So maybe you think drinking a broth made out of bones is gross. To be honest… I did. I was naive and back then, I didn’t think twice about what was in the broth that I’d buy at the store. At least when you make your own, you know you’re using healthy bones from healthy animals. Now, things are different. Forget bag lady – I’ve become a bone lady. I’m proud of it too. I buy bags of bones (cheap!) from local farmers and whenever I buy local and organic cuts of meat, I’ll sometimes buy bone-in and save those too. More bones = better broth = beauty. So what is bone broth? It’s a mineral-rich soup – with plenty of gelatin and collagen. It’s good for your gut and for digestion. It can also help with joint pain, thyroid issues, and can help remove toxins. Here’s a good breakdown for why you should drink this stuff. You can make many types of bone broth: Chicken, Fish, Lamb, Goat, Beef. For this particular bone broth recipe, I used beef marrow bones. Marrow bones make your broth a beautiful and rich dark brown color. Grassfed beef marrow bones are more expensive than regular grass-fed beef soup bones, but any bones will work for bone-broth. I cook beef bones for a long while (45 hours) and add water to the crockpot as the broth is cooking. I make sure the water level is slightly above the bones – I don’t add too much water because I prefer a concentrated broth. That way, I can just drink a little and (hopefully) get a lot of benefits. I’ll say though, in the winter, I don’t mind drinking a lot of this stuff. When I make this broth, I like to first parboil the bones. By boiling bones (with a little white wine – a tip from my godmother, Mailan), you can hopefully remove or reduce impurities and scum from the broth. I think it also helps get rid of some of that bone smell. Dump out the water, rinse the bones, and put them in a slow cooker. Add spices or vegetable scraps and then pour enough water to slightly cover the bones. I set beef bones in the slow cooker and cook on low for about 45 hours (you can try anywhere from 10 hours to let’s say 48 hours). Occasionally check on the broth and if the water level goes below the bones, just add a little more water on top. Strain the broth, put it in a container, and let it cool. Then put it in the fridge for several hours or overnight. When you take it out of the fridge, you’ll notice a layer of fat on top. Underneath the fat, you should see what looks like beef jello. Should you save or toss the fat on top of the broth? Some people save the fat and use it for cooking. Some throw it away citing possible toxins (if you’re making a chicken bone broth – the fat on top could be high in polyunsaturated fatty acids so you may want to toss that). Our paleolithic ancestors probably ate the fat. Really, it’s up to you. Here’s what I do – I leave the fat on top of the broth until I’m ready to use it or ready to store it in the freezer. Then, I toss the fat – it’s not my cup of tea. If you want to freeze the broth then I suggest scooping the jello into ice cube trays. Once they freeze, put them in a ziplock bag – it’ll take up less space than a container. Once you remove the fat, you can warm up the jello and drink it up. If drinking broth isn’t your cup of tea, then use it the way you’d use stock in any recipe (i.e. stir-fry, curry, stew, soup). I recently used bone broth to braise some veggies. It was amazing. Bone broth adds a rich beefy flavor to your food. You can check out this book called, The Gelatin Secret. It’s loaded with information about gelatin, including why it’s good for you and how it might help gut health. The author offers troubleshooting tips for making bone broth and provides delicious recipes on how you can incorporate more bone broth into your diet. Like this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board now so you will remember to make it later!
