that is more like a Whole Food type store. I can get soup bones there. They have lamb and beef bones as well as chicken backs for soup. I can not eat either beef or chicken so I can only use the lamb bones. I also like to buy ground meat in bulk and sometimes get it from Slankers Meat http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com/. They also sell a variety of meat bones (beef, pork, lamb) along with chicken feet for those that eat chicken. So if I am buying ground meat I also buy some pork or lamb bones. You have to order at least 20 pounds of product from them and it must add up to at least $100 so an order of only soup bones would be an awful lot of bones.

Jean

amberlink09 · Post by **amberlink09** » Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:35 pm

Hmm I was just wondering about this the other day. I made some chicken bone broth but didn't have quite enough bones to make a good one. I did just remember that I have a bunch of beef ribs in my freezer, so maybe I can use the bones from those? I might have to go around to a few butchers, surely with the popularity of boneless skinless everything someone has extra bones they would be willing to give.