I feed my Kids BCCG. They all love it. I am going through more and more
as they refuse to eat other things more all the time, because they love
the CG. They just hang around morning and night under my feet waiting
for their gravy. But I have a few questions and am hoping some "expert"
out there can help me out.

First of all, it may take Bob Church 2 hours to make it, but it takes
me most of a day. The most time consuming part for me is getting the
chicken off the bones, so I started cooking the chicken for about 15
minutes so that the meat falls off the bones easier. So here's what I
do: I put all the chicken in a big stock pot, I use a cut up chicken
from WHole Foods, and then add water. Bring it to a simmer and simmer
15 minutes. Then cool it enough to get the meat off the bones. Then I
follow Bob's instructions and pressure cook the bones. The instructions
I have say 30 minutes, but because I have already cooked everything for
15-20 minutes, I cut that by 5 minutes. So here is my dilemna. The last
time I made the gravy, the bones did not seem to blend up as fine as
they normally do. There are tiny little pieces, and I blend everything
twice for a LONG time. I think some of the cartilage didn't blend fine
either. I have been trying to strain it, which is pretty hard to get
it to go through the strainer, but I was concerned about the fragments.
I am going to order a new blade for my blender, in case that is the
problem. But this is my big question: people who feed raw say raw bones
are fine because they are soft and do not splinter. Whereas bones that
are cooked are dangerous as they do splinter. Is cooking the bones for
30 minutes in a pressure cooker really the thing to do? Is the fact
that they are so well cooked adding to the little splintery pieces I
have? Would it be better to cook the bones just barely? And is it
hurting for me to cook the chicken AND bones, and then do the bones
more? Is there an EASY way to debone raw disgusting chicken?? Any help
would be greatly appreciated.

I am just wondering if the bones are too cooked, if it would be better
for them to be closer to the raw end. 30 minutes in the pressure cooker
is like hours on the stove. Also, I obviously freeze it in containers.
Once thawed, I have to add water and nuke it for about 10 seconds to
get it thin enough that they like it. Otherwise it's like a gel. Is
that normal, or am I doing something wrong? I've been making it for
4 years now, according to the recipe, so I hope I'm doing it right!

Thanks for any advice.

Mary in Virginia and
Bianka the White, Fox, Bear and Scarlet

[Posted in FML 6071]