# What did I do wrong?



## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

This week I attempted to make bone broth and it was a disaster! I put knuckle bones in the crock pot with some rib bones with meat I browned in the oven and covered in water. I added fresh rosemary and a bay leaf and let it sit on low for about 24 hours. It smelled ok but not amazing. After it chilled in the fridge I removed the fat and heated up my first cup. I could barely get it down. Today I heated it up and a lot added salt, hoping it would help. It didn't, in fact it stunk up the whole house and the family was not pleased. The dogs are the only ones who will drink it. 

It just tastes off and smells pungent, almost rancid. At the same time it is very flat and bland. It's not the rich flavor I was hoping for.


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## Westexas (Apr 10, 2013)

I had the same experience - twice! - with some fairly expensive bones from grass fed beef. Will be interested to see if there is a solution. Otherwise the hounds can enjoy 'em!


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I nearly always make bone broth. I just call it "stock" 
For whatever meat, (chicken, venison, beef) I lay out my bones on a large roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, and a large amount of kosher or sea salt. I roast them at 450 degrees until nicely browned.

Sometimes, I roast my aromatic veggies with them, sometimes not. They add a bit of sweetness to the stock which I really prefer, but I don't always have room in the pan.

Deglaze the pan. Then add everything to COLD water and SLOWLY heat it up.

As for ingredients, that may changed depending on what I want it for, but always at least carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, salt and pepper.


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

Too much rosemary perhaps? Its a very strong herb.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

It doesn't smell like rosemary/herbs at all. It's just really pungent and gross. 

When I put everything together I used warm water from the tap and the crock pot was on low the whole time.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Were the bones by any chance old and rancid? Spoiled?


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

You said you let it "let it sit on low for about 24 hours" - did you bring it to a boil first?


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Are they beef bones?


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

Ardie/WI said:


> Were the bones by any chance old and rancid? Spoiled?


 I don't think so. I bought them in a frozen package from a local company. 




mistletoad said:


> You said you let it "let it sit on low for about 24 hours" - did you bring it to a boil first?


 No I didn't. Everything I've read says not to. Should I have put it on high for a few hours before turning it to low?


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

HoofPick said:


> Should I have put it on high for a few hours before turning it to low?


I've never heard of not boiling it, seems like that would introduce spoilage (and yours sounds spoiled). I always bring it to a full boil and then simmer.

Just noticed you used a crockpot - I prefer to do mine on the stove, but I'm still thinking yours didn't get hot enough soon enough.


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

I agree with mistletoad. A crockpot, IMHO, won't be hot enough and yours spoiled.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

Ok. Can I boil it first and then transfer to the crock pot? Should I use high or low. I don't feel comfortable leaving a pot simmering on the stove for 12 plus hours if I'm not home/in bed.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

I think it will depend on your crock pot but I'm don't know an awful lot about them.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

When I make beef bone broth, I roast the bones first so they're brown then put in a big stockpot. The pot should be really full of bones, not just a few bones and a lot of water. (If I don't have enough yet, I store the bones in the freezer until there's a good supply). Add enough water to cover the bones.

Add a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar, then turn the stove on high. Skim off the foam that rises to the top. When there's no more foam, I turn the heat to low and add vegetables like a couple stalks of celery, a couple of carrots, onion skins or maybe a whole onion. Bay leaf if I feel like it, maybe peppercorns too. I put star anise in once and it was good, too.

I leave the pot to simmer for 2 or 3 days for a good, rich broth. I top up the water from time to time during the day and at night I add lots of water & put the lid on before I go to bed. Same thing in the morning before I go to work. I've never had a problem with scorching/running out of water.

After 48-72 hours, strain everything. The meat goes to the dogs, as do the cooked vegetables. Scoop the marrow out of the bones for a nutritional boost. If the broth is watery, boil it down a bit. This improves flavor and saves storage space. You can always add more water later, if you want. Salt to taste. I do not remove the fat.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

To me anything like that, broth, apple butter etc.. tastes wonky in a crockpot.

And my crockpot gets too hot. Even on low it boils the heck out of everything.

Bone broth is a little different than regular carcass broth and beef bones are not the most appetizing things.

I agree with the others.. I think it was undercooked. That way it just tasted.. fresh and raw and funky.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I agree with others in that your bones may have been spoiled.

When I make broth from bones, it is with fresh bones (or frozen ones) that came from my own animals, i.e. goat and chickens. (I also use the "skinned" chicken feet.) Sometimes I put sea salt in it; sometimes not. I never add any veggies to it because I like to use it for a variety of dishes and this leaves my options open. I will often "roast" all the bones together in my large roasting pan with only a small amount of water (sometimes wrapped in foil). After a couple of hours they go into a large pot with enough water to cover everything. After it starts to boil, I turn burner down and simmer until much of the water has been reduced. Then I take out the bones, strip them of all meat & marrow, leaving these in my stock.

