Over the weekend, we posted an Instagram photo of the bone broth simmering on Dallas and Melissa’s stovetop, captioned, “Bone broth for A.M. sippin’ is going down in the Hartwig household. Are you intimidated by bone broth? Ask your questions here?”
We knew some of you thought the idea of making your own bone broth was a little scary, but we had no idea you had so many questions! So many, in fact, that instead of answering them all on Facebook and Instagram, we decided to create this Bone Broth FAQ, with everything you ever wanted to know about broth.
Let’s take the intimidation factor out of this incredibly health-promoting food! After this monster question-and-answer session, you should be totally prepared to make your own beautiful broth.
The Whole9 Bone Broth FAQ
What kind of nutritional benefits does bone broth offer?
Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. (The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.)
What are the benefits of consuming a properly prepared bone broth?
Proline and glycine are important for a healthy gut and digestion, muscle repair and growth, a balanced nervous system, and strong immune system. In fact, a study of chicken broth conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the amino acids that were produced when making chicken stock reduced inflammation in the respiratory system and improved digestion. (There’s a reason your mom always made you chicken soup when you were sick.)
The gelatin in bone broth can help to heal a leaky gut, which may be of specific benefit those with inflammatory or autoimmune disorders. These compounds also reduce joint pain, reduce inflammation, prevent bone loss, and build healthy skin, hair, and nails.
Can I just buy broth from the grocery store?
Nope. Broth (often labelled “stock”) from the grocery store relies on high temperature, fast-cooking techniques, which result in a watered down, non-gelling liquid, so you’re missing out on some of the benefits of a gelatin-rich broth. In addition, unnatural additives (like MSG) and flavors are often added. If you just need a small amount for a recipe, store-bought stuff will do, but if you’re interested in the healing properties of bone broth, you have to make it yourself.
Where do I get bones?
Your local butcher, a local farm (ask around at the farmers market), a friendly hunter, your local health food store (if they have a meat department), or order bones online from U.S. Wellness Meats. You can also save the bones if you roast a whole chicken, turkey, duck, or goose.
What kind of bones should I use?
You can use bones from just about any animal—beef, veal, lamb, bison or buffalo, venison, chicken, duck, goose, turkey, or pork. Get a variety of bones—ask for marrow bones, oxtail, and “soup bones.” Make sure you include some larger bones like knuckles, or feet (like chicken feet), which will contain more cartilage, and therefore more collagen. You can even mix and match bones in the same batch of broth—some beef, some lamb, some chicken—but know that will change the flavor. (Most folks prefer to stick to one animal source at once.)
Do I have to get grass-fed or pastured bones, or organic bones?
You should. The animals have to be healthy to impart the maximum health benefit to you, and factory-farmed animals are the furthest thing from healthy. (And we don’t want to encourage more purchasing of factory-farmed animals.) Do your best to seek out pastured chicken or 100% grass-fed beef bones from a local source.
Can I have a recipe, please?
First, there are a wealth of recipes online—just search for “bone broth recipe” until you find one that looks good to you. However, we like the Master Recipe for Bone Broth found on page 274 of our book, It Starts With Food, created by our friend Melissa Joulwan of Well Fed and Well Fed 2 fame.
- 4 quarts water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 large onions, unpeeled and coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots, scrubbed and coarsely chopped
- 3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 2-3 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
- 2-4 lbs. meat or poultry bones
Place all ingredients in a large slow cooker set on high. Bring to a boil, then reduce the setting to low for 12-24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes! Strain the stock through a fine mesh strainer or coffee filter into a large bowl, and discard the waste.
Even if you don’t have a slow-cooker you can still reproduce this recipe on a stovetop, with a large pot on low heat.
Do I have to skim the fat?
Only if you want to. Feel free to drink your broth as-is, but if you prefer a broth with less fat (as we do), then follow these instructions: After you’re done cooking, remove your broth from the heat, and run it through a strainer as usual. Then let your broth sit in the fridge for several hours, until the fat rises to the top and hardens. Scrape off the fat with a spoon, and your broth is ready to go. We think skimming off most of the fat is more important if you’re using bones from animals that are conventionally raised.
What other kind of things could I add to my broth to help with flavor?
Here is a list of vegetables, herbs, and spices you could add. Feel free to mix and match, or invent your own recipe.
- Onion
- Green onion
- Leek
- Carrot
- Garlic
- Celery
- Salt
- Pepper
- Whole peppercorns
- Red pepper flakes
- Parsley
- Bay leaf
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Ginger
Avoid using broccoli, turnip peels, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, collard greens, or mustard greens, as they will make your broth bitter.
Why do you add vinegar to the broth?
Adding an acid (like lemon juice or vinegar) will help to extract minerals from the bones. Use a mild-flavored vinegar, like apple cider or rice wine, as white vinegar may taste too harsh in a mellow broth.
