Mineral-Rich Bone Broth
This recipe make approximately 64oz of broth depending on how much water, how much you reduce the broth and how strong you like the flavor to be.
Yield: Approximately 14 servings.
Ingredients
- 4 quarts of filtered water
- 1.5- 2 lbs of beef knuckle or chicken bones or marrow bones (or any other kinds of bones – especially oxtail, which lends added gelatin and a delicious flavor). Chicken necks are inexpensive and also work great.
- the cloves from 1 whole head of fresh garlic, peeled & smashed
- 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (organic, unfiltered)
- 1Tsp unrefined sea salt - or more/less to taste
Preparation
- If you choose, you may brown or roast the bones/meaty bones first in a separatepan/pot if using a crockpot, but this isn’t a necessary step. I don’t normally do it because I don’t find it enhances the flavor – and it saves dishes. You can choose to brown them in bacon fat or coconut oil before putting them into the water in the next step.
- Place all ingredients in a 6 quart crockpot and set the heat to HIGH. (if using a pressure cooker see cooking instructions below*)
- Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce the heat setting to LOW.
- Allow the stock to cook for a minimim of 8 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better!
- Turn off the crockpot and allow the stock to cool.
- Strain the stock through a fine mesh metal strainer and throw away what you skim off.
- Place the cooled stock into glass jars for storage in the fridge (for up to a few days) or pour into freezer-safe containers for later use. (You can freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost a few at a time!)
- When the broth is fully cooled, look for a gelatinous consistency. That means your broth is gelatin-rich! At times, a longer or very hot simmer may break down the gelatin and your broth won’t appear gelatinous. That’s OK! The minerals are still there.
*Pressure Cooker
- Place all ingredients in a 6 quart pressure cooker
- Lock on the lid and turn the dial to high pressure.
- Place the pot on a burner set on high heat.
- Once the indicator pops up showing that the contents of the pot have reached high pressure, immediately decrease the temperature to the lowest possible setting to maintain high pressure (low is normally adequate).
- Let cook for 2 hours
Variations
Use any other kind of animal bones you like – chicken, in fact, will take less time due to the smaller pieces.
Add chopped veggies like carrots, celery and onions for more flavor or variety.
A crockpot makes this recipe super-simple, but you can also use a large stock pot (hence the name) or an enameled cast-iron dutch oven.