BONE BROTH
The Good
• Prep time: 5 minutes • Cook time: 12-24 hours
There is a reason why bone broth has been consumed for thousands of years and why your Grandmothers chicken noodle soup always seemed to make you feel better! Bone broth is rich in vitamins, calcium, magnesium, 19 essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, and provide many other healing substances in an easy to absorb way.
Ingredients
1-1.5kg bony chicken parts
2-4 chicken feet and necks (optional) — although this does provide the best gelatine!
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 celery stalks, roughly chopped
1 garlic bulb, cut in half horizontally
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, lightly crushed
2 bay leaves
Method
Place the chicken pieces in a stockpot, add 5 Litres of cold filtered water, the vinegar, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves and let stand for one hour to help draw out the nutrients from the bones.
Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to the boil, skimming off the scum that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 12-24 hours. The longer you cook the broth, the richer in flavour it will be.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a large storage container, cover and place in the fridge overnight so that the fat rises to the top and congeals. Remove the fat and reserve for cooking or throw away.
The broth below the fat layer should be thick and gelatinous — the longer you cook the bones for, the more gelatinous it will become. Transfer the broth to smaller airtight containers and place in the fridge or, for long-term storage, the freezer. The broth can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
NOTES
Opt for glass Tupperware for the healthiest storage solution. Plastics leach endocrine disrupting chemicals, especially when in direct contact with heat.
Always opt for grass-fed animal bones as this makes a big difference in the quality of the broth and its health benefits. Using conventionally raised animal products could result in a bone broth that contains a high amount of toxins and lower amounts of gelatine. Organic also does not guarantee that the animals were grass-fed so get to know your butcher and ask questions!
This recipe can be adjusted for beef bones as well — bone broth is a good opportunity to use all sorts of bones, cartilage and other parts of animals you would not usually eat. Think bone marrow, skin, feet, tendons and ligaments for their incredible health benefits.
This recipe can also be used in slow cookers or pressure cookers.