Should I roast my bones first?
You can—roasting will impart a rich flavor and color to your broth—but you don’t have to. If you choose to roast your bones first, place them in a pan in an oven set to 350 degrees, and roast for one hour before continuing with your favorite broth recipe.
Why does my broth look so jiggly?
That’s the gelatin—when cool, it makes your broth look a little like meat Jell-O. No worries—just heat it gently on the stovetop and it will return to a liquid state.
My broth doesn’t look jiggly! Why didn’t it gel?
This article from the Healthy Home Economist lists five reasons your broth didn’t gel, but in our experience, it’s generally one of two reasons. First, you might not be using enough bones (or enough of the right type), or you simply might have added too much water. Bones with more visible cartilage will yield more gelatin. Another common reason is that the broth was not cooked for long enough. The remedy? Set your crockpot or burner to the lowest heat setting and just let it go for at least 8 hours (poultry) or 12 hours (beef)—if not longer. Less than that will likely not draw enough gelatin into the stock from the bones. A good rule of thumb: the larger the bones, the longer you’ll want to cook it.
Can you reuse bones for another broth?
You sure can—Paul Jaminet of The Perfect Health Diet says you can reuse bones to make multiple batches of broth until the bones go soft. (Make sure you use fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices each time, though.)
What’s the longest you can leave bone broth to cook?
Chicken bones can cook for 24 hours, beef bones can cook for up to 48 hours.
What do I do with my broth?
We like to drink a mug of it, just like you would coffee or tea. In fact, a warm cup of broth is a great way to start your morning—try drinking 8 ounces a day, every day. Of course, you can use it in recipes wherever it calls for broth or stock, or turn it into a base for your favorite soup.
How long will broth keep in the refrigerator and freezer?
Keep broth in the fridge for no longer than 3-4 days. It should keep in the freezer for up to a year.
How should I store frozen bone broth?
For an easy addition of small amounts of broth to recipes, store some in an ice cube tray in the freezer. One cube is about an ounce, so recipes that call for 1/4 cup of broth would take 2 cubes, 1/2 a cup is 4 cubes, etc. You can store larger amounts in glass mason jars, but be sure to let the broth cool down before transferring to glass. Finally, make sure you leave enough space in a glass container for the frozen broth to expand—otherwise, the glass could break.
Did we answer all of your bone broth questions? Do you feel prepared to go forth and simmer? Share your thoughts in comments.
References:
- http://www.wisechoicemarket.com/benefits-of-bone-broth/
- http://www.traditional-foods.com/bone-broth/
- http://www.draxe.com/the-healing-power-of-bone-broth-for-digestion-arthritis-and-cellulite/
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/naughty-nutrition/201202/taking-stock-soup-healing-body-mind-mood-and-soul
photo credit: fatandhappyblog.com
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Really great post!! You answered all my questions! Gonna go get my grassfed beef bones from the freezer and get ‘em going! Thank you!
I’m a chili queen – and I can confidently say bone broth has totally revolutionized all my homemade soups and chills. It makes it SO much more savory and tasty! If I know I’m going to cook chili on a Tuesday, I’ll start the bone broth in the crock pot Monday morning so it’s done by Tuesday morning and I can throw it in my “Le Parfait” extra large jars and chill it in the fridge.
Side note – which I didn’t see addressed in the article… DON’T put your broth into glass containers immediately. It’s best to strain it into a large stainless steel mixing bowl and let it cool for 30 minutes before glass jarring! Made that mistake when I was first starting out and had glass “pop” on me.
I typically always skim off the fat – just because it’s fat that’s been cooked/exposed to heat for 24 hours. I’m not usually confident (especially with bone broth made from chicken bones) that the fat hasn’t been damaged in some way. When using bone broth for other recipes that will be heated quite a bit again – better to take it off just to be safe.
Thanks guys!
Noelle, great point! I just added some freezer storage tips to the FAQ. Thanks! Melissa
If you have a large pasta pot that includes the strainer insert, it makes it a lot easier to make broth. Put all your ingredients in the strainer insert, add water, and simmer away. When done, just lift the strainer out of the pot and the clear broth remains. I like to add a strip of kombu to my ingredients for an extra mineral boost.
Love this – Thank you! Just getting into making my own broth. It really is easy! Except, I still haven’t been able to get mine to gel.
If the broth didn’t gel – does it still have most of the nutritional benefits?
Where do the maximum cooking times come from? I have made 72 hour beef bone broth using a combination of knuckle and marrow bones, and it is delicious and QUITE gel-ey!
Valerie, if it doesn’t gel, that means the gelatin has broken down in the cooking process. However, according to Nourishing Traditions, “Even if your stock doesn’t gel it is still extraordinarily rich in minerals and amino acids. It still offers powerful nutrition. It doesn’t have congealed gelatin (which breaks down easily), but it has loads of glycine, proline and other goodies.” So drink away!
