Roasting the bones will give you a darker brown stock than using the raw bones. To roast the bones, just stick them in an oven on high heat, around 450 for about 45 minutes, or until they are a nice golden caramelized color. Though you will want to make sure to keep an eye on them the first time, I'd check every 5 minutes after half an hour. Roasting the veggies with the bones will also add a slightly sweeter roasted flavor. It's like the difference of putting slices of raw onions on a burger compared to caramelized onions. You get a slightly sweeter, richer roasted flavor. Though it does turn down some of the other flavor notes, it's up to you which you'd rather have. Without roasting, you'd have a clearer "white" stock.
If you are using the butter as a base to roast the bones, I would set it aside and go with a higher smoke point oil like a peanut or corn oil. The low smoke point of the butter could leave a bitter, slightly burned flavor, especially with the longer roasting times.
I would leave the seasoning for the stock. Most spices will burn at a lower temperature, and salting the bones before you make your stock, could make your stock overly salty. It's easier to add more toward the end, than try to figure out what to do with salty stock.
I hope that helps!
Notice how dogs enjoy gnawing on bones? Ever been to a restaurant where they serve bone marrow?
Boiling bones in water draws flavor out of them. Most canned broth and stock you buy--beef stock, chicken stock, etc--is just this--water boiled with bones for hours.
Most literature I've read suggests using raw bones, but some recipes call for roasted bones--the ones I've seen most often involve roasted veal bones.
I've also made stock from roasted chicken bones. The stock does still take on flavor. It's easier to get good flavor from unused bones, though.
Additionally, I've found another pitfall. I've tried to make stock from the leftover bones of bbq'd ribs. This was not a good idea. The broth had a savory flavor, as intended. Unfortunately it also had the background taste of bbq sauce. Now, when I do make stocks, I'd consider using leftover bones, but
- there have to be enough bones leftover (otherwise I get very little stock for my time or it's weak on flavor)
- the bones can't be "tainted" by other flavors (like bbq sauce)
To answer your original question, try this:
- start with a pot of plain water
- put about 4 lb of bones in per gallon of water while it's still cold, add ~1 tsp of vinegar per gallon of water
- Once the water comes to a boil, lower the heat so that it's just simmering
- this keeps the stock from getting cloudy/white (which doesn't taste bad, just looks worse)
- leave boiling for about 6-8 hours, minimum. Longer is fine, but you won't get too much more at this point.
- turn off heat, allow stock to cool fully, strain it for the bones, refrigerate
- you can speed up this step by putting the pot in a sink full of cool water
- do NOT put a hot pot in your fridge. It will heat up the fridge significantly and just make the food in there go bad.
Use this to
- make soups
- make sauces (reduce it first)
- as a substitute for water in savory dish preparations (i.e. make rice with stock instead of water. Be creative here)
The main benefits here are flavor and nutrients, but I just do it for the flavor. Cutting bones up does improve the extraction process, but if the marrow is exposed already (most beef/veal bones will be) you're fine. If you save old bones, freeze them until you have enough. Don't bother trying to make stock with the bones from one chicken.
Best Answer
Yep, you sure can. Frost, freezer burn, anything like that will have virtually no effect on broth making.