Chicken Bone Broth

This is another workflow mindset post.  I realize it's not possible for everyone, but perhaps it will help get you thinking of how you can streamline things to get more benefit for less work.

The last time I did the diet, I had real trouble trying to keep us in cooked chicken and stock for making soups and such.  Granted, I had fewer tools then, specifically no pressure canner, but the workload for making just 2 whole chickens and juggling space in the fridge was just ridiculous.  I've been thinking for quite a while how to make it easier this time around.

The key to this whole thing is that my sister found a local chicken farm that raises their chickens organic practice (though not certified) and they do their own butchering and packaging at the farm.  They don't officially sell to the public at the farm, but if I call ahead, they are happy to work it out, and I can get better prices than going to a local store that carries their products.  I can also get things that aren't sold at the stores, like stripped chicken carcasses and bags of chicken feet...  All for reasonable prices.  It's $4 for a bag of 3 carcasses, and when I opened up the first bag, I couldn't believe how much meat was left on the bones, and how much fat!  I guess it makes sense, because they are only interested in taking off the official cuts, like boneless breast, thighs, legs, wings.  But it leaves the fatty tail and all the meat on the back, the neck and all those bits in and around the breast that aren't part of the cut of meat!  They didn't have feet when I was there this time, but I'm looking forward to trying to get some next time I go, they are supposed to be wonderful for making broth, rich in the collagen that is so good for us.

I used to pay around $30 for 2 whole organic chickens at Costco, which I then had to bring home, rub with salt to dry brine, clear space in the fridge for them to sit while they brined for a day, then I would usually rotisserie them, have to take them apart, and finally be able to make broth with 2 full carcasses, with half the fat already cooked off.  I'd only get around 5 quarts of stock from this, and it was pretty watery to make it stretch that far, and it was a real struggle to accomplish this every week....  This way, I can buy 2 bags of carcasses, or 1 of carcasses and 1 of feet, bring it home and immediately throw them in the pressure canner to make broth.  And while I'll still be spending around $30 at Costco for chicken, it will be boneless, skinless thighs that are super easy to store, prep, and cook, and are the dark meat that I prefer instead of the dry tasteless white meat!  I'm soooo excited to be saving so much time, and not spending all that much more money!  I've also purchased quite a few wings, which are their cheapest cut, and my very favorite part, so I'll also be saving those bones and freezing them to add to the pot when I make broth.  This is what my sister does exclusively, but she doesn't use as much broth as I do.

Chicken Bone Broth for the Pressure Cooker

6 chicken carcasses from my chicken farm
6 quarts of water
1 whole dry turmeric root (found at an Indian grocery store, I love these for the flavor, color and amazing health benefits of turmeric.)
splash of vinegar

NO salt, I never salt my stocks or broths.  It allows me to salt each individual dish to taste and not worry about the salt content of the broth or the fat that I save.

I use my 16 quart Presto pressure canner to make this broth.  It's pretty darn easy.  Throw everything into the canner, nudging the carcasses so everything is mostly submerged.  Put the lid on and let it come up to pressure, this typically takes mine around 30-40 minutes.  Once it is at pressure (I default to 15 lbs just because I'm lazy) set a timer for 3 hours and go sit down and chill out, or putter around and do some chores.

After 3 hours, turn the burner off and set a timer for 30 minutes, and set up for processing the broth.  I set up a small stock pot with a wire mesh colander over it to scoop the meat, bones and broth into, a large bowl to hold the meat and bones, and a large stock pot to measure the broth into.  I also set out my jars, lids, 4 cup measure, 2 cup measure and a large ladle.  Set out a few extra jars also, to skim fat into and to have a place to put extra broth.

 After 30 minutes, my canner usually isn't depressurized all the way, but since I'm not canning or cooking meat I want tender, I take the weight off and let it finish depressurizing quickly.

Once it is depressurized, remove the lid and set it aside.  Use the ladle to scoop out broth, bones and meat into the wire colander over the small stock pot.  Press down on the solids to get much of the trapped fat and broth out.  I love it when the bones crumble when I do this, it means all their goodness is in the broth!