Maria, the cooking times came from my general online research, although I’m not sure why you couldn’t cook for longer. (Once the bones go soft, you’re sort of out of benefits in terms of extracting good stuff from them–maybe that’s the reasoning behind a max cooking time.) If 72 hours works for you, keep it up!
Melissa
Do the vegtables used in making thre bone broth add carbs to the broth? Stated differently, dord bone broth made by the Whole9life recipie have any carbs?
I don’t have a slow cooker, so I need to use the stove. What if I can’t leave the stove on for 12 hours? Can I do 6 hours here, 6-8 hours there? Will the broth be the same if I split up the cooking times?
Thanks for this useful article!
This was wonderful. I am still trying to make connections with local farmers. There are still many working farms where we just moved to; however, I do not believe they are animal farms. I really want to make some of this to freeze…and never have to buy broth again. Of course, I would love to find ways to sneak it into everyday food as well. I wonder if you used it when making chili (and proceeded to let it burn off in the pan while cooking), if you would still get the benefits? Would all the benefits burn off or would the meat and vegetables inside the chili absorb the nutrients?
I make grass-fed bone broth almost weekly and have a handy hack/tip for people. (I also second Maria’s question on maximum times – normally I do 3 days for bone broth – does too much cooking impact the nutrients?)
When I make broth I make a HUGE pot of it, and worry that when I stick it in the fridge that it won’t cool down fast enough for optimal food safety. So I divide it up into two slightly smaller HUGE pots, and then throw a quart of frozen broth I made in a previous batch into each pot. It’s like a big frozen broth ice cube, helping quickly cool the hot broth down.
I use the oven set to 180 degrees – nice consistent temperature (not just hot at the bottom) and leave it on for 2-3 days. Great broth, and more energy efficient! I just have to remember to check the oven to make sure it hasn’t shut itself off. Turning the oven off for a few minutes in the morning and turning it back on again does the trick with my range.
Noelle — I mostly agree about not reusing the chicken fat, but with beef broth, SAVE THE FAT! After everything’s solidified, scrape it off and reserve it in a separate container. (It’ll stay good in the freezer for a loooong time.) That’s tallow — one of the best fats for cooking! So delicious, and also, b/c of its highly saturated nature, I think it’s okay to reuse for cooking. I saute greens in it ans also sometimes use it for omelets. McDonald’s used to fry their fries in tallow many years ago, before the vegetarians went nuts and convinced them to switch to veg oils. (Not that any of us eat at McDs, but if you’re old enough to remember when they used tallow, you might know the difference.)
I would even consider doing the same with the chicken fat. After all, that’s schmaltz — the favored cooking fat of old-school Jewish grandmas. :)
Chanlee — divided cooking time is fine. Just make sure that each time you start it up again, you bring it to a boil before you turn the flame back down to low. (Some people say to skim every time you boil, but I don’t think that’s necessary. Maybe just the first 1-2 times.)
I’ve been throwing out the skimmed fat! Not anymore. Thanks for the tip!
My first batch of bone broth (grass fed beef bones) did not produce the gelatin due to too much water, imo.
Question: Can I add new bones to the broth I have, which is still very tasty, and get the highly desired gelatinous consistency?
Amy, I mostly agree with you, but with one caveat–only save and reuse the fat if you are starting with a 100% grass-fed or pastured and organically raised animal. Otherwise, please discard, as there may be unwanted tag-alongs (like hormones, anitbiotics, and environmental toxins from the animal’s diet and environment.) trapped in the fat.
Lisa, I’m not sure I’d bother. The broth you have is still nutrient-dense, so go ahead and consume it, and “transform” bones + water into the nutritious, gelatin-y broth with your next batch. Then you have twice the broth.
Best
Melissa
This is perfect! I finally tried my hand at bone broth last week, unfortunately before reading through this article, and wondered why mine had ended up so watery. Additionally, I finally got a pressure cooker and was excited to make some quickly so I could both drink and use in a stew recipe. However, am I cheating myself by not using the slow cooker method? I went 90 minutes but usually end up letting it sit for another 2-3 hours just because I get distracted easily in the kitchen. I definitely want to try slow the next time when I’m not so eager to use a new kitchen toy.
Kristin, you’re definitely not cheating yourself by using a pressure cooker – Michelle Tam of Nom Nom Paleo even has a great instructional for you! http://nomnompaleo.com/post/16004110328/quick-pressure-cooker-bone-broth
Melissa
I have a question for the bone broth experts…
I finished my very first ever batch of bone broth yesterday and put it in the fridge, today I went for a cup and found it had gelled beautifully – yay! However, as I was watching my mug-o-gel heat up in the microwave I was wondering if this, in fact, negates the benefit of the slow cooking process. In other words, am I ruining my broth by microwaving it?
