Anonymous wrote:The grass-fed beef bones ARE expensive! I hear ya! My DH almost flipped out when he saw the price of the bones! But it's worth it - when you boil "good" bones for 24 hrs you get much less muck at the top than when you boil factory-farmed beef bones, believe me. You can see, taste and smell the difference! And it's your health - it's worth it!

Great idea buying the side of beef- that way you get the meat and the bones. Gotta have a place to store it though.

You are telling me! You should taste my French onion soup. Using that very rich beef broth is amazing. I would say my French Onion soup is probably better than what you would have at the Little Inn at Washington and it has everything to do with my broth.

I bought a chest freezer just for my meat. I'm doing pork now and holy mother of God. The pork I get is free range, but given hoards of collected acorns the last month of their lives. I cannot even begin to describe to you what that meat tastes like.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
To the Polyface person, do you buy them online?

I have made a day trip out of Polyface and spent the afternoon in Staunton (great little town!) and I have stocked up. I just pulled my last chicken out of the freezer, I normally buy 10 at a time to last me 8 months or so.

I'm also part of the buying club. You buy online and show up at your assigned pick-up location.

Buying direct through Polyface is wayyy less expensive than the farmers market.

I buy all my animal products direct and in bulk. I normally have to buy meat once every 18 months. The price ends up very low when done this way.

Anonymous wrote:I normally just boil the whole chicken, not just the bones to make broth.

I do the same with an exception of cutting the breast meat out.
Start with cold water, and washed chicken. Bring to boil, skim the foam (keeps broth clear), set to a lower temp, add salt, carrot, celery stick, whole onion, bay leaf, close lid and let it simmer for over an hour to two. Get the meat out, filter if necessary, throw the veggies out. That's it. I use it either simply to have it with boiled pasta or rice (simplified soup), or make any kind of soup. Very tasty. Kids love it too.

The grass-fed beef bones ARE expensive! I hear ya! My DH almost flipped out when he saw the price of the bones! But it's worth it - when you boil "good" bones for 24 hrs you get much less muck at the top than when you boil factory-farmed beef bones, believe me. You can see, taste and smell the difference! And it's your health - it's worth it!

Great idea buying the side of beef- that way you get the meat and the bones. Gotta have a place to store it though.

OP here.
To the Polyface person, do you buy them online?

I normally just boil the whole chicken, not just the bones to make broth.

For my chicken, I actually buy old laying hens from Ployface farm. The old hens make the most amazing rich broth. I just take the whole raw chicken and throw it in the pot. I then drain it all through a cheese cloth twice after letting it cool and removing the fat from the top.

For my beef, I do buy a side of beef, so I have them keep all the soup bones. When I have a cut of beef I'm using for a roast that might have a bone, I remove the bone and keep it.

I would guess the only place to find grass fed beef bones would be the farmers market or a local butcher that carries local meats. I'm SURE Ployface also has beef bones. I can't imagine they don't.

It's called stock! And you roast a whole chicken and then use the bones.

Farmers markets.

Where can I find good cheap bones? Including chicken legs, feet and head.
And for beef bones, I like to buy grass fed and I find them very expensive in the store.
Thanks