Wellness Wednesday #11: So What’s the Deal with Bone Broth?
Some of you won’t be ready for this. I wasn’t when I first heard about it back in March of 2014. I was a vegetarian a few months earlier, and the idea of putting bones from dead animals in water and then drinking that water sounded crazier than getting a bunch of chickens and raising them in our backyard.
I heard over and over about how great bone broth is. It is very healing for the gut, and that’s what I was going for. (Autoimmune disease can happen when food particles and bacteria and toxins leak through a damaged intestinal wall, into the bloodstream.)
After a few months, I finally wanted to try it, but I had no idea how to get bones. That’s how I first ended up at the farmer’s market. I went to find bones, and the rancher that I talked to sold me some beef knuckle bones. I made broth according to a recipe from my Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, and it turned out great! It gelled after it cooled, and that’s good! That’s how you know you’ve got the good stuff. It was really easy to make, although I asked my husband to handle the bones. I wasn’t ready.
The farmer’s market that I went to was in East Austin. The Mueller Farmer’s Market is a good one. It has a really good feel to it, and there are lots of interesting things to buy. There were several booths selling meat and veggies. That’s a long drive for me, though, so I started going to the Round Rock Farmer’s Market.
In Round Rock, the rancher that I talked to didn’t have knuckle bones, but he sold me some “soup bones,” which are beef shanks. They are basically slices of the hind legs, so you have a marrow bone in the middle and meat all around the bone. I did use them to make broth, but I learned later that since my bones were covered in meat, I was really making stock, not broth. That’s okay, though, because both are really beneficial. Here’s a picture of some of my beef shanks. I took a picture of this one because there’s a baby face in the marrow. Can you see it? Creepy!
The nice thing about using marrow bones was that after several hours, I could take the meat out and eat it! That meat was very tender and very tasty. The downside is that there really wasn’t much bone there, so I didn’t get all the benefits that I was hoping for. I went back to my rancher and told him I wanted something different to get more gelatin in my broth. I wanted some knuckle bones or neck bones or chicken feet, but he didn’t have any of that. He sold me an oxtail. Then I embarrassed myself. When I read “oxtail,” I was so confused. I thought it was literally from the tail of an ox, so I asked him if he raised oxen as well as cows. He didn’t… apparently a cow’s tail is called “oxtail.” I felt stupid, and I think it makes no sense to call a cow’s tail by another animal’s name.
Okay, so let’s get back to the important stuff. Why should you drink bone broth, and where do you find bones? Does it taste good? Do you drink it plain, like a cup of coffee? How do you make it?
Benefits of Bone Broth (some of them)
- Rich in minerals, vitamins, fats, and proteins! All of these nutrients provide us with many other benefits… just keep reading.
- Soothes the lining of the digestive tract and heals the gut! It is very helpful if you are trying to heal a leaky gut! (If you have autoimmune disease, you have a leaky gut.)
- Gelatin attracts liquids, including digestive juices. This allows for more rapid and effective digestion!
- Gelatin in broth allows the body to better utilize proteins that are taken in! This means that we don’t need to consume as much protein in our diets.
- The amino acids in broth boost the immune system! Momma was right to feed you chicken soup when you’re sick, just not the kind that comes in a can.
- Excellent for joint health! Cartilage provides glucosamine and chondroitin, which are good for reducing joint pain and inflammation, and making broth is much cheaper than those expensive supplements! It comes with lots of other good stuff, too.
- The collagen in broth helps make our skin supple, reducing wrinkles and cellulite!
- Minerals in broth help to improve bone health!
- Gelatin helps us to have beautiful hair and nails!
Where to Find Bones:
- Local Farmer’s Market
- Local Butcher shop
- Whole Foods or other “healthy” grocery stores
- Online from ranches that raise 100% grass-fed beef (US Wellness Meats is one example, but if you search for “Grassfed Ranch,” you’ll find other places, too)
How Does Bone Broth Taste? According to:
- Trey, age 8: Delicious! He gets excited and asks for a cup of it every time he sees me making some.
- John, age 12: He says it tastes like meat, which is strange considering that he likes meat, but he doesn’t like broth.
- Isaiah, age 13: He also says it tastes “meaty,” but he likes it. He gives it a 10 out of 10!
- Brent, the hubby: Good! He says it tastes like nutrients. 🙂 If I ask him if he wants a cup of broth in the evening, he says yes almost every time.
- Leslie, a friend: She hates it.
- Me: Good! Sometimes I let mine cook too long, and it tastes burned. I don’t like that, but it’s easily preventable. I like it best when there’s some meat in the pot, because it’s more flavorful. I also like mine with ginger! I think I like broth partly because I know it’s so good for me.
- Other people I’ve talked to: Some love it, some hate it, and some think it’s okay.