It still tastes good, so obviously I’m just wondering about health benefits…
Tracy, we aren’t huge microwave fans, but I also don’t believe you are negating the benefits by “nuking” your broth for 30 seconds. However, if you’re worried, it’s really fast just to take a tiny little pot and heat up 8 ounces at a time on the stove.
Best,
Melissa
Hello, such an great article! Im cooking bone broth on wild game. Right at this moment, i’m cooking on deer and red deer. I always get gel when I cook. I use pretty much bone and I make sure all the marrow leaves the bone. I think my fat from wild game if healthy, but I do skimm it with a towel sometimes, guess I will try to get rid of the fat your way this time; with a spoon.
Thanks for an awsome article!
Thank you for sharing so much wisdom. I have bad osteoarthritis in my hip and it seems that bone broth makes great sense as a possible food as medicine. If anyone knows of anecdotal stories involving bone broth and joint health, please do share.
From reading Stephanie Seneff’s research a little, she has really impressed on me how important sulfates are to our good health and what a great source bone broth can be for sulfates. It is especially the gelling component, which is full of sulfates, that appears to be most useful. I just finished writing a book about arthritis, and personally discovered that there is a mouse knockout where a sulfate transporter was eliminated. The result was that the mouse had no cartilage.
So, here is my 2nd question: Which is likely be the source of greatest gelling bone broth ? Beef or chicken ? Knuckles, oxtail, or bone marrow ?
Thank you again for such wonderful material !
Todd
Todd, large bones with lots of cartilage (typically joints) will yield the most gelatin. Look for beef, ox, or lamb bones–if you’re using chicken, you can incorporate a few chicken feet to add more gelatin to your broth.
Best,
Melissa
Sorry, I am not sure if I clicked the email alert, so I am just entering this again. Todd
I found this article that bone broth is a lead toxicity. Can any expert will give his/her reviews about it. High blood pressure, asthma, Hcv patienta nd GERD patient can use it ..Is it safe?
http://chriskresser.com/bone-broth-and-lead-toxicity-should-you-be-concerned
Safia, did you actually read the whole article? He says in conclusion, “It seems to me that it’s quite safe to consume 2-3 cups of bone broth per day. This is likely to be even more true if your broth is made from pasture-raised chickens.”
Melissa
Turkey necks yield a huge amount of gelatin.
For faster cooling, place your big pot ‘o’ broth in a sink NOT full of cold water (displacement); repeat till fridge-ready.
Beef marrow will escape in long cooking so fish out the marrow bones once it’s done, have anice meal of the marrow, and return emptied out bones to cook further.
I made the bone broth with chicken and beef bones. Is it okay to eat the bone marrow when it melts away from the bone? It’s tastes so healing, but not sure if there is too much cholesterol/fat in it to harm. I know it’s a delicacy even in high end restaurants, but is eating it in the broth too much?
Thank you!
Mia, as long as the bones come from pastured, organic animals (raised in their natural environments, fed their natural diets) I see no reason not to eat the bone marrow, or any other portion of the animal, for that matter! You just want to make sure the animals weren’t given hormones, antibiotics, or were exposed to toxins in their environment first, to ensure the fat you are eating is the healthiest.
Best,
Melissa
Are the bones from one roasted chicken enough for the master recipe in the book? I don’t want it not to gel!
Hello all! I love love love bone broth, quick question for you though: Can you eat bone broth cold from the fridge in the “jello” like state??
Always such great info on the Whole9 blogs – thanks for compiling it all in one place!
I’ve been researching ways to clear up my (very) acne prone skin, which led me to the Whole9 Canada article about skin breakouts and consuming gelatin. I just started taking the Great Lakes Gelatin (Hydrolysate). Is there any significant difference between consuming the powdered gelatin versus bone broth?
Bone broth is a great source of lots of nutrients–vitamins and minerals, not just gelatin. So you can certainly consume the Great Lakes stuff (that’s what we use too), but if you can include some bone broth too, you’re getting extra benefits there. Melissa
Do I need to add onion and veggies? I try to hide broth in my toddlers food and sometimes it doesnt go well in everything when I do.
Charity, you certainly don’t have to… but remember, you’re straining out all of the vegetable matter before you serve the broth, so all you’re getting are the nutrients and a tiny bit of the flavor, not the veggies themselves. Melissa
If I cook my bones ( cut lengthwise to expose the marrow ) in a pressure cooker how long should they cook.
Regards kevin
@Kevin, Nom Nom Paleo has recipe for pressure cooking bone broth here – http://nomnompaleo.com/post/16004110328/quick-pressure-cooker-bone-broth
Maybe that will help you?
