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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Sunday, January 29, 2012

How To Make a Rich Homemade Broth

I have been making a good bit of broth lately since I drink so much of it. So since I have been making it I thought it would be good to share with my readers on how to make a really rich bone broth. Bone broth is great for adding lots of micronutrients to your diet. It is also a great pick me up on a cold day or even after a hard days work. For me it is a great start to my day. For loads of information on the health benefits of bone broths you can check out the Weston Price Foundation website. Here is how I make my broths.

Take a large stock pot and fill it 1/2 to 3/4 of the way with cold water. Then add your bones. If I am doing a beef or venison broth then I roast the bones for about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Just to brown them a bit. This gives a nice rich color and flavor to the broth. After adding the bones I add about a cup and a half of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar will pull calcium from the bones into your broth. I let that sit for a couple of hours then I place on the stove and slowly bring it to a simmer. You don't really want a rolling boil, just a very slow simmer will do nicely. After it has been simmering for about 2-3 hours, I add a couple of carrots chopped up, a stalk of celery chopped up and an onion along with salt and pepper. These things deepen the flavor of the broth. Then it simmers some more. For beef, venison and pork I let the broth simmer for about 8 hours after adding the veggies. For turkey, chicken or rabbit I let the broth simmer for about 4-6 hours after adding the vegetables. The next step is to remove all the veggies bits, bone bits and meat bits from the broth. Let it cool then place it in the refrigerator overnight. The fat will congeal at the top after this and can easily be scooped off. This is a personal preference, I like my broth to be clear. You can leave it and jar it up right away if you don't mind the fat. After getting rid of the fat then heat the broth back up on the stove, jar it up and can at 10 lbs. of pressure for 20 minutes for quarts and 15 minutes for pints. That is all there is to it and you can drink it by itself, use it in soups and casseroles or even cook your rice and pasta in it. Broth is such a wonderful addition to the pantry and your diet. Blessings, Kat

2 comments:

Kelly Cook said...

First question-doesn't the ACV negatively flavor it? I haven't tried with ACV, but have with other vinegars and the broth just tasted like vinegar, not what I was after.
Second-what do you do with the fat? To me, that's one of the best parts (yeah personal preference takesprecedencee here) but I'm guessing you don't just throw it away either.

Kat said...

Typically I don't have too much fat that will set on the top, but I do have a little. That simply becomes a treat to top off the dogs supper that night. Most fat for us has already been eaten or rendered. I don't know about other vinegars but after the long cooking period there is no evidence of the ACV left in the broth. You would never even know it was there. Blessings, Kat