Dump the colander into the large bowl as it gets full.  When the small stock pot starts getting full, I set the colander over the large bowl and then use the 4 cup to measure out the broth into the large stock pot, keeping count of the quarts as I pour them in.  Continue until the pressure canner is empty.

There should be around 6-8 quarts in the large stock pot now.  If there wasn't a full 7 quarts, you can fill up the remainder with water.  Put that pot on a burner and start heating it up again.  Skim the fat off into the 4 quart measure, and then if you are like me and get half fat and half broth when you do this, carefully pour the fat off the top of the measure into a spare jar, skimming with a spoon or the ladle when the broth starts pouring out under the fat as well.

 

Return the broth to the pot and repeat until the fat is mostly gone.  If it starts getting hot enough to simmer, turn the burner off until you are done skimming fat.  Save the fat in a jar in the fridge, it is wonderful for cooking with and adding to stuff like soup and porridge to make it richer.  I got just over 2 cups of pure chicken fat off this broth!  There didn't used to be enough to bother skimming any off when I did whole chickens before.

Let the broth simmer a bit, occasionally using a small wire mesh strainer to skim off the crud that floats to the top while you clean the pressure canner.  Make sure to clean the seals and pressure gaskets very well even if you don't see anything there, because even a little food can clog them and make it so they don't seal.  Once it is very clean, set up the pressure canner to can and get it heating up.  While it is heating, use the 2 cup measure to scoop broth into the 4 cup measure.  Pour 3 1/2 cups into each of the prepared quart jars.  My canner can hold 7, so I continue until 7 jars are filled.  Wipe tops, place lids and set into the canner.  If there is any leftover broth, pour that into a jar to go into the fridge and use soon (like in porridge, yum!).  The Ball Blue Book says to process broth at 10 lbs for 25 minutes, but because I'm lazy, I do it at 15 lbs for 30, just to round up.

All in all, it's still labor intensive during the process of taking the broth from the canner to a stock pot, skimming fat, cleaning the canner, putting into jars, etc.  But it is certainly a lot less work than having to deal with whole chickens, and then still having to do all that.  And this broth is far superior to what I used to be able to make, and I get all that lovely fat to use elsewhere.

Yield: 7-8 quarts unsalted bone broth and around 2 cups rich chicken fat

The Hunt for Starch Free Double Acting Baking Powder

The last time I did the diet, one of the things that was hardest to compensate for was the lack of a true double acting baking powder.  Most baking powder has corn starch as a filler, and corn is not on Phase 2 of the Elimination Diet.  The only other baking powder I could find had potato starch instead, which is a nightshade and off Phase 2.  There are recipes all over the web for using baking soda and adding cream of tartar to it to make baking powder, but this is only single acting.

What's the big deal, you might ask, and that was my question too when I started this process.  The problem comes down to this: single acting chemical leveners (baking soda) are activated by acid present in the batter.  They activate rapidly and have a very short life span.  So rapidly, in fact, that it is very difficult to finish mixing the batter and spooning it into muffin cups or pouring it into a loaf pan before it is finished.  It is impossible to finish cooking waffles or pancakes before it is finished, leaving the last ones flat and dry.

Most people solve this problem by adding the levener after the rest of the batter is thoroughly mixed, but this still has the problem of the time taken to spoon into muffin tins (especially if making mini muffins) and the additional problem of getting it all mixed in evenly.  Adding a powder that often has small lumps in it to a wet batter is just asking for it to be unevenly mixed.

The solution to this problem is double acting baking powder.  This has 2 leveners as components: the acid activated one and another heat activated one.  The acid one activates when mixed with the liquid ingredients, exactly as it does with the single acting levener.  This adds air and lightness to the batter, giving it a head start on creating a nice crumb during baking.  The second levener activates once the batter reaches the proper temperature, building on the work already done by the acid activated levener.  This creates a lighter, fluffier final product than could be reached by either levener individually.

I really wanted to make waffles.  Really, really!!! wanted to make waffles (for hubby, you know?).  So I searched, did research, read a whole bunch, learned more about baking powder than I ever thought I wanted to know, read some more, learned new search terms, and....

