Making bone broth is one of those things that folks pretty much gave up a half dozen decades ago. At least I don’t know many people that spend their time and energy over a big stock pot, filled with dead animal bones – I do though. Not very often but sometimes when we cook a chicken and almost always when we cook a turkey.
For massive cow femurs and thigh bones it takes a really big kettle and a day or so to get the prize. With birds however we usually settle for about a four to six hour simmer. I take a cleaver and crush all the big bones to gain access to the marrow. That’s about the only work and it’s only a few minutes. After that, it’s just a waiting game. Get the stock up to a simmer; let it burble on the stove for a few hours and await your reward.
Pot of Gold
Good bone broth is kitchen gold. Even the weak, mediocre broth at the grocery store sells for 5 or six dollars a carton, (32 oz). So a big stock pot of bone broth is worth well over $50. In other words, Liquid Gold. It makes the chicken or turkey essentially free, a byproduct of your broth brewing. We freeze it and keep a supply on hand so we’re ready anytime we feel the urge to break out the soup pot.
After we stew the bones for a good long time we remove them and finish with a final simmer of onions, carrots and celery to pump up the flavor profile. It’s not just that wonderful flavor that makes bone broth so awesome either. It’s full of collagen, amino acids, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. In other words, it’s really good for you.
A Powerful Food
It makes your hair thicker, your skin more elastic and your finger nails stronger. It heals leaky gut as well as having anti-diarrheal properties. The quickly absorbed amino acids build stronger bones and muscle tissue. Can you imagine the size of the stock pots are ancestors used to make their Wolly Mammoth or Saber-tooth Tiger Broth? Maybe not, but bone broth definitely dates back to prehistoric times.
Bone broth is perfect for us old timers too. Low in calories, carbs and fat but high in protein and nutrients. I did a 36 hour fast once a week for the month of March, consuming only some bone broth a few times throughout the day and it kept me well satiated. It might not be the perfect food but it’s definitely a powerful food and easily customizable. So break out the stock pot and brew some broth.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~ Hippocrates