If I want to use this as a "broth" to simply drink, then I can pour a cup, let it sit to cool, take off any fat that goes to the top and season it to taste before heating it in a microwave. Otherwise, I let it cool and then freeze it in ice trays.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

The book that came with my crockpot gives very specific information on how quickly food must be brought up to certain temperatures in order for the food not to spoil. Mine is a West Bend and has 5 heat settings. It has this warning:

*"When slow cooking food, the temperature of the liquid must reach at least 125 deg. during the first 3 hrs. of cooking. Food then must continue to cook until it reaches at least 140 deg. (165 is ideal). At temperatures above 140 deg., food is considered "safe" to eat."*


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

I think the crockpot may be the problem. I love mine, but I never use it to make stock or chili, to my mind two things that should never be covered while cooking.

Also, broth can be ruined by cooking too hot, so while it does need to come up to temperature early on, you never want to let it get into a hard boil.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

HoofPick said:


> Ok. Can I boil it first and then transfer to the crock pot? Should I use high or low. I don't feel comfortable leaving a pot simmering on the stove for 12 plus hours if I'm not home/in bed.


I often leave mine on the woodstove. That keeps it at a low boil and I don't feel unsafe about it. If the wood stove isn't an option, I have been know to cook it all day and turn the oven off at night. Then I start again the next day.


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## gimpy (Sep 18, 2007)

HoofPick said:


> I don't think so. I bought them in a frozen package from a local company.


You just bought bones? IME places that will sell just bones assume that they are for dogs and don't follow the same rules as per meat. They may have been spoiled or contaminated with feces or urine.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Yikes!!!


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

Ajaxlucy (post # 14) has the right method (and an excellent recipe). 

When using bones for stock of any kind it's important to roast all the bones in the oven first so they are very well browned and smoking hot through to the core. The difference in the improved, robust meaty flavour is like the difference between day and night.


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

delete double post.


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## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

Minor thread hijack warning:
I'm getting ready to make this for the first time, and I'm wondering, we are on Propane for cooking, and I like to try to conserve it. So I use my crock pot alot. But ya'll have said they don't work well for this. How about a roaster oven?
I have a big one, about 22-24 qt.s, and could easily use it.
If I roast the bones, and then put everything in it, would it work better than the CP?


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## staceyfb (Jan 13, 2005)

You can absolutely use a crock for any type of stock. 
As was mentioned, roast your bones and herbs and veg first. Cover with ice cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15-20 mins and the. Add to your crock. What setting you use should be determined by checking your temp with a thermometer. 
It is no different than using an alto sham in a professional kitchen. Just take the time and effort to temp your units out. 
We use ours for everything. But I have taken the time on a weekend to temp out the foods cooking so I know on a week day I can set it and forget it.


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## froebeli (Feb 14, 2012)

I have used my roaster oven for chicken stock, so I don't see why it wouldn't work for beef. I think I even got the idea here on HT in one of the threads. 

Roast them in the roaster first then add the water for your stock. I think I cooked my chicken stock for a full day on the lowest setting and even drained and added water and made more stock too.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

Thanks for the tips everyone. I've given it another run using them. This time I decided to do use bones only with salt/pepper. I figured if I didn't add veggies/herbs that would be one less thing for me to worry over doing. Last night I roasted beef rib bones with meat and a few pounds of knuckle bones at 375F for about an hour. They sat in the fridge overnight since I didn't want to have the stove on while I was sleeping. This morning I put them all in a pot, covered them with water and added some salt/pepper. I boiled them for about an hour and brought them down to a simmer. There wasn't any foam to skim of the top. It's been about 8 hours and the broth looks like it's thin 
dark turkey gravy! :facepalm: I think I give up on this bone broth thing.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

This is what it looks like. 

View attachment 24539


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

That looks pretty darned good to me actually. Did you simmer it for 8 hours? Did the bones go softer from simmering? What does it taste like? Now put it in the fridge and let it chill overnight. Tomorrow carefully lift the layer of solidified fat off the top and see if the broth underneath has all turned into concentrated gelatin. If it has turned into gelatin then you simmered it long enough and you have made an excellent concentrated broth. If it has not turned to gelatin then you didn't simmer the bones long enough. But it looks to me like it will gelatinize very nicely. Chock a block full of concentrated nutrients and protein. Let us know if it turned into gelatin. The fat that rises to the top can be used as well as it will also be very nutritious so don't discard the fat.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

If you do not like the smell of the stock, try using different starting ingredients. Pork, chicken, turkey, venison, lamb, duck... they all will make a different stock - both flavor and smell. 

Keep the fat, make big batches and pressure can it up. You are not doing anything wrong, just ending up with a product you don't like. Change your ingredients and try again until you get a product that you like.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

Thanks, I feel so much better. I wasn't sure if I did it right since it wasn't the deep brown color I was expecting. The bones simmered for about 14 hours and it is cooling to room temp now before it goes into the fridge. I think it will gel up just fine. Every time I tried to taste it I just got a mouthful of the liquid fat. I'll just have to wait until the morning. 

I plan on keeping the fat in the freezer and breaking off chunks as I need it. Now that this batch turned out worlds better than the first I think I'll try to make other types of stock too.