I found some!!  A company in New England called Bakewell Cream makes a starch free, true double acting baking powder.  It ends up being a bit expensive what with shipping and all, but there isn't much about this diet that isn't expensive, and it was totally worth it to be able to make waffles again!  There are a ton of other uses it has as well, I'm sure you will love it as much as I do.

Canning Beans

Have you ever wondered how they do it? I mean, honestly. Look at Laura over at Heavenly Homemakers. She has 4 boys who eat huge amounts of food, which she mostly cooks from scratch every day. Add homeschooling those same boys every day. And writing a blog every day. And all the other stuff she does that we don't even know about. Every. Day. I look at what she accomplishes every day and I can't say I don't then look at everything I...don't.

It's easy to compare yourself to others who are doing what you feel like you should be doing, even if you aren't able. It's something that I have struggled with for years of being sick, first not even knowing I was sick, and even after learning what it was, of feeling like I should be able to do it even though I was sick. And even now when I am slowly (oh, so very slowly, grr!) getting better and having energy to do more, there is always more to do than I can possibly get done.

I make lists. Try to plan meals. Go shopping for said meals. And then hubby has a bad night where we are both up til dawn and I have yet another day where nothing gets done.

I bet you are thinking right about now, "hey, I thought this post was about canning beans?" Well, it is and it isn't. It's about doing what you can, when you can, and letting God handle the rest. I made tacos for dinner last night, and I put a jar of beans I'd canned a few weeks ago in them. They were delicious, thanks! And I was thinking that it really was nice to have that jar of beans. Obviously I could have bought a can of beans, like I have for most of my life, until a few weeks ago. But I think my jar tasted better than any can I've had before. And I was just thinking that it would be pretty easy to make some more in a few days. (By the way, have you ever thought it should be called "jarring" instead of canning?  Just saying...)

My house is a messy, half started renovation. My kitchen is a disaster. I don't have a huge freezer (yet). I don't even have a place to put my jars of beans (yet). Right now they live in a box on the floor of the living room, lol. But I can do something small. Something that makes a little difference. So I do. :)

Oh, and if you really did want to know how to can beans, try this.

The easy way to can beans
(This is NOT an in depth guide, it's more of a work flow mindset. If you don't know how to can or pressure can, please read this and this instead.  That is what I read to learn how to pressure can and I haven't blown anything up yet!)

Wake up at some point in the day. Measure 1 lb beans into a big bowl and fill the bowl with water and a splash of vinegar. Go do your day thing all day(ish). When you are done with that, after at least 8 hours, and at least 2 hours before bedtime, dump out the soaking water and rinse them a few times, then dump them in a pot with more water, but no vinegar. Bring to a boil, and boil at least 10 minutes. While you are waiting for the beans to heat up and boil, get the pressure canner set up and heating up too.  Keep an eye on the beans while they are boiling, they love to foam and boil over.

Use a slotted spoon and fill the pint jars with beans til 2/3 full. Ladle the cooking liquid into the jars, leaving 1 inch head space.  Wipe rims, place lids, screw on bands as tight as you close your mayo jar (unless you're afraid that mayo is gonna escape, then be gentler, ok?). Set jars in the pressure canner and close the lid. Turn burner on high (if it wasn't already) and clean up the bean pot til the canner starts to vent steam (unless cleaning doesn't take that long. Which is ok.) Set a 10 minute timer and continue puttering about. Or go read a book (me). Or go hug your hubby (also me).

When the timer goes off, put the weight on the canner and then putter around again while it comes up to pressure. I defaulted to 15 lbs, but I'm sure there's a guide involving complicated math somewhere that you can look up. At this point, I turn the heat down to medium low(ish) and go sit down. I can listen to the weight to hear if it needs adjusted as the canner settles into cooking. Cook for 75 minutes. This is a good time to read, or spend some (kinda) quiet time with hubby (that weight rocking is pretty loud, actually), but nothing too loud or distracting so I can hear if the heat needs adjusted.

