Hydrolyzing chicken collagen?

[Oberon]

So I roast, and eat, a lot of chicken. I always save the carcasses and when I've got a few I make soup. It's nothing special -- just throw all the odds and ends into a pot, cover with water, and simmer for a day and a half. It makes the kind of stuff that turns into jello if you throw it in the fridge.

Is this sufficient to extract most bone and cartilage collagen, or is there something else I could be doing (lowering pH?) to get more protein out of these guys?

[Robert Santana]

There are certainly an abundance of amino acids in cartilage collagen so if you can stomach it, it won't hurt to consume it. What is your goal with this?

[HailMary]

I’ve always added a splash of vinegar when making stock. I don’t know if it makes a difference in nutrient content. Using a crockpot makes long simmers easy.

[Oberon]

Just trying to get the most out of every chicken. Wasting perfectly good food bothers me, and the thought that there may be unexploited nutrients in the stuff I throw away is a little more disturbing than is probably psychologically healthy.

I'm not going to just grind up the bones and eat them, but if there's something that can be done to leech more of the good stuff out while it's in the pot I'd like to try it.

[Robert Santana]

Do you own a dog?

[Maybach]

Bone and cartilage collagen is extremely low quality protein: very low EAA content, mostly useful as just calories. Boiling them for a day and a half(!) is already going out of your way to get something that is only dubiously "good stuff." Beef bone broth gets enough collagen to congeal fully after a modest 12 hours. It's hard to imagine that any further energy spent on this wouldn't be better spent acquiring and preparing another chicken, based on the minimum wage at the moment.

[Danis]

In your opinion does consuming this type of collagen help with tendons and joint repair?

[Oberon]

Yes, but cooked chicken bones are supposed to be bad for them. Splinters, and all that.

[Robert Santana]

Yes, but cooked chicken bones are supposed to be bad for them. Splinters, and all that.

Grind it up into bone dust and sprinkle it on their food.

[Robert Santana]

In your opinion does consuming this type of collagen help with tendons and joint repair?

Not anymore than just eating plenty of protein.