Bone Broth 101
 

Let's talk all things bone broth!! I searched, and there's no thread with any of this information all compiled together.

I make bone broth with soup bones from my butcher - sometimes they have meat on them, sometimes not.

I plunk it in my slow cooker, add a bunch of water, a couple big glugs of ACV, a head of garlic and a tablespoon of Real Salt. I put it on Low for 24 hrs or so, then let it cool and strain it. I usually make soup right away and only end up freezing about 1 ice-cube tray of the broth, but I'd like to use it more often since I've learned about it here on gcm.

I feed the meat to my toddler and use the broth to make soup. I've cooked some veggies in the broth before, and stir fry is yummy when you add some broth. But that's about it.

I'm intrigued by crushing the bones and using them for things - the bone in my last batch was crumbly after about 12 hours but I gave it to the dogs. Whoops. Now that I know you can use the bone, the one in this batch isn't getting crumbly at all even after 24 hours! :doh
How do you use the bones?

Hit me with everything you do with your broth!!

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

:cup (of warm broth) Following along.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

:popcorn

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I've only made it once. :giggle but I loved how it turned out!

I used this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwHQ0...e_gdata_player

Basically, I roasted the bones until nice and golden brown, plunked them into a stock pot. Added a little salt, some bay leaves, and balsamic vinegar (the acid helps pull the minerals from the bones). Covered the bones with cold water, and brought it to a boil. Then I turned the heat the the lowest setting and let it simmer away for 3 days. The video says you can cook it for 5 days, but I did less. I think I read somewhere that it should be at least 2. :think


Anyway, it was soooooooo delicious.:yum I'd like to try making bouillon sometime, too.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------

Oh, and I did give the bones to my dog. :yes

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I do the same, sometimes I roast the bones sometimes I don't. It just depends on how much time I have. I do not grind the bones in either. Does it make that much of a difference nutritionally?


Jen- how does one make boullion? Is there a link to a how to? I use chicken boullion a lot and would love to do a homemade version.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I just have such a hard time even finding bones. We dont have an old fashioned butcher here and the ONE grocery store that still deals with bones will not sell them or give them away. There is a wonderful but pricey grassfed beef place that sells the bones but they are costly.. One other little family ownedmarket has them sometimes but dont even like to get meat here.........

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What kind of bones do you use for beef broth? I have only done chicken and turkey so far. I can get knuckles from my grocer, would that work?

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

kids are up gotta run :popcorn

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I don't think it makes a difference nutritionally, I just think it adds taste and color. :shrug IMO everything is better roasted!

The video I linked has directions to making bouillon. :yes Basically, after you've made the bone broth and scooped out the tallow, you make a reduction with the broth. :) that's it!

I just get beef "soup bones" at the grocer. I hear knuckles make great bone broth. :yes

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I'm in the same boat. I can figure out chicken or turkey bones, but I have no idea what kind of beef bones and where to get them.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I think also getting "marrow" bones works. :think

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I am IN LOVE with chicken bone broth. I make it once a week, and use half for soup right away and half for ice cube trays. I cook everything with the cubes these days. Rice, veggies, pasta sauces, taco meat, hmmm...can't think of anything else. Oh wait, I add it into mashed potatoes.

I want to try beef broth next. :yes

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I did do a beef broth after we had a whole rib roast for Christmas one year. It was a very good broth :yes but obviously rib roasts are expensive to buy just for the bones :giggle

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I've read that marrow bones are suppose to be very healthy (or is it the same as other bones?). I buy my beef bones from the hfs and I use chicken carcasses after a roast chicken for chicken broth.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

mamacat, that stinks that you can't find any! Knuckles are good, but most places you just ask for soup bones and they know what you're talking about.

I'm going to poke Joy. She made ground-up-bones-popsicles for her boys. :tu And I want to know more about it!

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

We get grassfed beef from local farmers and have never paid more than $1/lb for soup bones.

Another tip I learned years ago, when chopping celery or carrots instead of throwing away (or composting) the ends or celery leaves, chuck them into a ziplock in the freezer. When you have bones, you already have the celery, carrots and onions to add to round it out. I strain that out with the bones when I'm done simmering.

I also add whole peppercorns to the pot while simmering.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Great tip on the peppercorns!!! My mom taught me the freeze-veggie-scraps trick. I do garlic trimmings too. One tip, though, is do NOT do that with broccoli or cauliflower. It is GROSS. :sick

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Or turnips! ;)

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Oh yelch! That would be gross, too. :)

Cate, sounds like you're a broth pro!! I bet you'll love beef broth. :tu We haven't eaten chicken in years...haven't found a good source for it yet. We decided we'd get our own, but I'm ensuring that DH has the portable pens made first. :giggle I'm craving some chicken. I bet the broth would be fabulous. :tu Boil me up some chicken feet; yeehaw!!!

