Top things to do with Chicken FEET
Posted by Heather on October 11, 2010
Yes, we raise our own chickens, and yes, we use everything but the cluck around here! Someone once asked, “What do you do with the FEET?”
Well, let me show you some of the best ways to use them…
- You can use them to attack people…
you can paint their toenails...is pink really her color? I guess there's just so many colors a fashionable chicken can wear...
but, my most often used way is making broth out of them. Start with a bag of chicken feet. We were lucky enough to raise our own, thus having 26 pairs at our disposal. You can always ask a local chicken farmer, or where you get eggs
yummy, right?
I put them in a pot of boiling water for about 5-10 minutes to make sure they are clean and to help loosen up the pads. Cut away any bad parts on the pads of the feet
really sharp knife is very helpful for this!
Then, put them back in the pot with fresh water, and the rest of the ingredients.
a couple carrots, couple celery stalks, some garlic cloves, 3 onions, salt, pepper and bay leaves. I don't usually measure the quantities, it's just based on what I have on hand.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10-12 hours. I leave mine overnight, but if you are worried about open flames, you can use a crockpot on low, or just do it when you are awake. If I did that in my house, though, my family would never eat the soup…guess they just aren’t ready for the REAL food experience.
after 12 hours...doesn't it look yummy???
I drain the broth in a large colander with a towel (I didn’t have any cheesecloth) suspended over another large pot.
the wooden spoon is there to help hold the colander in place over the pot...good idea, right?
Then, the chickens get the rest of the scraps, including the feet. They will actually pick the bones clean, then they can go in our compost since they are soft from being boiled all night.
here's some stuff that the chickens get...they give a little, we give back! Gotta love this system!
And, when it’s cool, you have lots of yummy, gelatiny broth to use for soups, gravies, sauces, cooking rice, or teasing your children about!
- I didn’t wait for it to cool to show you the neat gel of it, because…well, honestly, I wanted to get that picture of my hubby being attacked by the chicken foot up!
Giulianna said,
Your husband is more disturbed than you!!! Everything about this post is just sooooooooooo wrong!!! LOL! Ewwwwww…I am NOT eating it unless we are starving. I get sick when I have to touch gizzards, hearts, necks, etc. Just grosses me out. I give up. You are 100X the woman that I will ever be!!! Love you! <3
Heather said,
I got the pink nailpolish out just for you, my dear friend!!!
Giulianna said,
Don’t make me show Holly what you have done to chickens!!! LOL! Her daughters only do that to the LIVE chicken’s feet.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!
Heather said,
that’s funny…how on earth do they get them to hold still??
Lucy...or wait, am I Ethel? said,
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL….oh I love that pic of your hubby! Too funny! And the painted nails, you are so dark and lovely in your mind LOL. And yet, compelling…I just may find some chicken feet and make me some REAL real broth! One question…how, exactly, do you tell if there’s a bad spot on a chicken foot? The whole thing looks nasty to me!
nancy babin said,
Sweet. Yet slightly disturbing.
Lisa said,
I am so heinously disturbed by that post that I will have to come down about 100 notches to be only tremendously horrified. If I send you an Uno game, will you people stop playing with chicken’s feet?
The horror!
Tami said,
They do make a good broth…just sayin
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