Lol, I have a great butcher but when I ask for soup bones I get exactly that....a couple of winkie little packages of bare bones. I'm like, "Can I have that barrel of scraps?" I have a few packages of short ribs from two beefs ago that I'll use in my next batch.

I can't imagine they'd make decent anything all by themselves.

I just freed up a cubic foot or so of freezer space canning chicken stock.

Having made bone broth from bones, no the taste isn't very strong and not very pleasing. I did that once and now add the bare bones to bones that actually have plenty of meat on them.... like Annie.

I use to make beef shank and oxtails, etc. but they are too rich for this aging stomach to just eat as an entrée dish, but they do wonders in a pot of stock... or bone broth.

Kate

I was just at the grocery store and they had those bare bones for $4.99 a pound, and I was appalled, which is what caused this question. I've been known to make soup or stock from steak bones and trimmed scraps, but they always had enough meat left on them to taste like beef. Those bones just didn't seem to have a scrap of anything on them.

KatieC, I remember when I was a child if I went to the local meat market and asked for bones for my dog they'd give me big meaty bones FREE. Grandma would make soup and the dog never got those bones, LOL. Chicken stock will be next, I have bags of wings and no one in my family will eat those, no matter their current popularity as party food. I tried donating them to the local food pantry but because we raise and slaughter our own chickens, they aren't allowed to take them. Into the stock pot they'll go.

Kate, I'm sure I ate those when I was growing up, probably as beef noodle soup, but now they get simmered for 18 hours or so and when I strain the stock, the solids become dog food. Oddly enough (or not) Molly doesn't mind the texture at all and my stock is rich, dark and flavorful.

Annie

Annie, the trick to making stock from bare bones is to roast them first, until they're very dark, then keep them simmering for a long time so The good and minerals get into the soup. But a pure bone broth like that will have flavor but not much color. Add some scraps and trimmings for beefiness. It's hard to get proper soup bones in the city nowadays. A lot of the meat comes to the butcher partially broken down for making popular cuts, rather than by the side.

The Mexican market is the best place to find a shank bone with some meat left.
Chicken wings make the BEST broth because of all the skin and gristle. I used to buy a package of wings for soup....but now they are more expensive than any other part of the chicken.

Ridiculously our local supermarket often has chicken legs at two thirds the price per kilo of chicken necks. So when I see the legs go on special I buy them to make chicken soup.

The way I see it, you need a true butcher that knows his stuff and is also passionate about cooking. Most groceries stock shelves from factory packaged foam trays. I do often see what Annie is describing. Clean 8 inch bones, sometimes cut into 2 inch coins. Not meaty. And $$$

NYC has plenty. We are lucky enough to have a few nearby. And an HMart that has every foot and paw, ofals, meaty bones cheap.

2020 we got lucky with both delivery services that have all we need for stocks.

We make a few different stocks but more often a mixed bone with aromatics and lots of veg scraps. Mixed bones, necks, etc in the freezer waiting for some leek tops, tired veg....we also always roast our bones first.

The other stock is chicken. Roasting two whole small chickens that make a few meals, then stock the following day or two. The next roasting will be smoked. I have two in my cart now that the freezer is thinning...Spring cleaning.

We have not been to our Italian market in over a year but they have a 10 pound frozen bag for 5 bucks...I've witnessed a little Italian lady shaking the bag at the butchers, "these used to be free!", lol, and they all laugh. Excellent butchers but their sausages are too salty.

No wing for us. I don't get the NY desire. Way expensive. But that means more thighs for us at crazy low prices. 2.99 for organic pasture raised. Wings also go in our stock. (shush about how good thighs are)...especially the boneless skinless I braise.

Canning stock is a smart move. Hey, we all have our quirks with food textures, so no judgment there. I can relate to the struggle with beef ribs and ox-tail.

I really like oxtail soup, but I've never made it because Kevin would not eat it, and so I have to go to Jamaican restaurants to have it.

I've never made beef broth either - whether from bones or meat, but I have always wanted to.

I sometimes shop at one grocery store in an upscale Black neighborhood close to us (to buy things like grits, collard greens, chicken necks, etc), and I've heard shoppers there complain about how expensive chicken necks have gotten - because they used to be very cheap. I think they are only good for soup stock, but some people like to eat them. I also like chicken wings but never buy them because of the price. I buy whole chickens to get wings.

Recipes I've seen for beef stock from bones called for roasting the bones with root vegetables, such as onion, carrot, garlic, parsnip, etc and then boiling all of that together. I would rather buy concentrated beef stock at a restaurant supply shop.

I've gotten a few things for free at Latin markets here, including lard - a by-product from making chicharrone, but Cárdenas sells lard instead of giving it away, but it is a very large market. Smaller meat markets are better at giving things for free.