Now comes the part I love, so pay attention. When the timer goes off, turn the heat off, (wait for it)... and go to bed! Cause I'm tired from all that day(ish) stuff. 'night...zzz

Yield: 4-5 pints
Active time, ~25 minutes

Elimination Diet and Palio AIP recipes

So, my sister did the Elimination Diet earlier this year with us, and kept at it after we had to quit.  Just before the holidays she challenged dairy and discovered that she has a pretty serious dairy allergy!  Yikes, but so glad she found it!  That is what the ED is all about, finding what you react to.

So I went looking for dairy free recipes to use during the holidays, and discovered an incredibly helpful thing!  It turns out that the Palio Diet spin off, the Auto-Immune Protocol, is very similar to the Elimination Diet, and there are tons of recipes out there for it!  This is wonderful, because while I am a very proficient technical cook, I am not a very creative one.  I've gotten rather good at substitution to convert recipes either to gluten free or ED friendly, but coming up with new stuff?  Hardly ever happens.  And I can't wait to try some of the things I found!

Beginners guide to tempering chocolate in a home kitchen

Tempering your own chocolate is a work of love.  It takes time, precision and persistence.  I learned to do it because my sister and father are both allergic to chocolate solids, but can have white chocolate.  One of their favorite candies is cherry cordials, but they don't come in white chocolate.  So I learned to make them (recipe coming eventually, lol).  The following guide is the result of several months of research and experimentation on my part, to be able to use the equipment and space I mostly already had to temper chocolate.  The only things I bought were a glass chocolate thermometer and the dipping tools.  And chocolate of course!  If you need to buy some of these tools, they will still be cheaper than the cheapest automatic chocolate tempering machine, and the result will be more consistent and better.

I know it's long, but please, please, please read the whole thing before you try to start on your chocolate.  It will save you from making a ton of easy mistakes and potentially ruining your chocolate!

Quick temperature guide (in F):

Milk Chocolate- melting 115, working 86-88
Dark Chocolate- melting 120, working 88-90
White Chocolate- melting 110, working 82-84

Melting temperature- the temperature where all the cocoa butter crystals are melted, making the chocolate a blank slate ready to be reformed.
Working temperature- the temperature that will form the ideal cocoa butter crystals, the longer it is at this temperature, the more crystals will form.

Picking your chocolate:
-Make sure that the ingredients list has cocoa butter in it. If there's no cocoa butter, it's not real chocolate and doesn't need tempered.
-Chocolate chips that you can buy for making cookies are formulated to hold their shape as they are baked, so are not ideal for dipping and candy making, but they will work in a pinch.

Chocolate (or more precisely, cocoa butter) is an unusual substance and needs to be treated in a precise fashion to have that creamy texture and nice snap that we are all so familiar with. To successfully temper chocolate for dipping and candy making you will need some...
Equipment:
-a double boiler where the top pot has a long handle.  You can jury rig this by putting one pot on top of another one, as long as it doesn't sit in the water, or have direct contact with the heat from the burner.
-a flat bottomed glass bowl or fairly thick ceramic bowl (to maximize surface area on the heating pad)
-a heating pad with multiple temperature settings that won't automatically turn off after a while (like the kind you get for sore muscles, you can find them in the pharmacy area of most stores)
-several hand towels, small and easy to work with, but not too small like a washcloth
-a nice comfortable spatula you can use continuously for 30 minutes to an hour
-a chocolate thermometer: special thermometer that will accurately display temperatures from around 70 degrees to around 125 or 130F.  Infrared thermal guns are relatively cheap these days and are pretty awesome because they can measure precisely and don't touch the chocolate, and one less thing to juggle is pretty helpful.  I actually ended up using both.  If you buy a thermal gun, you will find tons of uses for it, I use mine all the time.
-dipping tools if you plan on dipping and coating things (The spirally one in this set is awesome)
-a silicone baking mat if you plan on making hot candy that will later need dipped in chocolate, if not wax paper is sufficient
-wax paper
-a cookie sheet or other stable flat thing to put the silicone or wax paper on
-a timer of some sort you can use without too much trouble. An oven or microwave clock is fine if you can keep track of it, doesn't have to be super exact.
(note: the links here are not affiliate links, they are just trying to show you what I have that has worked very well)


