Bone Broth

by lisa | 1 January 2013 14:50

I can never keep enough bone broth in the house. My goal is to make enough so that I can have a mug of it every day plus have enough left over to cook with. I used to work with an old fashioned doctor who swore by chicken soup as a cure for just about anything. Now I think maybe he was on to something. He was pretty old, so I’m sure he didn’t have Campbell’s soup in a can in mind, but rather real homemade broth from actual bones.

Bone broth provides our bodies with bio-available (very easy to consume, digest and absorb) forms of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and other trace minerals that are lacking in our diets today (source: wapf.org). You can also use vegetable-only broths to obtain certain minerals, but without bones in the mix, you won’t get some of the other fantastic benefits from the gelatin and collagen they provide. Plus, it just tastes good! To learn more about the benefits of bone broth, have a look here, here or have a look at what Mark Sisson has to say here.

Ingredients

This seems to be a pretty standard recipe. You can also add in crushed garlic or other spices, I was just too lazy. The idea of adding fish sauce comes from Michelle.

1.5 kg beef bones (about 3 pounds)
2 Tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar (helps pull minerals out of the bones)
2 Tablespoons Red Boat Fish Sauce (or salt to taste if you don’t have this)
2 carrots, chopped in big pieces
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped in big pieces
water, enough to cover it all

What to do

Roast your bones in a preheated 200C/400F oven for 30 minutes. I spread mine out on a baking sheet.
Ready to roast
Chop your carrots, celery and onion while your bones are roasting.
Once your bones are done, throw everything into your crock pot (slow cooker) or a big soup pot.
Ready to be covered with water
Fill with water to cover.
On the stove top, cover and cook all day. If using a crock pot, set for 6-8 hours. You can’t overcook this stuff. The longer you cook it, the richer it gets. I sometimes cook it as long as 24 hours.
When you are done cooking, strain your broth. I toss out the bones but some people use them again.
Put your broth into a large bowl and chill until all of the fat solidifies on top.
Discard the top layer of fat
Remove the fat layer with a spoon and you are left with a gelatin soup (kind of like bone jello).
I spoon my bone jello into zip lock bags in 2 cup portions and put them in the freezer.