How to make bone broth

The best bone broth is the kind that is a jelly like consistency when it has cooled – this means that it has a high gelatin content.  The best way to achieve this is to use as many bones  with cartilage as possible – the bony bits of the animal.  In chickens this is the neck and the feet.  In beef you want to use the knuckles or tailbones (known as oxtails) and also the marrow bones.  Always ask your butcher to cut your beef bones in half so that you have access to their bone marrow and so they can fit in the pot easier.  Bone marrow was like nutritional gold back in the cave man era, and is still valued as a sacred, energy giving food by many native cultures today. It is nutrient dense, extremely healing and can assist with stem cell regeneration.  It’s also creamy and rich and delicious!

There is a bit of discrepancy as to what is a broth and what is a stock.  To be honest, I call them both the same thing.  To me a broth and a stock are when the vegetables and meat bones have been removed and you are left with the liquid.  If you leave the vegetables and the meat from the bones in the stock, then this is what I would classify a soup.  And then of course you can also add any other veggies and meat you want to your soup for flavor and variety.

Here is a basic recipe for bone broth

You can make this broth using any bones you like.  The most common ones are beef or chicken bones, but you can use fish or lamb or pork or veal or a combination of whatever you have.  It is a great practice to get into freezing your leftover meat bones so that you can make them into broth once you have enough.  Just remember if you are getting beef or lamb bones from your butcher to always ask for them to be cut into small chunks so the marrow is exposed.

2- 3 kgs of meat bones

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

1 onion

2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar – this is a key ingredient as it helps draw the nutrients from the bones

2 tspn peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

Cut carrots, celery and onion into chunks.  Put all ingredients into a large stock pot and pour in enough water to ensure all ingredients are covered.  Place pot on the stove top on a medium heat until the water comes to a rolling boil.  Then reduce the heat right down to a gentle simmer and leave uncovered.  Leave broth to simmer for a minimum of 4 hours for chicken or fish, 12 hours for beef or lamb.  I try to leave my beef broth for around 24 hours, you can turn the stove top off and leave the pot covered overnight and then turn it back on in the morning if you don’t feel comfortable having it on while you are sleeping.

Leave the pot to cool slightly before fishing out the bones and other ingredients or pouring through a colander.  This would be the perfect time to slurp all the delicious creamy marrow out of your bones   Leave broth to cool down completely.  The fat should settle on top of the broth once it is completely cool.  You can scoop this off and put it to one side and use it for cooking with.  This is known as tallow and is very nutritious.  I store mine in the freezer and just chip off a chunk when I need it.

Your bone broth is now ready to use as you see fit.  You can freeze some in ice cube trays so that it is handy for adding to your cooking.  I store two thirds of mine in the freezer and keep some in the fridge.  I try to drink one cup of bone broth a day, usually at lunch time or around mid-morning.  I just scoop the jelly into a mug and heat it in the microwave.  We add our broth to soups and casseroles too.  We always seem to have a pot of soup on the go at our house, and there is always soup on hand in our freezer.  We even eat soup in the summer time.  It’s such a highly nutritious cheap and easy meal.