Childhood vs Now

[Andy M.]

As TL said, most beef we buy is boneless. The occasional piece with a little bone isn't much to base stock on. If you want soup bones, you have to buy bones. Either at the market or a butcher. They can be expensive.

On the there hand, if you buy chicken with bone, they reward you by giving you the meat at a discount.

 

[taxlady]

As TL said, most beef we buy is boneless. The occasional piece with a little bone isn't much to base stock on. If you want soup bones, you have to buy bones. Either at the market or a butcher. They can be expensive.

On the there hand, if you buy chicken with bone, they reward you by giving you the meat at a discount.

If I buy a whole chicken, it's only a little bit more expensive per pound than beef bones.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

As TL said, most beef we buy is boneless. The occasional piece with a little bone isn't much to base stock on. If you want soup bones, you have to buy bones. Either at the market or a butcher. They can be expensive.

On the there hand, if you buy chicken with bone, they reward you by giving you the meat at a discount.

We have a butcher shop about 20 miles from my home. They are in the habit of giving away shin bones, and knuckles for free to those who want to feed them to their dogs. I go there every now and again and get bones while they are freshly cut, and take bring them home, throw then into my pressure cooker/caner, and make beef stock, which I then can, again using the pressure cooker/caner, for wintertime soups and gravies. So if you have a butcher/meat processor in your area, check with them to see if they have bones to give away. Who knows, you might at least be able to get a great price on soup bones.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Andy M.]

...So if you have a butcher/meat processor in your area, check with them to see if they have bones to give away. Who knows, you might at least be able to get a great price on soup bones.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

No give aways here. You have to pay for the bones.

 

[taxlady]

When I lived in the country, the butcher gave away bones for dogs and sold bones for stock and soup. The ones for dogs had sometimes fallen on the floor.

 

[Kevin86]

I would make more beef stock for beef soups, but most of the beef I can get is boneless.

Do you try your local butcher or even the butcher section of your grocery store? Shank can sometimes be easier to find but a good soup bone is great.
One stop shop and convenience is great but they sell you what they want not necessarily what you want

 

[taxlady]

Do you try your local butcher or even the butcher section of your grocery store? Shank can sometimes be easier to find but a good soup bone is great.
One stop shop and convenience is great but they sell you what they want not necessarily what you want

One stop shop, do you mean like a supermarket? Boneless meats seem to have gotten very popular. I don't think most people want to spend much time cooking anymore. I like buying local or sort of local meat. Unless I get another half a cow, like the one I shared with CWS, I can only trust it to be local from a few brands. It comes prepackaged. Sure, they sell bones, but when they cost 2/3 as much or more per kilo as whole chicken, it seems too much to me.

Now I'm wondering. How much do those of you who buy bones for making stock pay per kilo or per pound for bones?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I just shopped today at the one-off store with lower meat prices. They're a bit more old-fashioned in what they offer, so I tend to think of them for traditional meal supplies. Their beef shanks were $2.99 a pound - I bought two for soup. (The more "modern" stores by us are charging around $4.99 for shanks!) Their "soup bones" were $1.99 a pound - and not a lick of meat on them. Since I plan on making soup and not "bone broth", I was happy to get a decent price on soup meat. As far as chicken for soup goes, I will make stock from the skin/bones/scraps of rotisserie chickens. I'll also be buying skin-on chicken breasts with bones for 99 cents tomorrow. I'll make my own boneless-skinless chicken breasts and use the bones and skin for more stock.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

What was your mom’s soup you remember from growing up?

Not my Mom's, but my great aunt's who lived with us. She made a soup from bacon and yellow beans that was memorable. I've never found a recipe that looks anything like the soup I remember. One of these days...

What was your most memorable soup you made for your kids?

I honestly don't remember making soup when our kids were young/school age. We were too busy with scouts/sports/theatre/etc to have time for long-cook meals. We did, however, eat nearly every dinner together as a family, so there's that.

What is your favourite soup now?

I think it's my knock-off version of Panera's creamy chicken and wild rice soup. While himself and I always look forward to whichever soup I make, that seems to be our favorite.

Do you make any changes tweaks or changes to soups from your past?

Yup. Over time I've found shortcuts, and I've also make them more nutritious.

How have the soups of your life changed over time and generations

For Himself and I, soup can be a meal. When I was growing up, soup was something you had before you ate the rest of the meal.