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I only do chicken right now. We eat a chicken for dinner, pick the extra meat off afterward for another meal, then I toss the carcass in a pot, cover it with cold water and a couple tbsp of raw ACV and let it sit for a while (an hour or two?). When I start getting ready for bed I toss in my veg (I keep celery, carrot, garlic, and onion scraps in the freezer like ncsweetpea mentioned :yes) and some salt and pepper (maybe a tbsp of salt, 1/2-1 tsp of pepper?) and turn it up to a boil, covered.

By the time I'm ready for bed it's usually boiling so I uncover it, give it a good stir, and re-cover it, turning the temp down to a simmer. I simmer it all night (~12 hours) and then the next day I strain it into a bowl, chuck that in the fridge and the next morning skim the fat and freeze or use the broth.

One thing that I have been wondering - why do we skim the fat? :think

We use broth to make gravy, soups (obviously), rice, lentils, and my toddler loves it just in a straw cup as a drink! It's an awesome thing to take along in the car when she doesn't want to eat "real" breakfast! I also keep it on hand because she will eat *anything* as a soup, so if she doesn't like the dinner I made I'll pour some broth in her bowl and make whatever it is into "soup". :shrug We've reinvented many a meal for her that way. ;)

The one time I tried doing bone broth in my slow cooker, the broth reduced down to almost nothing after 24 hours and my crock got all icky. :doh I don't know what I did wrong... :think Maybe my slow cooker isn't big enough?

---------- Post added at 08:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:22 PM ----------

Chicken feet are supposed to make the BEST bone broth!! :tu

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I just did a few days of perpetual bone broth. :tu I do like others have said in the crock pot. Then after the first 18 - 24 hours I scoop out about a quarts and replace with water. I keep doing this until the broth is pale yellow for chicken broth or just paler for beef broth.

I got several quarts and several pints from the last batch.

Oh, we get our beef bones when we get our 1/2 cow. I just tell them I want the soup bones and freeze until I am ready to use them.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Great advice!!!! How great that you can give broth to your dd that way and she loves it! I will have to try my Pip. Great tips!!

My broth reduces a lot, too. So when you do it on the stove, it doesn't? I think I will cover my crockpot with tin foil and *then* the lid - then the steam won't escape.

---------- Post added at 06:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

Oh I didn' tknow that about perpetual broth!!!!! Exciting. I'm going to do that RIGHT NOW! I just had the broth sitting there cooling. Gonna go scoop some out - yipeeeeee!!!! Thanks Michelle!

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Stiina, my broth on the stove reduces by about half in 12 hours and I get about 2 quarts yield. In the crockpot, there was literally about a cup left after 24 hours. :doh :giggle

I've totally been wanting to try perpetual bone broth too, Michelle, thanks for reminding me of that!! That sounds like something that really needs the crockpot (having my stove on for days at a time doesn't sound like such a great thing right now!) so I'll have to get that figured out first. :think The tin foil under the lid could be a great idea Stiina, update us on how it goes! :tu

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I don't skim the fat. You're supposed to? :shifty

BTW, I made chicken and dumplings with chicken bone broth, and it made the thickest, yummiest "gravy" ever. Mmmmmmmm......:heart

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Oh boy. Mine didn't reduce THAT much!!! :roll that's a concentrated bullion you had!!!

Got my perpetual broth going now with tin foil on top.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Great thread! I was surprised with all the GAPS people there wasn't one already when I went looking a few months ago. :giggle

I mix some tomato paste with water and spread it all over the bones, roast for 45 minutes at 350F, then put them into my water bath canner as it's the largest pot I have. I add scraps for about 4 carrots, 2 onions, 4 celery stalks, 3 garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and a handful of peppercorns. 1/2 cup white vinegar to help leach the minerals, and fill with filtered water so it's about an inch over the bones.

I simmer for a couple days with the lid on, strain, and immediately put into the fridge. The fat hardens on the top once it cools, so I crack that off and throw in a bag into the freezer to use in cooking (I don't bother boiling it down and straining further).

I reheat the broth on the stove, pour into jars, and pressure can for storage. That likely breaks down some more of the nutrients, but I don't have room in my freezer as we get our meat in bulk and fill up the deep freeze with that. Or I reheat and simmer with a bunch of spices so it's all flavoured and can that in smaller jars for quick gravy making if I just want some on my potatoes or whatever. That's a great idea about freezing some in ice cube trays! I'll have to do that next time.

I don't have access to chicken bones though :( Apparently you get a ton more gelatin by throwing a chicken foot into the beef stock. I'd love to make chicken stock too.

