I couldn't find any free bones yet, so I bought some for $1.99 lb. at two different stores.
1st store only had long femur bones that were frozen.
They wouldn't cut the frozen bones smaller. Too hard on the band saw when frozen. Hmmm.... why didn't they do it before freezing?
Maybe they were just meant for dog bones. You sure need a much larger pot than I was planning on using, for 4 or 5 of those bones.
I then stopped at 2nd store.
They were willing to cut the femurs to size I wanted at same price of $1.99 lb. They were also frozen. They were out of knuckle joints, so I won't get much collagen out of this batch, but the other nutrients will be in there. I had to use ALL my will power not to scoop out the marrow onto some toast and eat it, but I want everything leeched into the broth, so I managed to only de-marrow one bone after roasting for tasting purpose.
Due to the long bones I had to use much more liquid to cover, which means a weaker stock, or longer time reducing. 2nd store will be my goto place now for bones. Shorter bones, less liquid needed to cover = better stock.
Anyway, here they are roasted and just started in the pot. Will simmer for three days, before canning broth up. Broth will darken as it absorbes the roasted stuff. Plus tomorrow I will roast the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and add to the pot. This will also darken the stock more.
What else is there to do, while waiting for cold temps to break for spring, that is healthy, fun, and keeps the house warm with some humidity in it. LOL
1st day Just started beef bone stock.
2nd Day Beef stock with added veggies.
Some Chicken bone stock, chilling on back porch, waiting for fat removal tomorrow and then canning.
Couldn't find any feet. Even called some Asian markets in near by cities to no avail. Bummer!
By-the-way... these both have lids on when not taking pictures. LOL