Do you discard the meat on bones (for stock)?

[FeChef]

This post is directed mainly to pork bones. I have yet to find a local grocery store that sells pork stock. I travel 25 miles to buy pork bones with meat on them. I use to pay $0.50/lb @30/lbs but lately the price has gone up to over $1.00/lb no matter how many /lb's you buy. I am not happy about this, but what can i do? I figure i could atleast salvage as much out of it asi can. Its a pain to strain all the bones, fat, and cartilage but i am sure its worth the effort if you can apply it to some thing. What are some of the applications, some of you here do with the by products of making stock with bones and meat?

[heidih]

After a long just under simmer process I don't find the meat worth it to salvage (cotton). I would strip the raw meat and save for a quick stir fry and then process the bones with remaining clinging meat

[FeChef]

After a long just under simmer process I don't find the meat worth it to salvage (cotton). I would strip the raw meat and save for a quick stir fry and then process the bones with remaining clinging meat

Really? I pressure cook the bones w/meat for 2-3 hours and there is like a ton of meat completely off the bones. The meat is really flavorful in the stock. Not like cotton at all. I was thinking it would make some really good shredded roast pork sandwiches, or shredded pork taco's. It is alot of work to sift through it all but the reason i made this topic is because of the flavor from all that neck, rib, and whatever bones they give me is so flavorful. No idea why you end up with something that taste like cotton?

[annachan]

I generally don't strain the broth and just add the other ingredients in. I grew up eating the meat off the bone from soups, especially pork. Love dipping it in some soy sauce and sesame oil. Now, we generally don't use bone with a lot of meat on it. The small amount of meat next to the bone is usually quite tender.

Edited July 4, 2015 by annachan (log)

[FeChef]

I generally don't strain the broth and just add the other ingredients in. I grew up eating the meat off the bone from soups, especially pork. Love dipping it in some soy sauce and sesame oil. Now, we generally don't use bone with a lot of meat on it. The small amount of meat next to the bone is usually quite tender.

Theres alot of meat. Probably 2lb's worth in 8 cups of stock. I started off with 10/lbs of bones w/meat on them.

[weinoo]

The meat is really flavorful in the stock. Not like cotton at all. I was thinking it would make some really good shredded roast pork sandwiches, or shredded pork taco's. 

This is exactly what I (would) do.

[Ashen]

This was actually a leftfield question for me, as  growing up we always ate the meat from making broth or stock.  Pick it  and eat with some good pickled veg( giardiniera)  and or horseradish.  Salty and vinegary goes really well with it. 

[Shalmanese]

I used to always take the meat from beef stock and make a cottage pie with it. the other flavors are so strong the meat is mainly there for texture and protein.

[Mjx]

I too find that (once it's drained/the stock is pressed out of it) the meat left on the bones used for stock doesn't have much to offer, in terms of flavour or texture. It's still useful protein, so if there's a significant amount of it, I strip it off the bones, and save it to mince and use as a filler in things like filled pasta, larb, stews, that sort of thing (i.e. dishes where the meat is broken up small anyway, and so seasoned that the flavour of the meat is more or less background). I tend to keep i int the freezer until there's what looks like a useful amount.

[Franci]

I usually buy beef knuckles for stock plus a slice of beef shank (I remove the bone with marrow to add later on). None of the meat get discarded. If I make a big batch and I have a lot of cartilage, I collect all of it and press it into a small container with a weight on. When cold, I slice very thin with the slicer and serve it like "insalata di nervetti", I add some raw sweet onion (that often get soaked with salt and iced water) and add a dressing of oil and sharp wine vinegar, salt and chopped parsley. I LOVE it.

 

 

I've done it often with pork bones as well. I often buy a roast with meat, carve the meat out and use it for something else and save the bones for stock.

With the meat attached I often make mondeghilli .

Another options that my children love is to add simply to noodle soup shredded. And my husband just prefers it with fleur de sel. I sometimes like to dip it in salsa verde or bagnetto rosso.