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

It will be okay. You simmered it long enough and it looks very good with just the right amount of fat on the top. Don't worry about it if the gelatin doesn't taste exactly as you were hoping for. It's the highly concentrated nutrients and minerals in the gel that you've extracted out of the bones is what's important. You've got what you're aiming for and when you go to use it you will be adding other food ingredients and seasonings that will flavour it more the way you want it anyway.

You mentioned it didn't come out the darker brown you were expecting. The darkness of the broth will depend on the way the bones are roasted. When I roast beef or pork bones for broth I roast them in a covered roasting pan in the oven at 425 degrees for at least an hour and a half so that the bones are roasted to a very deep dark brown but not scorched black. When they're roasted at high heat to get them very dark brown the bones will also become hard and brittle. That's not a bad thing, it makes it easier for the gelatin to extract out during simmering and when the bones are simmering for several hours they will become softer. The flavour and color of the broth will be richer depending on how long roasted and how deeply browned the bones are before they go into the cooking water but don't ever expect it to come out a really dark brown like strongly steeped tea or coffee for example. The only way it would come out that dark a brown would be if you had blackened the bones from scorching them and that would just ruin it and taste burned like charcoal.

As mentioned by K.B. previously, try using scrap meats and bones from different types of animals. Each kind of animal will produce different colors and flavours of bone broths and each type will also produce different densities of cartilaginous gelatin. There is much more cartilaginous gelatin in mammal bones than there is in bird bones and there is more cartilaginous gelatin in fish bones that there is in mammal bones. As a matter of fact fish bones are almost pure cartilage and can be cooked down and dissolved to a product that is almost all pure gelatin with hardly any bones left over after being simmered for many hours. So fish bone broths are a particularly rich source of essential minerals.

Experiment with different kinds of bones and you will find what works best for you. Bone broths are one of the very healthiest, nutritious, concentrated and most digestible of foods.


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## gweny (Feb 10, 2014)

Paumon said:


> Ajaxlucy (post # 14) has the right method (and an excellent recipe).
> 
> When using bones for stock of any kind it's important to roast all the bones in the oven first so they are very well browned and smoking hot through to the core. The difference in the improved, robust meaty flavour is like the difference between day and night.


This is exactly right. I make my broth in my crock pot, but the bones are always cooked first... Either in the oven or in the crock pot. For chicken I just cook it in the crock pot whole. Than I put the bones back in the drippings I left in the crock to simmer over night. I prefer to braise/bake beef bones.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

I make broth/stock in the crock pot all the time.

Toss in ingredients, cover with water, run it on high all day (typically start it before breakfast and pull it off last thing before bed).

Caveat: I don't make stock from bones that haven't also been used for another purpose. I usually boil down chicken or turkey after we have roasted and eaten the whole bird. I typically save beef and pork bones in a freezer bag until I have a pot full. We create enough "leftover bones" that I've never needed to buy bones for the express purpose of making stock with them. Even when we butcher an animal and get the soup bones from the butcher I can usually get another meal off of them before I actually use them as soup bones.

I also do veggie stock.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

Thanks again everyone! The broth turned out great. When I pulled the fat off this morning I noticed the broth was much more dense/firm than the last time I made it. Today I'm making a pot roast/soup with it.


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## tlrnnp67 (Nov 5, 2006)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hutv-KtmJgw


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

I bought a rotisserie chicken. It's so dry I can't eat it. Would like to make broth/stock with it. How do I do that?


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## Paumon (Jul 12, 2007)

Sandra Spiess said:


> I bought a rotisserie chicken. It's so dry I can't eat it. Would like to make broth/stock with it. How do I do that?


Leave the meat and skin on the carcass. Pull the whole carcass apart into quarters or smaller, cover with water and bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for a couple of hours at most, topping off with a bit of additional water as needed to keep the carcass covered. After one and a half to two hours remove from heat and strain through a cloth or a fine meshed sieve, press down with a wooden spoon while it's straining to squeeze all liquid out. Discard the leftover bits and pieces of meat, skin and bones. 

Put the hot broth in a wide mouth container and allow to cool down then refridgerate overnight to allow all fat to rise to surface to solidify and for broth to turn into a gel. Next morning lift the solidified fat off the surface of the gelled broth and set fat aside separately to use in cooking. You can freeze the gelled broth or use it immediately. Taste the gel before adding other ingredients to it. Depending on the existing flavour of the gel you may want to either dilute it or else reduce it or add additional seasonings to taste.


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## Terri (May 10, 2002)

Gee. When i make bone broth I just simmer everything for an hour or two. No roasting, no added oil, just bones, meat, and water to start with.

Your problem might be in either the boiling phase or the roasting phase. Why don't you just try a slow simmer instead, which will tell you where your trouble is? 

I usually do not add anything other than bones and water until I have taken the bones out: then I like to add salt and taste it before I decide what else to season it with.

Also, some people do not like bone broth. I like it UNLESS it has been made with neck bones or oxtails. I much prefer the bones from the cuts of meat I grew up eating.


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## K.B. (Sep 7, 2012)

A couple hours in a pressure cooker (15 psi) is all it takes for most bones to get soft and make a nice stock.


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