Rules:
1. Read the directions completely before melting your chocolate. Make sure you understand what you are doing before starting.
2. Be paranoid about temperature. If you're not, you can easily burn and ruin the chocolate, or have it drop below working temperature and have to start over.
3. Be paranoid about water. Chocolate hates water. MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS PERFECTLY DRY (including what you will be dipping, like fruit) BEFORE BRINGING IT NEAR THE CHOCOLATE! If the slightest amount of water gets into melted chocolate, it's ruined for tempering, though it can be used for other things. To salvage seized chocolate, just keep adding teaspoons of water until it's smooth again and you can use it for frosting, cakes, brownies, ganache, etc. You just can't temper it anymore for dipping.
4. Keep stirring, and stirring, and stirring.
5. Did I mention being paranoid about temperature and water?


Directions (this method is called the seeding method): Ambient temperature needs to be around 70 or lower, humidity 45% or lower.


1. Setting up the dipping station: Place the heating pad on the counter and spread a kitchen towel over it. Set the other towels in a place you can easily reach them. Turn the pad on to what you think will be a good setting for whatever kind of chocolate you are tempering and place the glass bowl on top of it to warm up. Wrap another towel around the outsides of the bowl to help them warm up too. The glass bowl is nice because it has thermal mass both on the bottom and sides and can help keep the chocolate at working temperature. By the time it is done heating, the bottom of the bowl needs to be at the upper range of the working temperature, maybe 1 degree higher though you will have to stir it more if it is higher. Moderate the temperature to what is needed by placing more layers of towel between the bowl and the heating pad. I have a thermal gun, so I can easily tell what temperature the bowl is at while it heats up, which allows me to adjust the heating pad and towels to get the perfect temperature. You might be able to place the chocolate thermometer with the tip resting on the bottom of the empty bowl to tell its temperature if you don't have a thermal gun, but I'm not sure how accurate that would be, and you will need the thermometer while stirring at the cooling station also.
a. Place the timer beside this station, or set it up so you can see your oven clock.
b. Spread the wax paper that you are going to be putting dipped product on beside this station also.
c. Set out a small piece of wax paper to do a smear test on to test the temper of the chocolate.

2. Setting up the cooling station: Put another towel, or an oven mitt, or something padded on the counter where you want to stand (or sit) and stir the chocolate for 30-45 mins, depending on how much you are making. The point is to have some insulation between the cooler counter and the warm pan with the chocolate in it.
a. Beside this station, set aside 10-15 of pieces of the store bought chocolate. If it's a chocolate bar, the pieces need to be sized about 1/2 inch. It comes from the store already tempered, and we are going to use this as our "seed" to help the melted chocolate learn how we want it to form its crystals as it cools.

3. Melting: Make sure the pot you are putting chocolate in is perfectly dry! Put about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom pan of the double boiler, and the chocolate you will be working with in the top pan (the one without the water). Heat it on medium on the stove until the water starts hissing and steaming like it does just before it simmers, then turn the burner off. Stir the chocolate with the spatula until all of it is melted, and then keep stirring and leave it over the hot water until it has reached melting temperature. If it won't get up to melting temperature, go ahead and turn the burner back on to give it a boost, but watch the temperature carefully!  If the chocolate gets too hot, it will burn and not work very well, so pay close attention.

4. Cooling station: Once melting temperature is reached, remove the upper part of the double boiler (the pot the chocolate is in) and set it on the towel at the stirring station.
a. Drop in a piece or two of the seed chocolate. Hold the handle of the pot and with smooth easy motions, stir by working the spatula around the edge of the pan, scoop the bottom up and over several times, give it a brisk stir around in the middle, then around the edge again. All the chocolate needs to be moved constantly while its cooling to promote good crystal growth. Don't touch the pot with your hands because the warmth of your body will affect how fast it cools.
b. Take its temperature every few minutes (paranoid, remember?) and drop in another piece of seed when the last one has melted. Don't drop in too much seed as we don't want lumpy chocolate, and as it cools the seed will eventually stop melting. The cooling process is the longest part of tempering. It can take between 30-45 mins for about 1lb of chocolate, depending on the ambient temperature.