 

Other option, make a terrine, to eat with salad

 

[hummingbirdkiss]

After a long just under simmer process I don't find the meat worth it to salvage (cotton). I would strip the raw meat and save for a quick stir fry and then process the bones with remaining clinging meat

I get what you are saying because when I am done with the meat for stock it is spent! if it is still flavorful i have not done my job I think or just made soup meat …to stock ..so I am with you….the meat is not worth the salvage for me…it is tasteless (agreed!)  and do not care of the texture ..but my animals love it and thrive on it! … I take anything  along with any softer bones (pork chicken all soften to the point you can do this when you do a long low slow …and put it all including the veggie scraps in the pressure cooker with enough water and cook the snot out of it ..the bones soften nicely..I will add eggshells as well if I have them ….( unsalted at this point) and then puree it up super smooth  ..and freeze the puree in cupcake tins then pop them out into bags ..so I can serve them frozen to my dog or as a daily frozen treat on these hot days..it loaded with calcium  for my egg laying ducks chickens .…they all adore it and it is a good way to up-cycle left over stock trimmings ……this is so easy. Animals are with the effort ..look a the joy they bring us! 

[annachan]

Theres alot of meat. Probably 2lb's worth in 8 cups of stock. I started off with 10/lbs of bones w/meat on them.

 

It depends on which bones you use. I tend to go with leg bones, which usually have a small amount of meat attached at the joint area. I like leg bones because of the marrow.

 

If you end up with a lot of meat, sandwich, meat pie, etc. would be great.

[dcarch]

I get what you are saying because when I am done with the meat for stock it is spent! if it is still flavorful i have not done my job---------

 

That is not possible.

 

The  meat will always be as flavorful as the stock.

 

I use the meat for pot stickers, dumplings, etc. Just the right texture.

 

dcarch

[Martin Fisher]

I don't waste the meat and I don't simmer or pressure cook the hell out of it....so it still has flavor.

I generally add some of the stock to the shredded meat to make potted meat.

 

The bones are composted.

[FeChef]

Alot of good ideas. As costs keep going up for foods im trying to find more and more uses of foods i use to consider waste. Just recently i started saving the ends of celery stalks and freezing them to use for stocks. I use to just buy celery for making stock. Now i use the stalks for soups and to dip in blue cheese dressing to go with wings.

[btbyrd]

My dog loves it. I do not. It works out well for both of us.

 

The only exception is if I'm using something really meaty like oxtails to make pho broth. The anise and other spices in the broth flavor the meat nicely, so even though the oxtail isn't particularly meaty tasting it's still flavorful.

[paulraphael]

I find it good for things like ravioli filling ... where texture and dryness can be fixed by other ingredients. If there's a lot I save some for my cat, who surprisingly only likes it ok.

[Jaymes]

Whatever is the protein from which I'm making stock - pork, beef, bone-in ham, lamb, veal, chicken, etc. - first I begin stewing it for about 15-30 minutes, or just until the meat is coming loose from the bone and it's easy to get off, but well before I've stewed the life out of the flavor and texture.

 

Then I strip off as much of the meat as I can and put it somewhere (fridge or freezer) for safekeeping until I'm ready to use it. 

 

Now I prepare the bones, cartilage, etc., for stewing.  First, I roast them.  Then, I crack open whatever bones I can in order to expose the marrow.  I put them into a large stockpot and add water or a little wine or whatever, and assorted aromatics, including whatever herbs or other seasonings I'm in the mood for, and stew the whole thing for as long as it takes to get it nice and rich and flavorful.  I strain it, and it's really easy because I just dump the entire pot into the strainer.  I squeeze the stuff left in the strainer as best I can in order to get as much of the flavorful stock out of it as I can.  To this end, I also pour a little hot water (about a cup or so) over it.  I don't mind adding the extra water at this stage because I'm going to continue to simmer and reduce it so the extra water doesn't matter. 

 

At this point, unless I require the broth right away, I continue to simmer the strained broth until it is very, very reduced and concentrated, and even thickening, whereupon I pour it into an old-fashioned ice cube tray and freeze it.  When they're frozen, I put my stock/bouillon/base ice cubes into a heavy ziplock freezer bag and put them into the freezer where they await the moment that I will take out one (or two or whatever I need) of my stock ice cubes and put them into something that requires it.

 

Not saying this is "right" but it's worked well for me for years and years and years.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

Upon rereading this, it sounds like, after I roast the bones, I get another big stew pot and add fresh water/liquid and put in the bones to stew them.

 

That would be just silly.

 

Of course, I put the roasted bones right back into the same pot, and water/liquid, in which I have already been stewing.

[slkinsey]

Stock making is supposed to be an extractive process, which is to say that you want to transfer as much flavor (etc.) out of the ingredients into the liquid as possible.  If there is a lot of flavor left in the meat, I would respectfully suggest that you're not doing it right.  Or at the very least, your process isn't very efficient.  I typically pressure cook at 15 PSI for around 2 hours.  Then I strain, re-wet, and pressure cook again to make a remouillage.  After that, there is no flavor left in the meat whatsoever.  My cat won't even eat it, and she eats cardboard boxes.

 

Edited to add:  A process like the ones Jaymes describes can be a great way to get the best of both worlds.  But you do have to remove the meat you actually want to eat while it still has decent flavor and texture.

Edited July 7, 2015 by slkinsey (log)

[huiray]

I usually throw away the chicken pieces from my chicken stock preps.  They have little taste left.  I might save (or pick out) some selected pieces (usually dark meat pieces) or some skin from the meat mass after making the stock, but it is a "selective" practice.  Beef bones, pork bones – I might pick out some of the cartilage, maybe selected pieces of the residual meat from around the joints – but, again, otherwise it goes into the trash.  Making pho stock is not dissimilar, or any number of pork bone stock (with lts residual meat) preps.  It simply is not that worthwhile.  What is better is to put in an additional piece of meat and retrieving it after some relatively short period of simmering, to retain and cut into slices of meat that is still flavorful.  The stock, in the meanwhile, gained from the simmering of the piece of meat in it.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

If I do chicken stock with a whole chicken, I'll definitely take off the usable meat after about 35-40 minutes for another use like chicken salad. Then I throw the mostly stripped bones and cartilage back to cook longer.

 

More often, I roast chicken, cut off the meat to eat, then save the bones and captured broth and fat for other dishes.

 

When I have cooked the life out of chicken bones, skin, veggies, etc., the coons are always appreciative of anything I give them. They're not nearly as picky as the cats others have mentioned. My cat won't touch broth leftovers, but the coons are very happy with it. It all disappears. 

[Martin Fisher]

If I do chicken stock with a whole chicken, I'll definitely take off the usable meat after about 35-40 minutes for another use like chicken salad. Then I throw the mostly stripped bones and cartilage back to cook longer.

 

 I do basically the same thing.

[Jaymes]

Stock making is supposed to be an extractive process, which is to say that you want to transfer as much flavor (etc.) out of the ingredients into the liquid as possible.  If there is a lot of flavor left in the meat, I would respectfully suggest that you're not doing it right.  Or at the very least, your process isn't very efficient.  I typically pressure cook at 15 PSI for around 2 hours.  Then I strain, re-wet, and pressure cook again to make a remouillage.  After that, there is no flavor left in the meat whatsoever.  My cat won't even eat it, and she eats cardboard boxes.

 

Edited to add:  A process like the ones Jaymes describes can be a great way to get the best of both worlds.  But you do have to remove the meat you actually want to eat while it still has decent flavor and texture.

Yeah, I get that. But since I usually put the meat back into whatever is the finished dish - like chicken noodle soup, or pork green-chile stew - I figure it works out about the same in the end.

[kwankapang]

I only made chicken stock and normally use 10 kg of chicken bone per batch.

I normally strain the stock twice and discard the bones.