Yes, the reason to throw away the veggies is that all the good has been cooked out of them, and they're just mush. If you do it right, however, the chicken is also completely cooked out and there's nothing left but strings and depleted bones. You might want to add some more cartilaginous bits, like some feet, to enrich the broth. You can also save chicken bones and soak them with vinegar to leach out the minerals and add to your stock. For your purposes, however, it's important to cook down the meat so that there's lots of protein. Chill it thoroughly and the fat will surface, making it easy to remove. The texture of the stock at that point should be gelatinous and almost crystalline. When you heat it, it will revert to liquid.

Well...

You don't have to use a whole chicken. You don't even have to use chicken with the meat on, you can just use the carcass.
For instance, when I make turkey stock, we roast off the turkey, strip it of as much meat as possible, then make the stock with just the bones. Or sometimes when chicken wings are on sale for super cheap, I roast them up and use them to make stock. When I was in school and there were lots of students carving up chickens every day, the fresh scrap was used to make stock.

You toss the veggies because they are total mush and totally flavorless- the flavor has all been leeched out by the stock making process.

Yes, you strain out all the solids (if you use a large teaball or a wire mesh coffee strainer you can have all your herbs in it to help with that part of the mess). Then you chill it, and you must do so quickly! Stock can become a bed for foodborne pathogens if it's left to cool on the counter on it's own. Easy way to chill it fast is to pour it into pitchers, then dunk the pitchers into a sinkful of ice water. Or if you live in an area that currently has a snowbank or few, after straining put the stock back into the pot, cover it to protect it from the elements and critters, then sink the stockpot into a snowbank.
Once it is well chilled, the fat will form a solid layer on top, which you then remove. Depending on how fatty your stock is and how clear the stock needs to be, you might need or want to rewarm the stock and chill it a second time.

You can probably check with the nutritionist at the hospital as to if a homemade stock is considered clear enough for your needs or not.

And you can also make a vegetable stock that might be considered clear, and wouldn't have any fat to start with to worry about.

I always save my bones from roasted chicken and use those and vegetables to make stock. I've never made stock using a chicken. You can, and then make chicken soup.

Traditionally, stock is made from bones and broth is made from meat, but both use vegetables. If you do not have enough bones, you can thicken it with a bit of plain gelatin, which is also acceptable for the liquid diet. I add a bouquet garni to my stock pot if the stock is to be used like broth - otherwise I add the herbs to the final dish.

I am on a 3-year schedule for colonoscopies, due to family history and what was found during the last two. My grandmother died of colon cancer, and my mother had it twice. They are getting better at the procedures, however, and the second one was not as bad as the first one. By better, I mean the stuff they make you drink the day before.

Lars

OK thanks so much. I'm hoping to get some protein into the broth as that will be all he'll be "eating" that day. I don't want to feed him just sugary stuff like clear juices and jello lest he go into hypoglycemic shock. And of course the store bought boullion or instant stuff is fundamentally salt.

So maybe what I'll do is boil up some chicken parts with bones and when done, save the meat for another dish......a fricassee or casserole or something. That way I'll have something to eat while he's drinking the broth.

If he likes miso soup, you could ask if adding some miso to the broth would be allowed or if a dash of sherry or wine to add in the flavor.

Lars, just for clarity, there is no clear agreement on the definitions you gave for stock and broth. The only times I've heard "stock" used for just bones is in this forum. People usually say "bone broth". I think that might just be because of the alliteration, however, because technically, I'd call it a stock. Every authoritative (rather than blogosphere) definition of stock I've found includes meat, though I would agree that a bone stock is still a stock, which is why I attributed "bone broth" to the way it sounds.

Broth is soup, made, enriched and seasoned for eating rather than as a basis for some other dish. Some people also put small solids in broth and still call it broth. Perhaps "bone broth" is so called because it's used straight from the pot to feed up sick people.

Some people use broth and stock interchangeably.

AnnieD., the collagen from the cartilage and connective tissue is very good good for healing. It's also what makes it gel, and it might be more filling feeling if there's plenty.

"----Some people use broth and stock interchangeably."

Then there is consommé and bouillon,

dcarch

The meat will be pretty tasteless when you're done with the broth.

