What is bone broth?
Bone broth is simply broth made from animal bones.
What are the benefits?
Bone broth contains many minerals including calcium and magnesium, the amino acids glutamine and glycine as well as collagen. Consuming bone broth regularly can enhance skin, joints, gut health and the immune system. The glutamine content in bone broth is a very useful component in gut healing programmes especially for those with leaky gut or inflammatory bowel conditions such as Ulcerative Colitis or IBS.
How is it made?
Bone broth is very easy to make. You just need a large saucepan, bones, water to cover plus a few herbs, bay leaf, peppercorns and some acid. Using the left over carcass from your Sunday roast is probably the easiest way to make this but you can also opt to make bone broth out of beef, pork or fish bones. Some butchers will have stock bones available. Some people save up bones in the freezer. If you are using beef bones you can achieve a darker brown stock by roasting these beforehand. Ideally, use organic grass fed animal bones or wild caught fish bones.
An acidic medium is necessary to extract the minerals from the bones. When making broth, always add a splash of vinegar or other acids such as lemon juice in order to extract the most minerals from the bone. Apple cider vinegar is a popular choice. Add in any scraps of leftover vegetables for extra flavour.
Simmer the bone broth for at least 8 hours to yield greater extraction of minerals.
After cooking, strain, season and use straight away or cool down. Scrape off any fat that has risen to the surface. Your cooled broth will be wobbly like jelly due to the collagen content. Once heated it will return back to liquid.
Uses
Bone broth can be drunk throughout the day or used as a base for soups and stews, If drinking on its own it will need some extra flavouring. Popular flavour options include miso paste, crushed garlic and chilli.
Method
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Cover chicken carcass with cold water and add a few peppercorns, herbs, bay leaf and a good glug of vinegar
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Bring to the boil
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Skim off any foam that rises to the surface
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Simmer on a low heat for at least 8 hours
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Strain to remove all of the bones
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Cool and scrape off any fat
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Enjoy!
