How To Make Bone Broth, along with numerous recipes to love, and health benefits your body will love!
Healthiest Bone Broth
What makes homemade broth so healthy for us?
Because it provides the most amount of collagen as you can extract from any other food source.
Aren’t you in need of collagen? I know I am.
My joint pain, my skin elasticity, immune system are all in need of collagen, not to forget my hair!
Why take collagen supplements when nutrient-dense bone broths can be made at home.
A good way to create your own bone broth with flavors you prefer, is to simply get that pot boiling on top the stove and let’s get started!
What’s The Big Deal Benefits With Bone Broth?
Health! Health is the big deal with bone broth. Just for the health of it, here is just a few nutrient rich ingredients to be found in homemade bone broth:
- Calcium – calcium is not just important for the development of our children as they grow, but us adults eventually are faced with osteoporosis as our hormones wane. The health benefits of bone broth for our bones is high, nearly 4% of the daily requirement for a cup of broth, which makes this a good idea for those who have cut out dairy products, which can be higher in calcium.
- Magnesium – contains about 10 mg of magnesium muscle, nerve support and energy production. While lack of magnesium doesn’t often show symptoms, it can increase the risk of high blood pressure and other heart related issues.
- Potassium – healthy heart function, muscle contraction and to balance high blood pressure.
- Phosphorus – is used by the body for strong healthy bones, and animal bones, along with seafood bones are a great source for phosphorus.
- Glucosamine – supports other chemicals in the body that address our joints, tendons and cartilage
- Chondroitin – found in the cartilage, which is great for joint health, by absorbing necessary fluid into our connective tissue. This is found specifically in gristle on animal bones, which makes boiling a Whole Chicken for soups and broths, or even just a bunch of chicken feet, a great way to extract this valuable contribution to bone our health.
- Fish bones are rich in iodine which, when from natural sources, is important for healthy thyroid metabolism, so let’s not just limit bone broth to chicken bones, pork bone broth (you know, from a great smoked ham hock), or a beef bone broth.
Is that ‘big deal’ enough to get you to pull out a big ole pot and get to boiling some bones?
If not, then let’s address bone broth from purely a food and cooking perspective.
Homemade Bone Broth For Our Favorite Recipes
Soups, Sauces, Stews, Chowders, all those things we love to cook and eat, require an important element; broth.
Broth is not just water, broth is what we home cooks use to bring layers of flavor to any cooking liquid.
Otherwise it is just water, which is why I freeze small batches of beef stock or other types of bone broth, for cooking rice or barley in.
Think of all the herbs, spices, vegetables that impart flavor, other healthful ingredients you can toss into a pot of boiling water.
In less than an hour you have both healthful nutrients, flavorful food and benefits we simply forget we need.
Even though the book ‘Chicken Soup Is Good For The Soul‘ was really about creating a comforting meal, just like grandma’s cooking, it really has the nutritional value that old fashioned cooking often does.
Old Fashioned Bone Broth vs Grocery Store Bone Broth
While I am aware of the convenience or grabbing a carton of bone broth from a local grocery store to whip up a quick soup, I want more from my food.
Knowing what I know about the variety of bones, long cooking time and other aspects of a homemade bone broth recipe, I don’t know what love or nutrients went into that carton of broth.
Other than convenience, and probably a lot of water and sea salt, I do know it doesn’t provide the benefits I want for my family and me.
Busy Families Can Enjoy Health Benefits Of Homemade Bone Broth Too
Here’s an idea for busy families that would like to provide a homemade soup; instead of grabbing that carton of broth (made who knows how long ago), grab instead, a quick rotisserie chicken.
Many grocery stores sell them at a fraction of the cost and are already loaded with spices and flavor.
Enjoy a quick meal at home with a few veggie sides, and then toss those leftover bones into a pot of water and boil them down to extract the flavor and nutrients.
This works just as well with a pressure cooker or instant pot; for an instant pot bone broth that cuts the length of time, in half.
Busy Lifestyle Quick Lunch Recipes
When you have frozen broth cubes stored in your freezer, you’ve got the fastest cup of soup for those busy days when you forget to eat.
Pull out a frozen broth cube (you so lovingly made a month ago), pop it into a mug, pour boiling water over it and sip.
Or put it in a bowl, toss in some leftovers from the fridge; like cooked veggies, a few cubes of last night’s meat or fish, some cooked rice or mashed potatoes, and you’ve got a fast and healthy meal in minutes.
Let’s not forget how fast and satisfying a bowl of Ramen noodles is, only ditch the flavor packet (loaded with chemicals), and pop your own frozen cube of bone broth, loaded with flavor.
Bone Marrow – Benefits and Flavor
While there are inedible animal parts, like the bones themselves, those bones have hidden nutrients and flavor tucked inside; like that luscious, fatty and flavorful marrow!
Homemade bone broth provides something you will not get from store bought bone broth, at least not in the concentrated form of homemade; the nutrients from the marrow.
Bone marrow is loaded with the adiponectin hormone (a protein hormone that is produced by fat cells that aid in the reduction of inflammation), chronic inflammation being one of the greatest detriments to healthy humans.
Many of us may not be aware of the bone broth benefits that aid in gut health and the digestive tract, since it is full of glycine which helps to improve the tissues that line the gut.
My daughter has had issues with the digestion of meat, but is able to obtain even more nutrients through simply drinking the bone broth, which she is able to digest.
