There are a lot of different approaches
to making bone broth. The most common is either cooking the broth on
the stove on in a slow cooker for 8 to 24 hours. Heck, a friend of
mine cooks his bone broth in the slow cooker for two days. The idea
behind the length of cooking bone broth is to get all of the goodness
(minerals, gelatin, marrow, vitamins) out of the bones and vegetables
and into the liquid. While both of these methods are simple, time
tested, and effective, they are painfully slow. There is however a
faster and more efficient way, and that is to use a pressure cooker.
As a homesteader, gardener, and canner,
my wife and I have a variety of pressure canners, however most of
them are quite large, 12-quarts or larger. However, a few years ago
we bought a 6-quart Instant-pot electric pressure canner. This is our
go to bone broth making machine as it allows us to make awesome,
nutritious, and delicious bone broth in about 2 hours. So, in just
two hours, (after the pressure cooker gets up to pressure) the
pressure will leech out all the collagen, marrow, minerals, and
vitamins locked into the bones and veggies that would typically take
a stockpot or slow cooker 24 hours. So for us, using the Instant-pot
is optimum choice.
Typically, whenever we roast a chicken,
or buy a rotisserie chicken from our local supermarket, I save the
bones and put them in the freezer, once I get about two or three
pounds of bones, I put them in my Instant-pot pressure cooker and
make bone broth. The best bone broth however comes from when we
butcher an old laying hen which is no longer productive. Typically
and older hen is a “tough old bird” hence the saying, and they
are relegated to the crock pot or slow cooker in order to make them
edible. In addition, an older chicken tends to have more fat (at
least ours do) which is something we are looking for in a low
carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) / Ketogenic (Keto) bone broth. Having
said that, if all you have are bones, and or a couple of whole
chickens you got on sale at your local supermarket that will work as
well. Anyway, let's get on with making some awesome bone broth.
My Recipe
I will say upfront, the best bone broth
comes from cooking one or two whole birds and reserving the cooking
liquid and then after you have deboned the carcasses for other meals,
add the bones back to the cooking liquid and add the remaining
ingredients. Making bone broth this way gives the final product a
depth of flavor that cannot be beat. However, many people make
excellent tasting bone broth with just leftover bones.
2 to 3 pounds beef, chicken, pork, or
rabbit bones
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of raw apple cider
vinegar, with the Mother
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
mirepoix, optional (see below)
Place bones in your electric pressure
cooker and add the remaining ingredients. Add enough water until the
pot is ¾ full (my instant-pot holds 4 liters, so I fill it with
liquid to the 3 liter line).
Chef's Note: Typically, you
should allow the bones to sit in the water with the vinegar for 30
minutes. The idea is that this allows the vinegar to begin to soften
the bones and helps to leech out the minerals into the broth. This
increases your cook time, and to be honest, I do not think that it
matters when you are using a pressure cooker, so I generally skip the
additional wait time.
If you are using an Instant-pot
electric pressure cooker, Select the 'Soup' button and change the
pressure setting to 'low'. Then set the cook time for 2 hours (120
minutes). When the timer is goes off, unplug your Instant-pot and
allow it to depressurize naturally.
All that is left to do is to strain the
broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard the bones and or any
vegetables or herbs that you may have added to the pressure cooker.
Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. We like to store some of
our bone broth in individual one cup portions and the remaining in
glass Mason canning jars. (Yield: 2 quarts)
Chef's Note: Most of my bone
broth comes from chicken or rabbit bones (we raise both for meat). If
you have a good supply of beef, lamb, or pork bones, then roasting
them in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 – 35 minutes really kicks up
the flavor profile. To see how to roast bones for bone broth see
below.
Roasting The Bones
Beef, pork, and lamb bones when roasted
in the oven adds a depth of flavor that you just do not get from
simply boiling the bones. The great thing is that it only takes about
half an hour to take your bone broth to the next level. To roast the
bones, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees then place the bones in a
roasting pan in a single layer, and lightly coat them with olive or
canola oil and place them in the oven and set your timer for 25
minutes. When the timer goes off check the bones, they should be a
deep rich brown color. If they are not, then roast for another 5 –
10 minutes.
