How to make bone broth
Is anyone else tired of the long list of illnesses floating around this winter?! I know I am. It feels like a full-time job keeping my family healthy. I’m loading everybody up on extra vitamins, minerals and supplements, not to mention a super nutrient-rich diet of a grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken and pasture pork.
And yet, despite my best efforts, we’ve been hit by a couple of sicknesses. Now, I count myself lucky that we haven’t had much and none of it has stuck around long. But while I spent a long night nursing myself and my five-year-old back to health, I found myself thinking of bone broth.
I’m sure you’ve at least heard mention of it. It definitely seems to be gaining popularity. You can buy it in most grocery stores, but it’s important to carefully read labels and avoid things like MSG that are many times added to broths.
I’ve been thinking of making bone broth for probably three years, but it seemed like a daunting task in my mind. Especially since I broke my pressure cooker this summer, which is what I had used for years to make chicken broth in.
But being sick of, well, sickness, I decided to finally give it a go. I do after all have the luxury of having beef bones on hand most of the time. We carry and sell five pound bags of beef bones as well as beef shank and oxtail, two cuts that are also used regularly when making bone broth. You can see the marrow in the beef bones, and if you know anything about bone broth, the marrow is where it’s at.
Before I jump into how to make it, let me take a minute and talk about WHY bone broth is so good for us. Up until a few years ago, I had never even heard of it, let alone knew of its health benefits.
Here is the short list of the good things in bone broth:
Minerals — calcium, magnesium and phosphorus
Vitamins — A, C and K
Collagen — for joint health
Antioxidants — supports the immune system
Electrolytes
Not too shabby, huh? It can help with everything from inflammation to digestion to joint health to better skin, not to mention helping someone when sick. You can drink it straight or add it to just about everything.
So I dug out my five pound bag o’ bones and decided to give it a try. First, I thawed the bones overnight. When I was ready to start, I preheated the oven and spread the bones out on a cookie sheet (my first mistake) and roasted them for 30 minutes. At about 10 minutes, I heard the spitting and sizzling in the oven increase in volume and took a look, to find the oven was smoking. This makes sense as the bones have quite a bit of fat on them as well. In order to avoid an oven fire, I took them out and put them in a deeper roasting pan and covered loosely with tin foil.
I opted to make my broth in a crockpot, but you could also do a stockpot on the stovetop. Once the bones were golden, I took them out of the oven and added them to the crockpot. I then added 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan and scraped up any fond stuck to the bottom of the pan, pouring the whole thing over the bones.
To the crockpot I added carrots, celery, onions, bay leaves and apple cider vinegar. I filled the crockpot to the top with water and set it on high to bring it to a boil. Once it started boiling, I turned the crockpot down to the simmer setting (“Keep Warm” on my crockpot) and let it go for about 36 hours. I checked on it from time to time to make sure nothing was burning.
Once the broth turned a rich, golden color, I turned the crockpot off and strained it using a cheesecloth. I would consider trying something else next time as this was a little messy. Part of my precious broth landed on the floor! I recommend spooning out the pieces of bone and bigger pieces of vegetables first.
After straining, I let the broth cool completely. Then I spooned off the layer of fat that separated on top of the broth. From there, I decided I wanted to can my broth, so I heated it back up on the stove while I got my pressure canner going. Since this post isn’t about canning, I’ll skip the details here. Except to say, we consumed the broth so fast I don’t think canning was necessary. I couldn’t simply stored it in mason jars or really any other storage in the fridge for immediate use. I got about 1 quart and 1 pint worth, with a splash left over.
Since that’s all pretty general, here’s the recipe. I adapted it from White Oak Pastures recipe.
5 lb. bag grass-fed beef bones
2 small-medium size onions, quartered
2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 stalks celery, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Place the bones in a deep roasting pan and cover loosely with tin foil. Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes until golden brown.
Remove bones from the oven and add to a crockpot or stockpot. Add 1/2 cup of water to the roasting pan, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon for any fond. Pour the water mixture over the bones.
Add carrots, celery, bay leaves and apple cider vinegar to the pan.
Cover to the top with water and bring to a boil.
Once broth is boiling, turn it down to a simmer for 24-48 hours.
Once the broth is done, scoop out the larger pieces of bone and vegetables. Strain the broth through a cheesecloth.
Cool the broth completely.
Scoop off the separated fat.
Store and enjoy!
Hopefully my mishaps will spare you some. Wishing you happy bone broth making and a healthy rest of winter!