Meat Bones vs Fish Bones
Making bone broth from just about any healthy creature is going to increase lost nutrients in our own body without popping pills, which can often have the least amount of aid.
While fish bones have about the same nutrients as meat bones, specifically collagen protein, fish bones excel in iodine, a mineral not found in meat bones.
Fish bones are easy to come by if you are willing to do a little extra knife work.
Simply catch or purchase a whole fish, fillet the meat from the fish bone, toss the bone and the head into boiling water with all those herbs and spices and you’ve got a nutrient rich Seafood Stock.
Come holiday season, my family looks forward to the treat of a lobster tail, and a special Galician influenced Lobster Potato dish I make, however, instead of just buying the tail, I use the entire lobster to boil all those nutrients and flavor into a stock I portion and freeze for later recipes.
Purchase a bundle of clams, mussels or other shellfish, and make yourself a pot of fish stock, using the same method as bone broth.
It will provide the nutrient rich gelatin, and marine collagen needed to make healthy bone broth. After all, those shells are the bones of the squishy creatures living inside!
Where To Buy Bones
Please, please, please know where the bones, you are purchasing, are coming from. The last thing you want is diseased bones.
For the most abundant protein in your old fashioned homemade bone broth, you need the best bones you can find.
Look in the freezer section of your grocery store for bones the butcher placed there after cutting and packaging meat. Ask the butcher where the bones came from. Organic is best.
Find local livestock farms that are raising their livestock responsibly, and ask if you can purchase bones after the meat has been prepared to sell.
Local Livestock Farms For Healthy Bones
I once asked this of a local farmer, he looked puzzled, scratched his head and just gave me a bundle of bones without charging me.
Guess he didn’t cook much, however, I later went back for more bones, and his sister did charge me! (wink)
Chickens have the highest rate of leukemia of all other creatures we consume, so take extra care when purchasing chicken for consumption, bones for broth or even the eggs.
A doctor, research specialist and dear friend of mine, just informed me of this last night over dinner. Sure glad I served him salmon!
What To Make With Healthy Homemade Bone Broth
Aside from all those glorious soups and chowders you will make with the bone broth, or simple sips of broth in a mug for a quick pick-me-up, there are a variety of dishes I use my bone broth in.
- Beef Wellington – seared in herbs, encased in a mushroom pate that has simmered in beef broth, an herb crepe, wrapped in puff pastry and roasted to perfection.
- Fondant Potatoes – Fancy French Fondant Potatoes are a buttery, herb crusted, elegant French technique of searing the potatoes on top of the stove and then roasting them in bone broth until tender inside and still crisp on the outside.
- Brazilian Seafood Chowder – Moqueca Brazilian Fish Stew encompasses the velvety texture of coconut milk, the briny scent of the sea from lots of shell fish and/or fish bones, lime, chilies and either yuca of potato.
- Shrimp Ramen – Fish stock, shrimp, bonita flakes and a menage of Asian flavors for a great homemade Ramen bowl in 30-minutes.
- Mediterranean Goat Stew – my twist on an old Irish Mulligan stew, with tender goat meat simmered off the bones, lots of roots, eggplant, mushrooms, spices and wine.
- Maryland Oyster Stew – is the most refined recipe for an Oyster chowder using the liquor from peak season Oysters.
- Herb Turkey Pot Pie – Buttery herb biscuits top this mushroom, veggie herb gravy rich turkey pot pie that will make you forget it’s leftovers.
Each of the recipes above incorporate a meat, poultry or seafood homemade broth, simply because the broth is so easy to make and the flavor enhances every recipe you will make with it.
Ingredients Needed
- Water
- Fresh herbs
- Onions
- Garlic
- Chili peppers
- Apple cider vinegar
- Bones – meat or seafood
- Salt
- Peppercorns
Equipment Needed
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Stock pot with a lid – multiple purposes and lasts for years!
- Slotted spoon – extra large is a must for easy removal of solids from stock.
- Herb cooking infuser – stainless steel holds fresh herbs inside while cooking, for easy removal after.
- Stovetop or burner
How To Make Bone Broth
Equipment
- 10-quart stock pot
- Large slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 4-10 qrt Water enough to cover bones
- 1 Fresh Herb bundle variety or favorites
- 2 Large Onions
- 1 Whole Garlic bulb
- 2 Chili peppers
- 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar *see notes
- Bones – as many as will fit in the pot, beef, lamb, goat or fish as many as will fit in the pot, beef, lamb, chicken, goat, fish bones or shells
- 1 1/2 tbsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Peppercorns
Instructions
- Place the bones or shells you will be using, in a large stock pot and cover with water; several inches below the top of the pot.
- Add the salt, peppercorns, apple cider vinegar, herb bundle, cover and bring to a boil while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- Rough chop the onions, slice the chilies in half, rough chop the garlic (no need to peel), and add these to the pot.
- Once the broth begins to boil, turn it down to low (low boil), and simmer for 1 hour.
- Cool completely. Remove the bones and extract as much marrow as may still be in the bones and add back to the broth.
- Remove all the solid pieces of garlic, herb bundle and onions.
- Broth is now ready to prepare a variety of recipes with.
- Transfer the broth into containers to store in the fridge and freezer. Make sure to add some broth to a few into ice trays, as this makes for a quick small cup of broth to use when cooking rice, barley or just a cup of soup. Once the ice trays freeze, transfer the cubes to a sealed container.
Notes
How To Make Bone Broth – With Recipes and Benefits
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.