5. Dipping station: When the chocolate is 1 or 2 degrees above the upper working temperature, take the pot over to the dipping station and pour it into the glass bowl (which should be at most 1 degree above working temperature). It should cool that last degree or two during the pouring and scraping process. If it still needs to cool a bit, keep stirring and taking its temperature until it is at working temperature. You might have to remove the bowl from the heating pad briefly to help it cool. At this station you need to constantly maintain the chocolate at working temperature after it has reached it.
a. When it has reached working temperature, set the timer for 5 minutes and keep stirring with the same motions you used during the cooling process. This is the last part of crystal formation and essential for well tempered chocolate.
b. After 5 minutes, put a fairly thick smear of chocolate on the small piece of wax paper. It should be about 1/8th inch thick so you can get a good idea of how the chocolate will set up. Set the timer for another 5 minutes and keep stirring.
c. When 5 minutes is up, check the smear. It should be set up, have a nice sheen, and snap when you break it. It might still be just a touch soft and not snap sharply, but you should still be able to tell if it is good. If it is still melted, or has a dull finish, or is mushy when you try to snap it, it is not tempered properly. You might want to try another smear and see if the extra stirring at working temperature helped. If not, you have to reheat it to melting temperature and do the cooling and stirring again...ugh.

6. Dipping! Yay, we reached the fun part! We still have to be paranoid about both temperature and water, but the long cooling grind is over. Find the last little piece of seed and scoop it out so it doesn't mar your perfect dipping technique.
a. If you have an actual chocolate thermometer, wrap a piece of tape around to be double sided and put it on the edge of the bowl to rest the thermometer against and lightly hold it in place. The bottom of the thermometer should NOT be touching the bottom of the bowl, it should be in the middle of the chocolate mass so it can accurately measure the chocolate's temperature. We will be putting cool things into the chocolate, which will be cooling it off. But the heating pad will be heating the bottom of the chocolate, which will help keep it warm. It's a delicate balancing act that you need to pay close attention to. If the heating pad is too hot, it will ruin the temper of the chocolate by getting the chocolate touching the bottom of the bowl too hot, which will get mixed in to the rest when you stir it and melt all those lovely crystals you worked so hard to get formed. If the chocolate gets too cool, the wrong type of crystals will start forming and that also ruin the temper, so be vigilant.
b. Make sure the things you are dipping are perfectly dry! After every 2-4 pieces you dip, take the thermometer out and give the chocolate a good stir, using the same motion you used to temper it. I just use my spiral wire dipping tool to stir, keeps from having to juggle one more thing. Scrape the chocolate off the thermometer and stir that in too, then put the thermometer back in place and dip some more pieces.
c. As you use the chocolate, its mass reduces. This changes the balancing game, because the warmer chocolate on the bottom of the bowl has less mass to distribute its warmth into, which makes the chocolate warmer overall. When this starts happening, just put another towel between the bowl and the heating pad, or fold the one you have already there.
d. As the chocolate remains at working temperature for longer periods, it will get slightly thicker. This is because the crystals are still forming, so it's a good sign! Don't think you need to heat it back up, or thin it out somehow, that would ruin all your hard work tempering it.
e. If you finish dipping and still have chocolate left, its no problem. Just get a fresh piece of wax paper and spread out the leftover chocolate on it in a sheet that will be easy to break apart and re-melt for more goodies later. Or have something set by to use it! You could make nut or mint bark, or spiced chocolate, or whatever else catches your fancy!


Helpful info:
All of these brands work well and only have cocoa solids, cocoa butter, lecithin, vanilla, and sugar as their ingredients (and milk if it's milk chocolate).
Baker's
Guittard
Ghirardelli
Lindt
Valrohna (expensive but most people like the flavor over the majority of other brands)
Dagoba
Scharffen Berger
Endangered Species



Reference:
http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics/a/chocguide.htm
http://www.chocoley.com/resources/how-to-temper-chocolate
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/155/Tempering-Chocolate
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the-food-lab-best-way-to-temper-chocolate.html
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/what-is-white-chocolate-best-brands.html