Question: When you use the carcass from an already roasted chicken, is it ok to leave the flesh on? How much of the meat do you need to remove from the carcass b/c it’s difficult to get a lot of it off. I figured the meat that’s still attached to the carcass will fall off anyway–or is there a safety issue with re-cooking already cooked meat? Thanks!!
@T. – I would definitely check out the Whole30 forum (forum.whole9life.com) and ask this questions and one of our moderators or experienced members can answer this for you.
hi there,thankyou for all the useful info,very helpful to me as i have leaky gut.my question is it ok to add water to the bones as they cook and the water evaporates,even cooking for three hours the water diminishes.not sure what to do.thanks again, diana.
I’ve been wanting to make my own bone broth for a while now. Unfortunately, a fractured elbow has quickly made this “to do” goal a priority now. Do you HAVE to strain the broth before serving? Also, can you use bones that have already been cooked like the bones from a cooked rotisserie chicken?
I have CKD and was told bone marrow stock was very good for my kidneys. However, the minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium) I’ve been told by modern medicine to avoid, as well as protein. Is there any links for me to research the benefits/risks more thoroughly? Thanks!
OK, I cooked my broth for 12 hours and it tasted great. I cooked it longer since most recipes said to cook it for 24 hours. After 24 hours it tasted flat. It certainly did not taste better. ANy ideas why? Anyway to know when bone broth is done?
I have had similar issues. I think it tastes worse as time goes on after the first 12 or fewer hours. I have also noticed it increasingly takes on an unpleasant grainy texture as time goes on as well. Has anyone else noticed this? I think it has conditioned me into undercooking my broth in order to keep it palatable. Is there some kind of trick to cook it for well over 12 hours but still keep it nice tasting and not grainy?
Hi! What’s the nutritional information? Protein, fat etc using recipe similar to balanced bites with beef.. That shows 11g carbs and i can’t imagine that.. thanks!
Can I use a whole chicken to make the broth? Or do I have to boil the chicken, remove the meat, and then put the bones separately into a new pot to boil?
-Thanks!
Yes, you can simmer a whole chicken for 2 hours which yields meat stock, also full of gut-healthy amino acids. Separate the meat for eating and save the bones for further cooking. You can also freeze bones you’re not ready to use yet and boil them later.
You can buy bone broth in Utah at REAL FOODS MARKET.
Hi great website full of information! I would like to know what I can do with the soft bone after. Is it possible to break them down and put them in the garden as powder maybe?
Is it possible to over cook the brothe? I confused beef brothe recipe for the chicken recipe in Nourishing Traditions and let my chicken brothe cook 72 hours . It’s very dark but it tastes ok. Is it still good or did I ruin it by over cooking.?
I don’t think you can overcook bone broth, but the taste can turn bitter if you go more than 24 hours for chicken bones and 48 hours for beef bones. The key is not to overboil it — the broth should barely reach a simmer.
What about the veggies you strain… Are they ok to eat afterwards?
Perfectly OK to eat – though the flavor may be gone.
So I was wandering does drinking broth help clear your acne???
I have just done some great beef broth, about 18 hrs on low slow cooker, the marrow poured beautifully out of the bone, – shall I just have a bit of that a day? or mix into broth? Also there was a whole host of other unpleasant stuff, cartlidge, white soft slimy stuff – Iguess that’s good to eat too somehow? any thoughts on that? thanks
Martin.
You can eat the marrow any which way. The “slimy stuff” is awesome for your body – it helps heal your gut lining, which is the home to your immune system. Check out the GAPS diet protocol which details exactly why these broths are so healing.
I wanted to know how bone broth should be eaten. As a meal? Is it considered a protein or day source?
Thanks!
You can have it many ways – as the base for soups and stews, or as a side in a cup or mug by itself. I like a cup for breakfast with 1 or 2 raw egg yolks mixed in. Very nourishing and creamy.
Hi Whole9, Is there nourishment left in the meat and veg after you’ve strained off the bone broth? I just made an organic chicken and marrow bone broth and what’s left after straining tastes good but I don’t want to fill up on nutrient poor food. Thanks for all the other great info! Victoria
YES, that’s the whole point! The very first FAQ question discusses the nutrient value of bone broth.
I have beef stock that has been in the frig for over three weeks, with NO sign of mold. Is it okay to just boil for a while and then enjoy. I hate to throw it out.
I left a hot pot of beef bone marrow broth out of refrigerator all night , is it safe to continue boiling it and eating it? Could it have formed bacteria? Thanks so muuch for your help!
I leave mine out on the stove overnight while it’s still hot all the time — it’s fine. Just reboil at least once a day.
It’s fine to reboil and eat as long as there’s no sign of mold or weird smell. Usually mine forms a fat layer which seals in the broth and helps it last a few weeks in the fridge. If you’re concerned, you can freeze it which lasts months. Just be sure to use freezer-safe mason jars.