Once the bones have been roasted to
perfection, toss them in your stockpot of pressure cooker. Now
another key to developing great flavor is to take a small amount of
hot water and add it to the roasting pan after you have removed the
bones. Then take a wooden or plastic spoon and carefully scrap all
the bits from the pan (aka fond) and add them to your stockpot or
pressure cooker.
Mirepoix (The Vegetables)
I will be honest, I keep my bone broth
pretty virgin, just bones, water, salt, pepper and a basic mirepoix.
However, if you want to throw in some additional odd vegetables or
herbs please feel free to do so. In classic French cuisine, the way I
was trained, when making beef, chicken or fish stock you would use a
mirepoix (combination of onions, carrots, and celery). Which you
would either roast with your bones or not, depending on the type of
stock you were making. The amounts of vegetables used varies
depending on the amount of stock or broth you are making, but the
ratio stays the same, 2 part onions, to 1 part celery, and 1 part
carrot. So for this recipe, my mirepoix contains a variety of
leftover vegetables (ends and pieces) of onions, bell pepper,
carrots, and celery that I keep in a plastic one gallon zip lock bag
in my freezer. These are the trimmings from when I do any prep for
our family meals (waste not want not). If you do not have any
trimmings, then for this recipe I would suggest 1 cup diced onion,
and ½ cup each diced carrots, and celery (a total of 2 cups of
vegetables)
Of course, you can leave the veggies
out and just make the bone broth without them and you will still have
a delicious and nutritious broth. Having said that multiple studies
show that the majority of the minerals found in bone broths come from
the vegetable matter, not the bones that is in the broth. So while
bones alone are good, bones and veggies are better.
Think of this base recipe as a blank
canvas and you are the artist. You can add so many different
vegetables, herbs and aromatics to this basic bone broth depending on
your personal tastes. Some of my favorite additions in no specific
order are: garlic, ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, red pepper flakes,
thyme, rosemary, kombu (dried seaweed), and Korean red pepper paste
(gochujang). The skies the limit, so experiment and enjoy your
creations.
What If Your Bone Broth Tastes Weak?
Well, the simple answer for a basic
stock would be to cook it down until the water content is reduced to
about one-third, or one-half. The quick solution however, is to enhance your
bone broth by adding some powdered chicken or beef broth. I can hear
you now, some of you are screaming 'NO!!!!!!', but yes, I will on
occasion add a small amount of powdered bouillon to my bone broth if
it needs it. I prefer the Knorr brand, but use whichever brand you
prefer. If the idea of adding powdered bouillon offends you, then do
not add it to your bone broth and simply simmer your broth until it
reduces enough to concentrate the flavors to your liking.
Conclusion
There you have it. My fool proof recipe
for a delicious and nutritious bone broth that you can make in less
than three hours from start to finish. Not only is it great for those
of you who are on a schedule of intermittent fasting, it is an
excellent source of fat which helps you to increase your fat intake
while you are on a LCHF / Keto diet. Bone broth contains
electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus),
and collagen (which contains the proteins glycine and proline), which
are found in all land animal bones. There is, still no specific
scientific research that supports the many of the health claims made about
bone broth. In fact, the current limited scientific evidence suggests
that many of the health benefits that are attributed to bone broth
are simply false. As I often do, I have included many of the
references I examined while writing this article so that you can go
and do the research the possible benefits of bone broth and come to your own conclusions.
The bottom line, I like bone broth and
it is a good source of natural fat, and if like me you are on a LCHF
/ Keto diet, or do any intermittent fasting (IF) then bone broth is
an excellent way to add fat to your diet without any unwanted
carbohydrates. In addition, many proponents of IF advocate and or
allow the limited use of bone broth during the fasting period. And
last but not least, bone broth is an excellent base for making
homemade LCHF soups. As always, we ask that if you have found this
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