Bone Broth

[Molly Bloom]

Recently I was having some cramps, and heavy leg feelings, and my varicose veins were sticking out. I was drinking some tonics with Magnesium, Potassium and Calcium, but realized I needed more.

So I forgot about bone broth. This was something a lot of people were doing in the natural health community. It has loads of potassium and other good things. You can make it out of any bones, beef or chicken.

Does anyone drink this? We slow cooked some for 24 hours with some apple cider vinegar, and have a cup before dinner. It really does taste fantastic.

[SugarPop]

Mmmm, that does sound good. Thanks, Molly.
B

[ravenrose]

I'm not sure if the vinegar does the same thing, but I know cooking broth bones (and I am talking about some attached meat scraps and fat too) with white wine added to the water extracts a LOT more interesting stuff than water alone. Many of the best components are alcohol soluble but not water soluble.

[Monkee]

Never had it with vinegar. I'll have to try that.

[MarcellaSF]

Fawn recommends this!

[Emerald]

Yes I have been making batches of slow cooked broth lately. I prefer chicken over beef. I also add celery then of course strain it.

It really is tasty. You can't taste the ACV at all, thank goodness.

[HerBoudoir]

Cooking bones with an acid will extract more calcium and other goodies from the bones - either vinegar or wine count as an acid :-)

[SugarPop]

I knew nothing about the ACV or wine thing.......I will be making broth this week then...........I need the calcium and I also want something to fill in the times when I really shouldn't have a meal per se, but just want soemthing to taste.
B

[HerBoudoir]

You don't need to add a ton of vinegar to the water, but it does definately pull out more good stuff from the bones :-) If you can crack the bones open and expose the marrow, even better.

[clackley]

Is there a recipe? I would really like to try this!

[HerBoudoir]

Try this one: Grandma's Chicken Soup | HoldTheToast Press

You only need to add about 1/4 cup of vinegar to get the effects.

[clackley]

Originally Posted by HerBoudoir

Try this one: Grandma's Chicken Soup | HoldTheToast Press

You only need to add about 1/4 cup of vinegar to get the effects.

Thank you. The simplicity of it is beautiful!! I love this link and have book marked it for further reading. Thank you.

[Emily-D]

Those are some really good tips about adding acid and cracking the bones open. I'll have to try them.

[metqa]

I didn't know this was anything special. This is how I always make my homemade broths. I never saw the point of boiling meat to get broth cause you end up with flavored broth and flavorless meat. But the bones aren't edible so they are perfect for making broth. I add a bit of vinegar and it makes it into broth gelatin when it cools.

When I bake a chicken, I save the bones in the freezer just for making broth. I save celery tops to add to it also.

It makes the best tasting broth and very thick and rich. I"ve done it with turkey and ham bones as well. I've not done beef bones.

[clackley]

I had a big bone with a little meat frozen, waiting for another 'reincarnation' and used it to make broth today. WOW!!! I have always used the cubes of canned stuff and this stuff is far superior!! Thank you for the help and just the suggestion! I am going to be saving bones from now on.

[Molly Bloom]

I read somewhere that you should roast the beef bones first for more flavor? I saw it and like a flash, I lost it.....does anyone know about that?

[HerBoudoir]

You should roast beef bones before using them for broth...also any onion/celery/carrot that you're adding benefits from some roasting as well.

You can also do it with chicken bones/veg but it causes the broth to come out more brown than you're used to seeing for chicken broth.

[metqa]

I heard that about beef bones also. But I never have beef bones so I've never tried it. Seems like it would come out sickly looking if you didn't, Y'know, you expect chicken broth to be clear and kinda yellow, but if beef broth looked like that . . .

[HerBoudoir]

You can buy marrow bones and oxtails at the store sometimes - ask your meat department. If you're going for higher fat, marrow bones cooked in a beef stew are amazingly good...mmmm...

When I was taking culinary classes, we would get in veal bones by the case, frozen, to make demi glace. Great stuff, but very rich - it's more for sauces than to use as a drinkable broth.

Beef broth (or veal) do take quite a bit longer to make from scratch than chicken broth - it needs to be simmered for HOURS. Typically what I'll do instead is "enrich" low salt canned broth. We had a rib roast a while ago, and I saved the bones from that so next time I want to make beef veggie soup, I'll thaw & roast the bone and simmer a half canned broth/half water + aromatics (onion, celery, etc) type concoction for 2-3 hours as a soup base. Strain; build up the soup; chef gets to pick at the meat off the bone ;-).

OTOH....chicken bones are something that are easier to accumulate since bone in parts are cheap and yes, as mentioned above, you just recycle the bones from the chicken you ate.

Shrimp shells also make a fantastic base for soups like shrimp bisque so if you have the freezer space, save them. It takes the shells from a couple pounds of shrimp to get enough for a good flavor but it is fantastic.

[metqa]

i've done that with shrimp shells also, but I just thought i was strange! Good to know that it is a legitimate use. I wanted to make fish soup but not chicken flavored fish soup so I simmered the shrimp shells and the broth was excellent! Perfect flavor for fish dish.

[pocahontas]

Yep, Fawn recommends this often. A few TBS of ACV, and some good filtered water. I think she also suggests a stick of Kombu for extra minerals. I havent had a chance to pick up any Kombu but I have a chicken carcass going into the crockpot to make broth right now.

[clackley]

I am making another batch today! This time I am using beef 'soup' bones from the butcher which have some meaty parts. I wonder if the meaty parts should be removed after they are cooked through or is it better to leave them on? Thanks for any help.