Protein

How to make bone broth in a crock pot and pressure cooker!

Yes, believe all the hype. Bone broth truly is an elixir of life. People are drinking it left and right, making it homemade, buying it in the store, finding powder potions. It’s almost replaced coffee!

Ok, that was a bad joke not to be joked about. Coffee still stands first place in my book.

But really, get on the bone broth train/wagon/horse…ALL THE THINGS. Because it’s at the station and the steam engine is a rollin.’

Yea, I don’t know if I’ve ever been good at those whatever you call them. Anyhow, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. BONE BROTH.

You probably want to know all the secrets and benefits of the broth so I’m going to tell you just that.

Bone broth is incredible for gut health. Did you know that 70% of our immune system lies in our gut? So by drinking this you are building up your immune system. This is why we all hear that chicken noodle soup is the best when you are feeling sick because back in the day, they knew the benefits of the slowly, simmering chicken stock! So kick the canned soup to the curb cause it ain’t got nothing on this stuff.

Your gut will thank you as bone broth helps break down proteins making it easier to digest food and build up good bacteria called probiotics.

Another popular word you may have heard is collagen. That is a protein that makes up the lining the GI tract which is important so that food particles are digested and won’t cause acid reflux, IBS and leaky gut syndrome. Another important word is gelatin (hello gelatinous bone broth!) which is the breakdown of collagen. The gelatin in bone broth contains amino acids arginine and glutamine which is beneficial to your skin rebuilding connective tissue, improves muscle building and keeps your immune system strong!

As the bone broth slowly simmers (or cooks in the pressure cooker!) minerals are extracted from the bones such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and other essential nutrients (source). Bone broth has over 19 essential and non-essential amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins (source). What we get is amazing gelatin to protect our joints, repair cartilage, promote heart health and bone density. Also, many people report back saying how amazing their skin and hair looks due to the collagen forming elastin, which is what keeps our skin looking young!

I’ve made the bone broth two ways. The first way you can make it in the crock pot. I like to leave mine low and slow for at least 30 hours. Another way is using a pressure cooker. You can obtain the same results in two hours. It’s just a personal preference on which electric pot you have!

After you let the bone broth cool, make sure you keep the fat from the top because you can use that in cooking. Just put it in a small mason jar and refrigerate it using it up within a few days. There will be some moisture in the fat so if you want a longer shelf life you’ll have to render it (similarly to making ghee). Otherwise, I’ve skimmed the fat off, melted it down and poured it into silicon ice cube trays (see below pink tray!) and then stored it in the freezer. When I want to cook with the fat I just pop one container out and use it in the pan.

I like to store my bone broth in these silicon molds because it makes for easy storage in the freezer. Then, once they are solid frozen, I pop them out and store in baggies in the freezer. I’ll take a few out at a time and heat them up in a pan on the stove top for some yummy sipping bone broth! Or you can put a few in your veggies to steam and also have amazing stock for soups and sauces!

If you are planning to use up the bone broth within a week, just store in a medium size mason jar in your fridge. Don’t worry about getting all the herbs out of the stock you’ve made, it continues to add flavor! You can buy your bones at a local grocery store, but make sure they are organic grass-fed beef or chicken bones that you are using. Or what I do is buy a whole organic chicken and cook it, then debone the chicken and save the bones in the freezer and use them when I’m ready.

And if you are making beef or lamb broth, it’s a great extra step to roast the bones to enhance the flavor. If you are making chicken, turkey or fish stock then it’s ok to just put it straight in the pot. And remember, don’t be afraid to use those necks and wings from the chicken!

You can add vegetables into the mix like an onion, garlic, celery, or carrots to boost the flavor and extra nutrients. Then a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and filtered water into the mix and you are good to go!

Just look how beautiful this full jar is. And how beautiful it could be sitting in your fridge! I know it sounds intimidating to make bone broth all by yourself, but now you know, it’s easy and really so much cheaper to make than to buy.

Here’s to your new days of sipping this golden elixir of life!