If you don’t love it, experiment with different vegetables and herbs. I like mine when I’ve added cilantro for the last few hours, and I think it’s good when I cut a few inches of ginger root in half and throw that in the pot. There are tons of recipes out there, and hopefully you’ll find something you like.
If you hate it, go ahead and make it, but use it in soups and other recipes instead of drinking it plain. Keep trying it; maybe it will grow on you.
How Do You Consume It?
- Drink it like you would a cup of coffee. It’s especially nice on a cold day. Have a cup every morning with breakfast!
- Put it in soups and other recipes. I think it makes everything taste better!
How Do You Make It?
It’s super easy to make. Get a large pot or use your slow cooker. I usually use my slow cooker, because I don’t trust my electric stovetop. It’s either not hot enough or it’s too hot. Some people use a pressure cooker, which makes broth in less than an hour. I haven’t made that investment yet, but it’s tempting.
- Get bones. You definitely want some bones that will provide you will collagen and gelatin. A mix of marrow bones, knuckle bones, and neck bones is ideal, but remember that anything you have will be better than nothing! You can also save bones from whole chickens or chicken legs and wings. Adding chicken feet is a great way to get more gelatin! The bones I used weighed about four pounds, although some of that was meat from the neck bones.
- Optional: Roast your bones in a glass dish in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes to an hour. I roasted mine for 30 minutes. When they’re done, put them in them in the pot. Put some water in your glass dish, and scrape the bottom of it. You don’t want to lose any nutrients! Pour this water into the pot with the bones.
- Cover your bones with water. Be sure to use filtered water. I sometimes buy a gallon of spring water and use that for my broth. Do not add extra water to make more broth. You want the nutrition, and if you use too much water, you’re diluting your nutrients. You won’t get jiggly, gelatin-rich broth, and you certainly won’t get all the benefits.
- Add 2 TBS of apple cider vinegar. This is a must. The ACV helps to draw the minerals from the bones and into the broth. Get the kind “with the mother.” Bragg’s is good.
- Optional: Add chopped up vegetables. I added 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, and half of an onion. I often don’t add any veggies. I think it’s good either way, although it’s nice to get some extra nutrition from the veggies.
- Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce heat. You want a slow simmer. With my crockpot, I start it on high to get to a boil, and then I turn it down to low.
- Remove any scummy stuff that comes to the top. This is impurities rising to the top. You will have much less scummy stuff if you are using grass-fed bones.
- Allow your broth to simmer for at least 8 hours. Many people let theirs go for a couple of days! I have never been able to do that without getting that burned smell, but that may be because I always use some meaty bones. Maybe some people like that flavor.
- Optional: Add parsley or cilantro or other herbs and spices for the last two of hours of cooking. I didn’t end up adding the parsley you see in the picture. I was sleeping when it was time to add it (5 a.m.), so I just left it out.
- When your broth smells ready to you, remove it from the heat and let it cool, at least enough so that you can handle the pot.
- Strain the broth and pour it into glass jars. You can keep your broth in the fridge for a week (maybe a little longer), or it will keep in the freezer for several months.
- If the bones are still in good shape, there are still nutrients there! Freeze them and use them again in your next batch!
- Have a cup of fresh, nourishing, homemade broth!
Basically, you get some bones, throw them in a pot, cover them with water, add apple cider vinegar, and let simmer for 8-48 hours. Throw in herbs, veggies, and spices if you want to. That’s it.
Tips!
- Don’t feed your dog bones from your broth! Cooked bones are really soft and can break into shards. If your dog eats them, shards of bone can tear up their insides. Dogs have died. Be careful. I always take my old bones out to the big outdoor trash can. I don’t want to risk my dog finding them in the kitchen trash and making himself very, very sick.
- If you can’t find grass-fed beef, bone broth from conventional cows is better than no bone broth.
- You can freeze your broth to use later. Some people pour broth into ice cube trays, and then put the broth cubes in a big baggy in the freezer. This makes it easy to get just a little out of the freezer when you need it for a recipe.
- It doesn’t taste the same way it smells.
- It will last about a week in the fridge. If it smells funky, don’t eat it.
- Mark your jars with the date. I sometimes make new broth when I still have broth, and then I get the new broth confused with the old broth. Sometimes I just can’t remember if I made broth this week or last week. The date is helpful.
- There will be a layer of fat in the top of your broth jar after it cools. I have used the fat for cooking, but then I’ve also heard that the extended cooking time might damage the fat, so it shouldn’t be eaten. I’m not sure if that’s right, so I need to do some further research.
- You can use bones from any animal. Cow, chicken, pig,fish, deer, etc. If you are a hunter and you don’t use the bones from your kill, give them to me!
- Add some sea salt to your cup of broth. It’ll taste better, and it gives you even more minerals!
- I heat mine up on the stovetop. Don’t burn your tongue. I just burned mine. Really, about 5 minutes ago. The broth turned out good, though!
Here are some pictures of the process: