I put some porterhouse bones, carrots, onions, and spices into a Dutch oven and covered with water. Then I let it simmer overnight and came back to a burnt mess on the bottom and no water!
I followed attached recipe exactly (https://stpetersburgfoodies.com/recipes/bone-broth-ramen-with-gochujang-chicken-recipe/) and it even said to leave the lid slightly ajar, but I guess I should’ve cover it? First time brother, so please give me tips!
by Ecrihao
33 Comments
Too many bones. Not enough broth
I can’t speak to the recipe, but simmering something, with the lid open, for 8 hours? I’d expect it to completely evaporate.
Note for the recipe: it says to add water as needed, likely quite a bit over 8-24 hours.
It says to add water as needed but you couldn’t do that while you were sleeping. All the water evaporated.
… Did you put the lid on?
>and adding water as needed
You let it evaporate is what happened.
Hmmm…let it go too long…just a guess. 🤦♂️
You can only do overnight in the slow cooker. But it’s not as good that way.
Next time do it in the slow cooker.
>I followed attached recipe exactly
You did not. The recipe you linked specifically, and clearly, stares that you should be, quote, “adding water as needed (longer simmer time = more flavor).” The recipe did *not* tell you to leave it overnight with no supervision. You are never, *ever* supposed to leave a stove on with no one to check in on it regularly, *specifically* in case stuff like this happens. Count your lucky stars that this didn’t catch fire.
Personally, I would never leave a stove un-attended over night. When making broth, you plan to spend the entire day (at least most of it) at home. Start early at like 8am, and by 8pm you should be good. But we rarely spend 12 hours making broth. 6-8 while at home and keeping an eye on the pot while doing other things around the house.
Must be the bone broth gnomes. They come in during the middle of the night to steal your broth. To ward them away, consider leaving out 1.5 bay leaves and a sprig of thyme
Lid needs to be closed and I found electric stoves overheat even on low sometimes mine gets red hot if left for many hours. I would invest in a crock pot or slow cooker for this kind of recipe.
I’ve made this same mistake before, and in the exact same pot haha. It happens and it’s how we learn.
Gotta keep the lid on if you want to simmer overnight.
Restaurants that make their own broth will often leave them simmering overnight without anyone watching it. But they’re making gallons and gallons of broth, often with special safety equipment in place, with little chance of everything evaporating. You’re making such a small amount here that all the liquid will boil off within a few hours. You’re lucky you didn’t have a fire!
Next time, make it while you’re awake. And if you want to let it simmer for more hours than you’re awake, cool it to room temperature, put it in the fridge, and start again the next morning. You’ll want to check on it every hour or so to skim off foam, stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, verify your heat doesn’t need adjusting, and adding additional boiling water (keep a kettle or another pot of boiling water handy; makes sure you don’t lower the temperature of your broth when adding water) as needed to keep the volume where you want it.
In cast iron pots, water still evaporates slightly so you should of just left it covered
OP missed out on high school physics. Or common sense.
Overnight! 😂😂😂
This post made me angry.
You’re lucky that your house did not burn down. When I was much younger, and far more ignorant, my mom asked me to put something in her dutch oven, cover it with water, and let it simmer. She did neglect to tell me to keep adding water, unlike your recipe. I did exactly as she asked, except I also left the upstairs apartment and went to the downstairs apartment. When I tried to reenter the front door I got hit by a wave of smoke, so I called the fire department. They had to put out the smoking pot and told me it was lucky I did not burn down the house. (my mom was so *pissed* at me as I ruined her stainless steel dutch oven which she had owned all of my life) I now pass that advise and warning onto you. Wishing you better cooking days! These types of lessons are learning ones. I’ve never burnt out a pot again and I suspect you never will again, either.
Jesus Christ..
2’s still too high. Had the lid slightly opened at 2 and that low liquid you had, you would wake up to fire. I made both a lot and would do Low only (I still wake up to check on it for safety though). Please invest in an instant pot. That way is much safer.
Okay, the recipe calls for a stock pot, not a dutch oven. There’s a big difference between the two. A stock pot is taller with a higher capacity specifically for simmering and most importantly is made from stainless steel, not cast iron. I could put a cast iron skillet set to 1 or 2 and come back in a hour to a pan ready to sear a steak. That cast iron has greater heat retention. It cannot dissipate the heat faster than it’s absorbed. Even though you wanted it to simmer and even if you’d left it uncovered it still would have been a roaring boil after a couple hours, add lid and well…you get the idea.….. A stock pot will have a thicker bottom, but with higher thin walls. It will be for far easier to regulate and maintain a temperature for longer periods. Honestly though, if this was a new recipe I’d recommend doing it during the day when you can watch it to see how your stove behaves or set an alarm to wake up to check on it.
12-20Qt stockpot is my first piece of advice. Secondly you add water throughout the cook if needed
RIP the enamel in that poor guy 🙁
If you left the burner on for a long time, you may have burned out the controller for it. I recently did this. Basically, they can get stuck on after cycling on/off for a long time.
They can be replaced.
I would check that the burner still works on low heat, and be careful next time you use it to make sure it isn’t running too hot.
Just be glad you didn’t burn your house down.
The answer is in your question. Evaporation.
Sibling… You had an unlidded, unsupervised pot on a stove. Your recipe was meant for a slow cooker, which requires a lid to function properly, and an even lower temperature.
Too much heat, time and no lid adds up to evaporation and a burnt mess. Next time, use a lid, and keep an eye on what you’re cooking – particularly if you’re using a stove instead of a slow cooker.
I am a big fan of simmering broth all night, but you need a fucking *lid*, or, yea, it’s going to all boil away. Doesn’t look like there was enough liquid in it to start with…Should be a couple inches above the stuff in the pot.
OP might I gently suggest you buy a slow cooker for making broth, one with a timer and a keep warm default? If you absolutely must do things overnight it should be in a device that is meant to be unattended for hours.
You’re extremely lucky that it just ruined the food, and that you didn’t wake up to a kitchen fire.
If you want to be able to make bone broth overnight you need a slow cooker or instant pot. This was a obviously not the right move.