Does anyone have any idea how long it takes for BEEF bones to go soft when used this way?
Can I use a pressure cooker to make bone broth?
Yes V. Check out this link.
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/16004110328/quick-pressure-cooker-bone-broth
Do you think is possible to do a liquid fast with bone broth? It has so many vitamins and nutrients I imagine one would feel wonderful doing this for a few days
Anyone? I’m cooking mine today! Including big fat yummy beef knuckles from the farmers market..
Chris Kresser, lead toxicity, safe to drink 2-3 cups … but that’s not evidence
Weston A Price, breaks it down further
Paleo leap = there isn’t enough conclusive evidence either way and it’s a risk each individual needs to decide upon.
No opinion on this?
I’m curious as there is no safe acceptable level of lead in the body
I’m sticking to vege broths but would love chicken broth but I feel paranoid about lead. Wish I’d never even read about it, ugh!
How about pressure caning this ??? I just got 10lbs of beef bones at locker and I want to make beef bone broth but I do not have freezer space …. So I want to pressure can it …
I have 8lbs in a pot just large enough to cover. I’ve made broth in this pot with only 1lb before.. Should I separate into two pots to make more broth?
Also, I baked before hand and cut off the extra fat and now I’m baking that a Bit longer to eat the fat when it’s hard and crunchy, as were did in England years ago!
I took the marrow our I think before putting into The pot.. Thought I could eat this later but is it more beneficial within the broth?
I did not cook my beef bones long enough, the recipe I read said 8 hours so the broth did not gel overnight. Can I use the broth and try cooking some bones in it again or am I better off starting from scratch again?
Heyy, if the bones haven’t disintegrated you can totally boil again. I read somewhere you should use new water but I’m guessing that’s because you want to eat the yummy broth. With your current broth it didn’t hell because too much water or not enough of the right type of bones that created the gelatin (I forget which.. Knuckles and joints?).
Maybe I’m just lazy, but it seems tough to drink “8 ounces a day, every day” when the stuff only keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Is the suggestion really to find bones and set up a crock pot for 8+ hours every 3 days?
Why not boil a larger batch? I had two large pots on the go for three days. I’ve got three yogurt pots filled with tallow, two with gelatin, three man size mason jars of broth and two filled with bones I was thinking of crushing into meal.
Hi Jason,
I do broth either once a week or every two weeks depending. Right now I’m doing a Whole30 so I have a crockpot of broth on low on the counter and have had it going for almost a week now. I just dip into it a few times a day and replace what I took off with fresh water.
If that’s not your cup of tea (or broth, haha), you can put your broth into mason jars (leaving at least 1-2″ of space) and then throw in the freezer. When I don’t have a fresh crock going I usually take one frozen jar out in the morning, leave it in the drain-tray while I’m at work and then heat it up after dinner. Seems to work alright!
A commercially prepared bone broth shows that the protein content is 9 gm per 8 ounces. I see from the FAQ that is is rich in glycine and proline amino acids and collagen protein. What other kinds of protein (s) are in bone broth, if any? Could this be considered a good protein source for post work out?
Is it necessary to clean the bones prior to cooking them? Thank you.
<3
Scarlett
The first time I made chicken broth it didn’t gel at all. I decided to try beef bone broth. I got a few packages of grass fed beef bones and put them in my crock pot with onion, carrots, celery and garlic, and coconut vinegar along with water to cover the bones. I cooked it on low for 26 hours and then got a delicious broth that is full of gelatin. After the first time I made this I slept much ,ore deeply and longer. I have insomnia since beginning menopause and leaky gut. I’m trying to heal my gut and sleep again!
Scarlett,
If you’re asking if you need to remove the meat first, no. Go ahead and keep that in. Just strain your broth before storage.
Mine did not gel and had tons of sediment. First time- it does taste delicious but does this mean it has less nutrients/health benefits? Used 3 quarts water, 2lb beef soup bone, skimmed fat…..
Hello! I am an avid Whole30 supporter (completed 3 over the past 2 yrs) and follow a paleo diet the rest of the year. I love the information you post but find that I am often struggling to find the research that supports your claims/suggestions….such as the references provided to the health benefits of Bone Broth. None of the references provided are to evidence-based peer reviewed journal articles (and the non-existence of these studies certainly doesn’t mean that you are incorrect) but I think it would be important to be very clear to readers about the state of the evidence rather than just citing other people’s opinions. Again, I really love everything that you stand for and are doing. I think that you could be more transparent about the need for more research in this area and look to reference actual peer-reviewed articles.
I am new to making bone broth. I finally was able to find a grassfed bone source online and from different things I have heard, chicken feet seemed to be a good source , but do I just use chicken feet or do I need necks or backs or something else too? How many do I use? Same with the other bones that I ordered. Not sure how many bones to use to make a good broth.
