If you eat, cook or handle food, you likely produce kitchen waste: peels, rinds, husks, meat scraps, bones, shells, skins, roots, leafy tops, stems, and even leftover food. The waste list is endless. The truth is, all of that stuff left on the cutting board isn’t necessarily waste. A lot of it can be repurposed or given a second life as broth or stock*.
Making broth with kitchen waste is not a new concept. People have been doing it for generations. What is new is the renewed interest in reducing the amount of kitchen waste going into landfills or sewer systems. Rotting food in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to environmental issues. (Composted kitchen waste does not release methane gas and creates a beneficial product to enrich soil.)
There are countless suggestions and guidelines available in recipe books and from recipe websites on how to go about making broth from kitchen waste and what to include or what not to include. One thing is for sure, regardless of whatever recipe or guide one uses, the broth will be a slightly different product each time due to the waste that is used and the quantity of the various components. Kitchen Scraps Vegetable Broth by Oregon State University is a good place to start if you are new to making broth from kitchen waste. Regardless of how it is made, the result is a flavorful, nutritious broth suitable for soup making, sauces, adding flavor to vegetables or rice, or sipping.
In addition to making broth from vegetable waste, one can also use poultry carcasses or bones from red meat or fish to make delicious, nutritious broth or stock. Bones require a longer cooking time than vegetables to break down the bone structure to release nutrients, proteins, and collagen. Use these resources as guides for making poultry broth, red meat broth, and fish broth.
SIX Reasons Making Broth from Kitchen Waste is a WIN! WIN!
- Economical – minimal cost, all of the ingredients are at hand; all parts of food is used; no additional cost for a pre-packaged container.
- Reduce kitchen waste – less going to landfills, sewer systems, or compost (after cooking and straining, the remaining vegetable scraps are less bulky and decompose faster; carcasses and fish bones are more compact); no packaging to dispose of.
- Nutritious – vitamins and minerals in the scraps leach into the simmering water surrounding them—broth! Great support for all bodily systems.
- Control of ingredients and flavor – tweak to your liking, omit offending ingredients, control sodium, no preservatives.
- No special equipment needed – prepare broth on a stove top, in a crock pot or pressure cooker.
- Easy – save, cook, strain, cool, store.
Store Broth Safely
Once a broth has been made, it must be cooled quickly and stored in an airtight container. Broth will keep in the refrigerator for three days or maintain best quality for four months in the freezer. When freezing, use freezer containers/bags or wide mouth jars allowing head space for freezing expansion. Broth can also be frozen in ice cube trays or silicon muffin cups for individual servings with the frozen portions transferred to a freezer bag.
Canning is an option for preserving broths/stocks as well. However, because broths are made from low-acid foods, they must be made from a carefully followed tested recipe and processed with a pressure canner. The National Center for Home Food Preservation provides directions for poultry and meat stock, but does not have specific canning recommendations and times for vegetable or fish broth. Newell Brands provides recipes and directions in the Ball® Blue Book, 38th Edition, Guide to Preserving for chicken, beef, and vegetable stocks.
Making homemade broth from kitchen scraps is a simple, satisfying way to reduce waste and make the most of what you grow or buy. In addition, there is the satisfaction of knowing it was made with ingredients you enjoy and/or saved from becoming waste.
*NOTE: For the purposes of this blog, broth is used to mean either broth or stock. The difference is subtle and the two are quite often used interchangeably. Both involve cooking ingredients slowly over a long period of time to extract maximum flavor and nutrients. Traditionally, broth is a clear, thin liquid with great flavor resulting from the use of herbs and spices, vegetables, aromatics and/or meat. Stock is traditionally made from animal bones resulting in a more gelatinous, less clear liquid; it may also be made with the addition of herbs and spices, vegetables, and aromatics.
