Adventures in Homemade Bone Broth

I did a bone broth fast a few months back, with great results. (See my blog post about it HERE).  I’d heard bone broth helps heal the gut by providing a generous dose of gelatin and collagen along with minerals leached from the simmering bones.

Because I’m a busy working mom, I consumed store-bought chicken, beef, and turkey bone broth rather than making my own, that first time around.  The packaged broth tasted better when warmed and seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but it seemed a bit diluted and didn’t have much of that delicious golden fat swimming around the top. Nevertheless, I found it palatable and it definitely helped sooth my gut (and my aching back) when all was said and done.

With this experience fresh on my mind, I prepared a homemade beef bone broth to see for myself the difference between store-bought and homemade. I’m a high school teacher, so I happened to have a bit more free time this summer to give it a go. Following a recipe from my naturopathic physician, I purchased beef bones, leeks, onions, carrots, garlic, celery, and bay leaves (all organic, of course).

Following the directions, I put the vegetables into a large cast iron skillet and roasted them in the oven for about 50 minutes, giving them a nice golden-brown color and releasing delicious juices. I then scraped the bones, vegetables, and juices into a large pot of filtered water, added the bay leaves, and simmered them on my stove top for about 26 hours. The aroma was so wonderful, even my vegan daughter commented that it smelled good!

After cooling the broth I strained it and ladled it into large mason jars to store in the refrigerator. I didn’t fast this time, just simply added a cup or two of broth to my daily eating routine over the course of a week, and boy, what a difference! I warmed the broth and added salt, pepper, and garlic powder again and sipped it from a cup. Delicious!

The homemade version was definitely tastier, but because it was my first time preparing it, it felt a bit time consuming. I’ll have to practice a few more times to get it down to a point where I feel comfortable adding one more task to my already busy schedule, but I’m thinking it will be worth it. I like the idea of using a crock pot in the future, which will make smaller, though more convenient, batches of broth.

The store-bought versions were not as tasty, but definitely worked with my busy schedule. The ease and comfort of picking up a box or bottle of organic bone broth at the local market makes incorporating it into a hectic schedule a bit more doable. Packaged bone broths, even organic, can contain monosodium glutamate, yeast extract, and other chemical flavorings, so it’s important to carefully read labels and purchase for best ingredients rather than lowest price.

I’m excited to try making homemade chicken bone broth next, in the crock pot as I’m back to work in a week.  Experimenting with adding different vegetables, adding no vegetables (just bones), and playing with the amount of vinegar I add will definitely keep me occupied for quite a while! 

Get my recipe and bone broth fast instructions HERE.

Give it a shot yourself and let me know how it goes!

xoxo,

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The Benefits of Bone Broth. (2017, June 14). Retrieved July 26, 2017, from http://nourishedkitchen.com/the-benefits-of-bone-broth/

The Best Store-Bought Broth. (2016, October 18). Retrieved July 26, 2017, from https://fearlesseating.net/store-bought-broth/