Darlene,
See above with the weight of the bones for 4 quarts. It’s 2-4 lbs. That should help you with the amount.
Hi, I am thinking about unwanted “ingredients” the pot itself might add to this recipe. I’m sure that trusting one’s pot is essential with the prolonged simmering. I have heard that even many stainless steel or ceramic-glazed pots can have lead, nickel, cadmium or other nasty metals leaching out of them, ESPECIALLY WITH ACIDIC FOODS (like the vinegar and onions in this recipe).
Do you have any tips on making sure our stock pots are not poisoning us?
Kat,
You’ll have to look into the details of your specific pot and make that call. This isn’t something we have a research-based recommendation for.
Just an observation about extracting plenty of gel from your bones. After I cook my bone broth, I leave the bones in the pot and refrigerate the whole pot overnight to 24 hours. Then warm it enough to strain. When I do that, I seem to get about 100% stronger gel in the resulting broth.
I am a vegetarian, but like to make meaty things for my pups. Is there a way to make the bone broth without the onions and other ingredients that are bad for dogs? i usually buy a pre-cooked chicken for my family and once they have eaten enough, I boil the carcass and leftover meat/skin, etc. for the dogs and give them that. Any other suggestions?? Thank you for taking the time to answer when you can!
Christina, you can just skip the onions.
Hi, I have a question for everyone. I’ve been bone brothing for months, mostly with chicken as I always have the bones and our local organic butcher has cheap bags of offcuts and wings that I roast and then throw in.
The last time I did it though, in the slow cooker for a couple of days with a three hour blast of the pressure cooker, my broth didn’t gel at all and there was no fat on top, just a layer of fatty brown scum. I scraped it off and stored the broth, but one worried I’ve down something to destroy the goodness.
Has anyone else experienced this??
Hi Jac – Glad to hear you are making your own broth. Your issue might be due to the three hours in the pressure cooker after a few days in the slow cooker. You also don’t need three hours in the pressure cooker.
I would just choose one method. I usually choose my 8 quart pressure cooker for 45 minutes as in the pressure cooker 45 minutes is really much longer.
I also find that in addition to apple cider vinegar, adding some chicken feet ( I know it sounds weird) makes my broth always gel.
Good luck
Halle
Thanks for your reply.
I grew up in Cambodia so am down with the consumption of feet, but in Australia is it harder to get organic feet and such. I’ve tried to procure them, but they must be supplied to another source somewhere.
I’ve always given the broth a blast of pressure, the process wasn’t different, but the output was. I’ve never not had hard fat on top. This was sludge.
The reason I do both slow and pressure is to get that “perpetual broth” (ie a week) feeling in only two days.
Can you cook the broth too long? But surely the fat would still harden on top?
Awesome article. I make bone broth, mostly chicken, sometimes beef, on a regular basis. I feel so much better when I drink/consume it on a regular basis. I also add some when I cook quinoa or rice for extra nutrition. It’s also great to be able to make fresh soups with real broth.
A few things have noticed during my broth making:
I use an 8quart pressure cooker for 45 minutes. I am too impatient for the stock pot. Pressure cooker works just fine.
I strain and put them in mason jars. I do not skim the fat when I pour them in as it acts like a little sealant layer. You can take it off later when using it.
Broth I will use within 4 days, goes in the fridge, the rest goes into the freezer. I thaw a container or two at a time. There is a line on the mason jars to show you not to fill past that point so they do not break when they freeze. Ensure you let the broth cool off before putting into the freezer so the glass doesn’t break.
I don’t put a huge amount of salt if at all in my broth as I add salt to things i put it in and don’t like super salty food. If you are going to use salt, I prefer sea salt or Himalayan salt for extra nutrients. Just not Morton’s iodized table salt (Yuck)
I buy bones from a local organic butcher. I am lucky to live near access to humanely raised meat and I only eat humanely raised, otherwise I am a ‘vegetarian’. It’s important for me that the animal that I am consuming was raised in a humane and healthy manner. After all I am consuming it. It is worth the slight extra cost if you can afford to do so and the taste makes a huge difference. Grass/pasture raised chickens yield next to no scum. That is how you can tell that the animal was raised in a healthly manner.
Lastly, and I know this sounds weird but I use chicken feet in addition to chicken necks and backs. Yes it looks weird and to some kinda gross but if you can handle it, it will pretty much guarantee that your broth with be lovely and jello like.
Enjoy your broth making. It’s awesome.
First of all, I have trouble affording grass fed beef and organic chicken. Is conventional really that bad for you, I mean there is Simply Raised Chicken, and Hormone free beef. Second, can I use a stainless pressure cooker?
