“Have you tried making your own bone broth?” My Naturopath asked. Oh crap. No I hadn’t, but it has been on my to-do list for over a year now, if that counts. Yes, I’ve heard of the countless benefits:
- Easily digestible and can help heal the lining of the gut due to the gelatin
- Has a ton of minerals and nutrients that we just don’t get from the store bought version
- Reduces joint pain and inflammation due to the glucosamine and other compounds from the cartilage
- The collagen and gelatin keeps our hair and nails strong and beautiful
- Homemade bone broth is healthier and cheaper than store bought
- Easy to make
Ok, that last one is what got me. It’s easy to make? For some reason I’ve always envisioned it being a royal pain in the ass and taking up way too much time. However, after doing some research and reading “The Bone Broth Miracle” by Ariane Resnick, I realized there’s no down side to trying this out.
My gut sucks, to put it lightly. Having celiac disease which was undiagnosed for quite some time means I haven’t been absorbing nutrients properly for who knows how long which has lead to a lot of unpleasant symptoms. Apparently bone broth can start to heal not only my gut but add nutrients I’ve been missing back into my diet in a healthy and simple manner. Let’s give it a whirl..
(I started off with beef bone broth because I made short ribs in the slow cooker and had those bones readily available.)
What you need:
- Bones. Grass-fed and organic, please. I wasn’t sure which to buy so I asked my local butcher and he gave me a lovely assortment of knuckle and neck bones which I added to my pound of short rib bones. (I just threw those in there because I had them). The butcher sawed them in half so they’d fit in the slow cooker easily. I had about 5.5lbs of bones in total.
- 5 quarts of filtered water. If you are making a different amount, use the ratio 1 pound of bones to 1 quart of water. *Note: Every once in a while I’d add more water into the slow cooker once it evaporated, so that the bones were always covered.
- 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 5 bay leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic *optional
What to do:
- Roast the bones in the oven at 400 degrees for roughly 30-45 minutes (until they are browned)
- Place them in slow cooker and add water, apple cider vinegar, water and bay leaves
- Cook for 36-48 hours on low, adding water when needed so bones are covered and skimming the fat and film from the top as it cooks
- *Optional: Add garlic during last hour of cook time
- When finished cooking, let cool a bit and strain out the bones
- Pour into glass tupperware
- Once it cools a layer of fat will develop on top, this is good! Use this fat for cooking.
Storage: When pouring into glass jars leave an inch or so from the top. Always keep the layer of fat on top if you’re going to refrigerate for longer than 5 days as this helps keep from spoiling. Now I just finished making my first batch so I haven’t stored it yet, but I’ve read that with a layer of fat on top it can be in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you want to keep for longer then put it in the freezer for up to 6 months.
After having mine in the fridge over night, I was super excited when I cut through the layer of fat and saw the this jelly-like substance in the dish– that means it was done properly! 
There are many uses for bone broth. I’m going to start out simple by drinking a cup each day, maybe adding rice and veggies to a bowl and putting some into recipes for some extra flavor. I’m quite pleased with the finished product and how easy it was to make.
Try this and let me know how yours turned out and what recipes you’re using it in!
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