Does anyone make fish stock? What does it taste like? Is it really fishy flavoured, or does it just take like a stock?

What about moose stock? My inlaws will probably shoot a moose this fall as usual, and they just throw the bones away. I could get them for free. Would it be any good?

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I throw the bones in the crock pot with water and then ignore it for a couple days. Well that's not entirely true, because I pull broth from it for food so if I see it's low then I add water.

Mines not gelatinous upon cooling, but it's not like the minerals go anywhere - only the water evaporates out. I jut add more water. IMO it must equal out. Surely :think

I love a good bone broth - justmandy told me her recipe. A few whole carrots, celery stalks, garlic cloves, onion, and whatever that pack of fresh herbs is in the produce department. The mixed pack, not the individual packs. Well that might not be Mandy's exact recipe, but that's a good one nonetheless.


I don't add Acv. My husband doesn't like it.


I set my large bowl in the sink and then put my colander in the bowl and pour the whole crockpot contents in and just lift out the colander and shake it off a little to strain.

I don't skim off the fat.


I've been making completely unseasoned broth (from unseasoned roast birds) for the kids. I've hidden it in coconut flour cupcakes and chocolate milk :shifty I also used my blendtec to crush some bones in with unseasoned broth, strawberry flavored coconut kefir and a dribble of honey to make Popsicles. The crushed bones will add extra nutrients (you can also do perpetual broth to the point that the bones just completely dissolve away, or at least I've heard) and the bones also make the texture thicker/creamier. You can use the bones to make a super nutritious homemade ketchup. I think joysworld was making ketchup for her kids from tomato paste and puréed bones and organs and skin. :tu

---------- Post added at 10:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 PM ----------

You can sub broth for water in pretty much any recipe. You can try subbing it for milk but it would just take some playing around with.

I boil the kids peas and carrots in it. I also discovered if I boil one head of cauliflower with a pound of diced turnips in bone broth and then mash it, it's a delicious sub for mashed potatoes. Oh man :shifty now I'm hungry.

---------- Post added at 11:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 PM ----------

Just want to add my kids love the crushed bone brothcicles and eat them almost every day.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I have at least one if not 2 crockpots of broth going at any given time. First i make a 4ish hour meat broth. and then another 4 hour one. This is what i add to squash and and cook carrots in and C looooves his squash with about 50% broth added. I was kind of thinking to change my user name to Squash Soup if i wouldn't have to explain that 50 bazillion times.. Then proceed on to bone broth. I let that go for a day or two, adding in more bones if I have them or just starting a new batch depending on how used up the first bones are. I used to add carrots, garlic etc, but now i just make it plain. I go through more broth than actual chicken meat. :shifty And that's including that a friend saves all her bones for us. I give the bones to the dog but sometimes C asks for bone pate. he made some tonight. he only asks when there is a physical reason his body needs the extra help I guess because detoxing uses a lot of extra minerals. today the pollen was insanely high and he asked for some. which could be why he is faring far better than I am with the pollen.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

:popcorn so I don't lose this thread.....

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

I just throw the bones in with some veggies, ACV, celtic sea salt, and let it simmer 48-72 hours. By then the bones are crumbled, the veggies are mush or not there anymore, and I just strain it. (The dog loves whats left.) I usually have to add a little more water a few times. When the broth is done, it is very concentrated, and can be diluted by half. I try to throw it in everything, eggs, rice, veggies, it's even been in their breakfast cereal and smoothies.
We do this too. They like carrot soup also.

:yes I found a butcher who sells a 40 pound box of chicken backs. I use those to add to whatever bones I have.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Wow...and I thought I simmered mine for a long time at 3 hours! :)

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

got two packs of bones at the store today. cant wait to get them going :grin

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Good luck!!!

So my crock pot still evaporated quite a bit even with the tin foil. So I alternated it between low and "warm" a few times throughout the day and that seemed to help keep it slowly bubbling rather than a rapid boil. I have had trouble with stuff burning in my crock pot before and I guess now I know why - the "low" setting is quite HOT!!

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

What are bone broth benefits?

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Minerals

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Gelatin. It's easily digested and helps heal your gut. Wut!

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Like the others said, it is very good for the gut and the minerals are better absorbed than from a supplement.

It is also so flavorful! I love it in mashed potatoes, rice, gravies, all kinds of things. It gives my kids a boost of nutrition and they don't even know it. They can be picky so I like to sneak things in while I can.

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Yeah, I do the alternate between low and warm thing too.

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

Oh thank you :cup i wanna do this when i get the power on out here

Re: Bone Broth 101
 

What's your broth storage method, dear friends? COnsidering setting up a broth cubes system.