Buy the best meat/bones you can afford. You can use those bones, but don’t include skin or fat. We don’t have a conclusive answer on the pressure cooker question, but probably so.
Hi,
I do what my mothers always did and use a Pressure cooker for the turkey/chicken bones to make a soup base. But someone was telling me at the w/e that high temps destroy some nutrients. is that right ? I have no intention of changing my habits, but I am interested !
Made my first batch of beef bone marrow broth soup using large stock pot on stove top. My recipe called for 6-8 hours of cooking my recipe actually called for organic grass fed oxtail and/or beef thigh bone. To which I substituted the bone marrow. 2 questions…First, is the stock ok to eat? Second question… Is it safe to leave it out to cool 5 hours or longer. (hoped to just put the pot in the refrigerator) I took it off the burner to cool & after 4 and half hours stainless steel pot was still too hot to go in refrigerator. So, I poured it into 2 containers…one was glass pitcher and the other a large plastic bowl. Broth was still very warm.
My recipe called for letting it cool, put in refrigerator and when the fat hardens to remove it and strain the rest to enjoy.
Hope this makes sense :)
Lisa, strain it and let it cool before refrigerating, however long that takes.
Wonderful information! I’ve been making my own bone broth for many years and this is the first website that really answered a lot of questions people to have. I wanted to mention something. Since I am in the “don’t waste anything” camp I wanted to say that when I make beef stock, after chilling and scraping off the fat, I freeze that fat and the next time I grind my own burger meat I add the frozen chunks. Adds great flavor to the burgers. I do the same with the chicken fat when I make chicken sausages. I have also used the beef fat to mix with bird seed for winter time feeding. Thanks for the great site!!
Hope I’m not doing the wrong thing here, but I keep the bones boiling for weeks, an hour or so each day. I ladle off the stock to use in soups, casseroles, to cook rice and quinoa, and top up the water level as I need to. I don’t add any veg but do add cider vinegar now and then.
Vivien, we’ve heard of a sort of “continuous brew” system for bone broth, but as far as I know, it involves removing the broth after 24+ hours on heat and then reusing the bones/veggies by adding more water. We can’t give any specifics about the safety of your method or confirm if it’s safe to use/drink or not. You may need to do more research elsewhere to be sure.
My neighbor told me she makes bone broth by using all the bones left by her family after eating. She roasts a chicken, so has the carcass, and then gathers all the used bones off the table and uses them. What are your thoughts on this?
I buy grass fed beef bones from an organic farm. Usually I defrost them and start the broth right away. However, recently I defrosted the bones and had to put them in the fridge and was not able to start the cooking process for about two weeks. By then the bones were smelling. I washed them thoroughly until the smell was virtually gone. They are cooking in the crockpot now. My question is will the broth be good to eat? The smell as they are cooking is the same as all the other times I’ve made broth.
Richard, sorry we’re not able to give food safety advice at this level!
How long will bones keep in the fridge? (i dont want to freeze them if that is not necessary).
Thank you. My curiosity will kill a couple cows and a few chickens.
After the initial batch of bone broth, how long will the bones stay fresh in the refrigerator for making more batches of broth? I’m assuming the bones will last longer since they’ve been cooked once already? Please advise. Thanks!!
Just made chicken broth (back, necks, and feet). I put half the bones (and half the vegetables) in my crock pot and half in my soup pot on the stove. As my crock pot is small (3.3 quart), I was able to put more water in the stove pot–although the ingredients in the crock pot were all covered. I cooked both for 20 hours. I had difficulty in getting my stove to do a slow simmer; so, when I got up this morning, I needed to add more water to the stove pot. And then, I continued cooking both for another 4 1/2 hours.
When both were finished cooking, the broth in the stove pot was much, much darker and had a much richer taste than the broth in the slow cooker. Any ideas why this would be?
Darlene, maybe a higher temp on the stove maybe? Maybe the crockpot broth needed more time? Can’t be sure.
Thank you so much for this post! What a wealth of information. I never knew there were so many health benefits to the consumption of home bone broth.
My husband and I made our bone broth in our pressure cooker. It just took 3 hours of cook time.
Please help. I went to sleep last night with my bone broth on low. Woke up this morning with it just warm, no simmer. I got it back up to boiling as soon as I realized but is it still safe to use? Its been going for over 24 hours. The plan was to the veggies this morning to finish up. But I want to waste more if this should be tossed.
Thanks!!
Erin
Hi, Thank you so much for the very helpful article. I still have a question though. If I am going to reuse my beef bones for a new batch of broth can I store them in the fridge or freezer for later use or is it necessary to make a new batch right away?
Also, I buy my meat from a local rancher when they sold me a 7 bone roast they said if I roasted it in the crock pot overnight with water and no seasoning I could use that as bone broth is it ok to use the meat on the bones when you make the broth if you don’t add any seasoning?