I would buy a whole chicken, remove either the breasts or the legs, whichever you prefer to cook for yourself, then make broth from the rest. Put said rest of chicken in a large pot, add two large carrots, a few lengths of celery, and a medium onion in there, and then a gallon of water. No need to do anything to the veg but roughly cut or break each piece into a few chunks. Bring to boil, then fast simmer for two hours, longer if you can. I would do this with the pot uncovered, so that some of the water evaporates which will concentrate the flavor. Strain, add salt and pepper to taste, and chill in the fridge. Remove the fat cap and there is your basic broth.

Thanks johnliu, that's a great suggestion...I certainly can do that.

I also use chicken wings, backs and necks for making stock/broth. You want it gelatinous to get the best nutritional benefits so you'll need to simmer it a few hours. Chicken feet are great for this but I just can't do the feet. Used to happily eat them as a kid, growing up on a farm but can't do it anymore. It's the visual.

Can you and also feed him smoothies made with frozen fruit and cranapple juice. Add yogurt too. Blend it all up. Good luck with it all.

I add unflavored gelatin to bone broth to increase the protein. The recipe at the link below is the one I follow to make a portable concentrate (just add water and heat to reconstitute). It also takes up less space in the freezer.

I also add Great Lakes Gelatin Collagen Hydrolystate - in the green container - to a lot of things (smoothies, green drinks, hot cocoa). This type of gelatin is cold water soluble and does NOT gel, which gives it a different use from the type of gelatin that gels.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Nourished Kitchen

Or, similar to others posting, get chicken parts on the bone, and some veggies like beets, celery, carrots, onions, garlic, etc..., then roast the 'parts' with quartered veggies on a parchment lined sheet pan...till chicken is done. Cool enough to take the main meat off, then make stock with the bones and veggies. Have a meal of chicken and veg for yourself, stock broth for him.
Or a warm chicken salad over greens.
MisoMaster is a good organic miso found at health food stores and WholeFoods...good for a nice rich broth and only need a tbsp added to stock or water after the heat is off. Miso does not need or like to be cooked for more than 5 min.

Thanks, mary, but no smoothies...only clear fruit juice is allowed like apple and cranberry... anything that makes a juice thick or cloudy is fruit bits and those are actually solids which are no good for this purpose. Fortunately, it's only a day that you can't eat. I also plan on putting him on a low res diet for the day before the liquid diet day...less in, less out.

grainlady, never heard of 'portable" soup...very interesting.

Unfortunately, sleevendog, I can't do soy. But I like the idea of two meals in one for sure.

My mother always had stock simmering or in the frig; she grew up on a farm so I assume that's where she learned it (and where my grandmother from Japan learned it, I have NO idea, lol; she was Tokyo born-and-bred with servants).

In my area, after various experimentation I found the most reliable, cheapest and easiest to obtain was turkey necks. I simmer them with veggies until very tender. Then I strip the meat off the bones and save it. I throw the bones back in the pot and simmer another two hours.

Let it cool a bit, usually about an hour. If you're familiar with a "defrost tray" - a very heavy flat metal board - I stick that under the pot. It's amazing how fast it helps something cool down or warm up; one of my most useful kitchen tools.

An hour on the defrost tray gets the stock down to very warm but well down from boiling. Strain out everything and throw the solids away. Refrigerate to solidify the fat, remove, and store uncovered. Boil once a week if you don't use it, and it will keep going forever.

Any pork, chicken, or duck bones will get added to the stock and the cycle repeats. If I only have a few to add, I'll freeze bones in a ziploc bag until it's worth taking out my big stockpot again.

Six turkey necks yield about 3-1/2 cups of dark meat shreds. I freeze it in broth if I can't use it up quickly. 6 qts of water after the double simmering and allowing reduction (I usually crack the pot lid open a sliver and keep the stock at an active simmer), ends up as about 2-3 qts of naturally gelling stock.

Annie: If you do cranberry juice, make sure it is true juice with no red dye.

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This post was edited by lizbeth-gardener on Fri, Jan 23, 15 at 14:42

Thanks jkom...cooling soup down around here is not a problem this time of year...I stick the pot outside on a rack....

Thanks lg...yes you're right...they don't like red stuff either. We'll have to stick with the apple juice...

Dcarch - consommé is a clarified soup and bouillon is just the French for stock - in fact it's just something boiled.