Question: What are chicken backs?

Answer: “Chicken backs” are the core of the chicken that is left after the breast, wings, and legs have been cut away for parts.

Our chicken backs are fairly meaty and are typically used to make broth and to harvest the remaining meat. 2013 is the first year we have been able to offer this cut, and we are excited to share the results with you.

 

I (Jerica) love making huge batches of broth as opposed to small ones, since it is a time-intensive process, and adding more bones and water simply increases the yield, but not really the work. In this case, I decided to make about a half batch in my 16-quart pot just so I could document what I did easily. I used 3 bags of chicken backs, which have 3 carcasses each, so 9 total. It was about 13 lb of chicken backs, and would have cost me roughly $35 if I had bought them from myself at farmers’ market.

I took the thawed chicken backs overnight and placed them in the pot and covered them with water. I put it on medium-high and brought it to a boil, then reduced the heat to low to keep the broth at a visible simmer.

After an hour*, I removed the backs to a platter, let them cool for 20 minutes, and then picked off the meat from under the shoulder blades, along the back and neck, and what remained on the breast.

*The cooking time for meat-on cuts is important. If you cook it more than an hour, the bones will begin to fall apart and the meat will turn tough and stringy. It is best to pick off the meat after an hour of simmering, then return the bones to the pot to continue simmering.

With moderate thriftiness (aka no, I didn’t get every tiny scrap of meat, but I did try to get most of it), I was able to collect about ½ cup of meat per carcass, or about 1.5 cups per package of 3 backs. I tossed the bones back into the pot, put the meat into the fridge, and kept cooking the bones for another 20 hours or so.

When the time came, I poured the broth through a colander into a large metal bowl (careful—it’s HOT!). I got about 4 quarts of broth which was not terribly golden because I had neither used vegetables nor roasted the backs, which are nice touches but not necessary. I usually use broth in things like rice or as a soup base to which I will add veggies anyway, so I don’t worry about adding the flavor during the broth-making process. It comes later.
I was pretty happy with the yield. The leftover meat is great for tacos, casseroles, BBQ sandwiches, or even to throw into soup that you make with all that broth.

So for $35 and some elbow grease, I got 4 quarts of broth and 4.5 cups of meat. That’s about 2 lb of meat. If we assign a price to that, say $8/lb, that leaves about $19 for the broth, or about $5 per quart. I have no idea what the going rate is for store-bought broth or ground chicken, but I can tell you that this stuff is the best quality you can get. Homemade bone broth is rich in minerals and gelatin (that’s why it gels in the fridge and the commercial stuff doesn’t!). And it is an excellent way to get additional value from parts of your meat that you otherwise might have just thrown in the trash.

In this case, I’d say the chicken backs are wonderful if your primary goal is to get loads of broth plus a little meat if you don’t mind the work. If you want the golden chicken broth color right off the bat, you’ll need to add bouquet to this, such as herbs, carrots, celery, and onion. I usually opt to wait to add the veggies and use them as part of the meal for frugality’s sake, but I frequently add scraps that I have saved in the freezer, such as potato peels, carrot tops, celery leaves, onion roots, etc, in order to improve the flavor, and again, make something out of nothing that is extremely nutritious.

So from chicken backs you get two things: broth AND meat, which is perfect for making chicken tacos. Check out Jerica’s real lard-made flour tortilla recipe here.

Or you can read about how to make homemade broth and soup in more detail.