7 Instant Steps For Making Basic Bone Broth
It seems these days that every other week there’s some new and exotic super-food bursting onto the market that’s got some insane combination of nutrients and promises to reverse illness and increase your energy levels to that of a 20 year old athlete.
This is not one of those super-foods, however it is arguably the single most nourishing mixture that you can possibly include in your diet, and best of all it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to prepare!
You can literally prepare Bone Broth with the scraps that most people consider waste, namely the bones and joints of an animal and some roughly chopped vegetables.
Dr. Cate Shanahan, the nutritionist for the L.A. Lakers has gotten broth included as a staple among some of the NBAs finest with great results. If it’s good enough for a multi-million dollar athlete you can bet your sweet behind it’s good enough for you and your family.
(Dr. Cate Shanahan, A Vibrant, Integrative Doctor and Author of Deep Nutrition)
Now the entire process can take awhile when you account for the simmering time but in order to help get you started we’ve put together these 7 simple steps that you can take in order to get yourself started.
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Get yourself some bones!
The great benefits gained from broth are locked up in the bones and connective tissues of the animal so of course the first place to start is with getting yourself a few pounds of the highest quality bones you can find. Look for grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, wild fish, etc. And if money is really tight, go to your local Asian market and pickup whatever they’ve got. You might however want to skim off the fat if using lower quality bones as the fat is where toxins are stored in animals and we don’t want to be ingesting more of those than necessary.
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Get Your Tools Ready!
This means getting either a large stove top stock pot, a pressure cooker (for an accelerated process), or a crock-pot/slow cooker. I use a crock-pot and really like it because I don’t have to leave my stove on overnight and can just set it and forget it.
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Roast Dem Bones!
This one is self-explanatory, lay your bones out on a roasting pan, salt liberally with a good quality sea or rock salt (Celtic sea, Himalayan, Aztec, etc.) and stick them in the oven along with some chopped celery, onion, carrots and garlic until golden brown. This step isn’t necessary, however, the flavor that it imparts is well worth it.
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Get Your Pot Hot.
After roasting, throw everything into either a large stock pot or a slow cooker and cover with water. Fill the pot so that everything is 1 inch below the water surface and then add 2 tbsp of raw apple cider vinegar to this and bring it to the point just before boiling. The ACV is going to help extract all the minerals from the bone and infuse the broth with things like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.
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Simmer Simmer Chicken Dinner.
Just before the pot boils reduce the heat and allow the broth to simmer for a minimum of 12 hours with the top either uncovered or partially covered to allow steam to escape.
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Add your herbs and seasonings.
After 12-24 hours you can now add any medicinal herbs or seasonings you wish to include. A basic recipe includes a few bay leaves, 1-2 clove buds, and some dried thyme, rosemary, sage or parsley. Let these steep in the broth for at least 30 minutes.
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Strain and Drain.
Now that your broth is infused with your herbs it is ready to be strained and either bottled for storage, drank straight from a cup or used in a delicious bone broth soup, sauce or gravy. Simply use a large slotted spoon to remove the large pieces of bone and vegetable and then pour the broth through a strainer or sieve to get the smaller stuff. You should be left with a beautiful, golden brown liquid that is absolutely packed full of nutrition and healing power!
If you’re still unsure about what to do then check out this awesome video by Drew Canole of Fitlife.tv for a visual breakdown of a similar process.