Stacy GallagherHomemade bone broth is a delicious addition to anyone's nutritional program. It has great versatility in amping the flavor of simple, basic ingredients. I was drawn to it to aid in calming and healing my gut. Years ago I was led to the Weston A. Price Foundation and began an informative education on tools that I could use to help me. As a Crohn's sufferer I found that the only two options offered for healing by modern medicine were drugs and surgery. I understood that this pathway only masked symptoms and did not get to the heart of healing.
Years later bone broth is a mainstay of my diet along with raw milk kefir. I avoid all nightshades and sugar and stick to a highly regimented routine of organic meats, grains and vegetables. Below is a general guide to fats and carbs.
Why Make Homemade Bone Broth?
Bone Broth is an ancient elixer that has transcended time and made a resurgence into the American diet. Out of necessity and survival Ancient man used all parts of the animals they killed. They boiled what they could not use for clothing or tools extracting the maximum amount of nutrients from their prey. Over the centuries Bone broth has become a staple of many different cultures who tout its digestive benefits.
Sally Fallon's first book, "Nourishing Traditions," and the Weston A. Price Foundation were responsible for changing my views on food. It was finding these resources a little over 10 years ago that started me on a journey to gain control over the severe food allergies that had appeared as an adult. Ms. Fallon is a leader of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a group dedicated to promoting the benefits of preindustrial food and cooking. Dr. Price was an early-20th-century dentist who became preoccupied with the effects of traditional diets and postindustrial diets on dental health, as well as health in general. The foundation was the first to provide cutting edge nutritional information that defied the conventional food pyramid recommending a ridiculous 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta and conventional wisdom concerning the dangers of saturated fat. Although there are few reliable studies on the medicinal effects of broth, the foundation has done analysis that shows it may provide benefits for inflammatory diseases, digestive problems and even dopamine levels. This group is truly independent as it does not rely on any government funding for its research.
How to Make Homemade Bone Broth in a Slow Cooker
With this method my broth of choice is made from beef bones, but the procedure outlined below can also be used for pork, chicken or fish bones. The only difference would be the amount of cook time required to leech all the nutrients from the bones. The rule of thumb is the larger the bone the longer the cook time.
First thing to do is to find a great local butcher who can help you with your bones, especially the beef and pork bones. Our butcher cuts a great big knuckle bone for me at $.50/lb and then I add rich marrow bones at $1.99/lb. Total cost for the bones is $6.54. There is a fat cap that coagulates on top of the broth when refrigerated that can be used as a cooking lipid. This is very much true for the beef and pork, but not so much for the chicken.
The next step in the process is to roast the bones to release more flavor into the broth. I roast my bones for 40 minutes at 450 degrees flipping the bones at the 20 minute mark. While the bones are roasting I cut up the vegetables I plan to add to the stock. These include: 2 carrots, 1 leek, 1 medium onion, 3 bulbs of garlic and thyme. I am a huge garlic and thyme fan. You can cut back on the garlic and add any other herb that you like. The vegetables that are added will melt down to mush by the end of the cooking process and strained out of the final product.
Now it is time to assemble the individual parts into the crockpot. I place the roasted bones into the pot with 2TBS of apple cider vinegar (helps break down bones). Then I add 6-7 cups of water just enough to cover the bones. Lastly I add the veg. I use a Crockpot, Smartpot, 6 quart slow cooker with preset cook times. It makes the process of making stock super easy. There are two high settings for 4 or 6 hours and two low settings for 8 or 10 hours. I start my broth on a 4 hour high setting and then 4 subsequent 10 hour low setting sessions. When a setting is done the Crockpot will go into warming mode. I found this helpful if I miss my timing somewhat as it keeps the cooking going. According to comments on Crockpot's site this model runs hotter than most which was a detriment to their cooking goals but an advantage for mine.
A better Crockpot model for this task would probably be the Crockpot, 6 quart programmable slow cooker because it gives you more flexibility in your timed cycles. It is considered a Amazon Best Seller. Check out the link below. Either will get the job done!
So now that my broth has cooked for 48 hours it is time to strain out both the bones and veggies. I let mine cool for a couple of hours before attempting to pull the crock out of the warming sheath. I use a bowl with a pouring spout to make filling my half gallon canning jars quick and easy. My strainer is 8 inches in diameter which gives me a good amount of capacity in the straining process. I remove my bones with tongs and set them aside. The bones should look somewhat disintegrated. I use a slotted spoon to remove the veg and put it in the strainer. I can get a cup or more of broth just from the veg. My recipe yields almost a full gallon of broth.
Below are some essential tools for the straining process. These are Amazon affiliate links. You can also pick up these supplies at your local Walmart. I use my strainer and porcelain pouring bowl multiple times a week for both broth and raw milk kefir.
Pour the nutritious and delicious broth into half gallon canning jars. You should let the broth sit and come down to room temperature before putting the lid on and refrigerating. When you pull the broth from the fridge you will have a combo of broth and a thick fat cap. As I mentioned earlier the fat cap creates an amazing cooking lipid that can be used to saute. I have found the fat is infused with a deeper flavor than the broth itself.
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Hi thank you for informing me about homemade bone broth, I never knew about this and you make it so easy to create your own. I bet its pack with alot nutrients. So do you drink this on a regular?
You are very welcome! Bone broth is amazingly nutrient dense. I drink a cup or two everyday to help keep my digestive track running smoothly. It is a very important part of my overall diet. I hope you give it a try!
Stacy,
I was completely absorbed by your post on bone broth, a very dear friend and her adult daughter have suffered terribly with digestive problems for as many years as I can recall, they’ve been plagued by an inability to absorb nutrients from their usual food intake, even though they had to all intents and purpose a very good diet.
Quite simply their gut was not working as it ought.
Not so long ago my friend found out about bone broth, for all I know she may well have read about it here, that’s beside the point, she started making her own broth in much the same way you describe here.
To great results, she has regained vitaility and appetite. I’ve noticed her complexion is much improved as well.
She would tell you, even her ability to think has improved, remarkable isn’t it?
She has encouraged her adult daughter to do the same. Unfortunately this hasn’t panned out as well. Not because it wouldn’t work (I think) but more so because there seemd to be an unwillingness to embrace it. This is, I’m sure, tied to her preferance for a vegetarian diet.
How does one handle that? I imagine it’d be quite difficult for a vegetarian to approach this sort of dietary solution, would it not? Do you have any recomendations in that regard?
I would love to know your thoughts on those points.
Thanks once again for your article.
James
The bone broth has changed my life as well. I did some research on vegetarian broth for your friend’s daughter and found this information – https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/ask-expert-vegetarian-bone-broth. It gives great ideas on which veggies to use for specific vitamins and minerals. I hope this information helps. Please let me know if this information is helpful.
Stacy
Thank you for that link, I’ll send it on to my friend. I’ll be sure to drop by and let you know it goes.
James
James,
Please do let me know how it goes. The owner of the barn where I board my horses is also a vegetarian so I printed out the information for her as well. Have a great day!
OMG, what a great article and recipe for making bone broth. Bone broth is a super duper tonic to strengthening of our body, really healthy and good and far far better than the ones in the super market. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, will forward it to others as well.
Sarah,
Thanks for the read! I appreciate you passing my ideas along.
Hi Stacy,
An interesting way to make bone broth at home. I usually use pork bones as the base for making soup but never make it the way you shared. Roasting the bones beforehand? This I must try.
Thanks for sharing the goodness of bone broth.
Sharon
Thanks for the read! I think the roasting makes a taste difference.
Stacy