Smoked Bone Broth Chicken Broth – Your Kitchen’s Secret Weapon

Tips for success:

Sure, even if it has a fancy bone broth tag it’s still just chicken broth—but don’t let that fool you. It’s not as simple as tossing scraps into a pot and walking away. If you want deep, rich, smoky flavor, you need to treat it right from the start. That means paying attention, using a few clever techniques, and knowing exactly what makes a broth go from “meh” to magical.

Here’s how to make every batch of your chicken bone broth a knockout success:

Never, Ever Boil It

First things first: resist the urge to crank the heat. It might feel like you’re speeding things up, but boiling actually wrecks your broth. When the heat gets too high, fats and proteins break apart too aggressively, which leads to a cloudy and greasy mess.

Instead, aim for a gentle simmer—just a few lazy bubbles rising now and then. This slow, steady approach keeps the flavor mellow and the texture smooth.

Low and Slow Rule

This broth isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. At minimum, let it simmer for 3 hours. Ideally, you want to let it simmer for 4 to 5 hours. Remember, long simmer equals deeper flavor and better nutrient extraction from the bones.

Lid off! Here’s Why It Matters

First, don’t fully cover the pot while your broth is simmering. The reason is that covering the pot traps steam inside. As a result, it raises the temperature under the lid, which can disrupt the gentle simmer you’re aiming for.

Then, once your chicken bone broth is finished cooking, it’s equally important to remove the lid completely. Here’s why:

• Covered pots trap heat. As a result, a big batch of hot broth takes forever to cool down when covered.
• That slow cooling process is risky. Food safety guidelines say broth must cool from 140°F to 70°F within two hours. If it stays too warm for too long, you’re in the bacterial danger zone. Plus, or rather minus, your beautiful broth can go sour.

Why Chefs Say “Cover It Halfway” and How to Do It

Yes, you should not cover the pot while making the chicken broth or stock! However, as Julia Child – and basically every chef who’s ever bothered to publish a cookbook – will tell you, you should still cover the pot halfway.

When chefs recommend simmering broth with the lid halfway on, they’re balancing two things:

• Preventing too much evaporation – because if you lose too much liquid, you end up with a tiny, overly concentrated batch.
• Letting some steam escape – so you don’t trap too much moisture and accidentally crank up the heat to a boil.

A halfway-covered pot slows down evaporation while still allowing enough heat to escape to keep the simmer gentle and steady. It’s basically heat management 101.

So what does “halfway covered” actually mean? It’s the delicate art of letting the lid hover just above the simmering pot without sealing it completely. The goal is to trap just enough heat to maintain a gentle simmer, while still allowing some steam to escape.

We usually rest the lid on one of the pot handles to create that perfect gap—it’s not elegant, but it works. Feel free to experiment with your own tricks (tilted lids, wooden spoon props, whatever gets the job done) as long as you avoid clamping the pot shut.

How to make chicken bone broth:

Chicken Bone Broth

This smoked bone broth chicken broth is a true kitchen economy move. Save your chicken carcasses, grab couple of smoked turkey wings from the butcher, throw in some diced veggies and turn scraps into liquid gold.

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 4 hours hrs

Ingredients

 

• 3 lb. chicken bones and carcasses - 1360 g.
• ½ lb smoked turkey wings or bones from the smoked turkey drumsticks - 230 g.
• 1 medium onions - quartered
• 3 small carrots - or 2 large ones, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks - roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves unpeeled garlic
• ¼ bunch parsley
• Salt to taste - optional

Servings: 6 pint jars (16 oz. or 500 ml)

Instructions

 

Load the Pot:

• If you have cast iron cookware, use it to char sliced onions. It is an optional step, but charring goes a long way to create a depth of flavor in the stock.
• Add the smoked turkey wings, chicken carcasses, veggies and herbs to a large stock pot. Pour in enough water to cover everything, about 8 cups.
• Make sure to have an inch or two water at the top of meat and bones.

Simmer Low & Slow:

• Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
• Skim off any foam in the first hour.
• If using salt, add it now.
• Let it bubble away for 4-5 hours. Make sure to keep the lid halfway closed, just like we describe in the post! Add more water if needed to keep everything submerged.

Steep for More Flavor:

• Turn off the heat. Let the stock steep for another 30 minutes to deepen the flavors.

Strain the Stock:

• Carefully remove the solids with a slotted spoon, then strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a clean container.

Cool and Store:

• Let cool to room temp, then refrigerate overnight. The fat will rise to the top – skim it off if you want. Store in the fridge (up to a week) or freezer (from 6 months to a year).

Defrost:

• When you’re ready to use the frozen stock, thaw it in the fridge overnight. Once defrosted, bring it to a simmer before using.

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Course Broth | Soup | Stock

Keyword chicken bone broth | chicken broth | chicken soup | chicken stock | chicken stock recipe | how to make chicken bone stock

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