Mineral-Rich Bone Broth

Bone Broth is an ancient super-food that our society unfortunately does not use anymore. We’ve now substituted it with MSG, Bullion, and ready-made stock, but as you can guess, these substitutions do not hold the same nutritional value as mineral-rich bone broth. (I’d be surprised if they hold ANY nutritional value at all!) Chicken Soup is considered a cure for the sick, but if it’s made with MSG, it’s doing more harm than good.

I suggest making it at home! It was actually really easy to do. I got the recipe from Balanced Bites, and made the broth in the afternoon and then left it overnight (about 15 hours), then I added carrots, celery, onions, cilantro, zucchini, butternut squash, and grassfed beef into the crockpot so I could eat it as a complete meal. Here’s how to make it the broth:

INGREDIENTS

This recipe make approximately 64oz of broth depending on how much water, how much you reduce the broth and how strong you like the flavor to be.

4 quarts of filtered water
2 lbs of beef knuckle bones or marrow bones (or any other kinds of bones – especially oxtail, which lends added gelatin and a delicious flavor). Chicken necks are inexpensive and also work great. Ask your local butcher if you are unsure – We purchased ours from Wholefoods.
Cloves from 1 whole head of fresh garlic, peeled & smashed
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (organic, unfiltered- I likeBragg’s brand) – Vinegar helps to extract the calcium
1Tsp unrefined sea salt – or more/less to taste (I like Real Salt)

PREPARATION

Place all ingredients in a 6 quart crockpot and set the heat to HIGH.
Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce the heat setting to LOW. (it will take a couple hours to reach a boil)
Allow the stock to cook for a minimum of 8 hours and up to 24 hours. The longer it cooks, the better!
Turn off the crockpot and allow the stock to cool.
Scum will rise to the top – carefully remove this layer with a spoon.
Strain the stock through a fine mesh metal strainer and throw away what you skim off.
Place the cooled stock into glass jars for storage in the fridge (for up to a few days) or pour into freezer-safe containers for later use. (You can freeze it in ice cube trays and defrost a few at a time!)

When the broth is fully cooled, look for a gelatinous consistency. That means your broth is gelatin-rich! (Look below for the benefits of Gelatin) At times, a longer or very hot simmer may break down the gelatin and your broth won’t appear gelatinous. That’s OK! The minerals are still there.

You can drink stock any time of day, before or after meals, or use it as the base for soups and stews! Perfect in any recipe that calls for broth.

GELATIN HEALTH BENEFITS

Gelatin was found to be useful in the treatment of a long list of diseases including peptic ulcers, tuberculosis, diabetes, muscle diseases, infectious diseases, jaundice and cancer. Babies had fewer digestive problems when gelatin was added to their milk. The American researcher Francis Pottenger pointed out that as gelatin is a hydrophilic colloid, which means that it attracts and holds liquids, it facilitates digestion by attracting digestive juices to food in the gut.

Gelatin, in properly made broth, helps the body use protein in an efficient way. Stock contains minerals in a form the body can absorb easily—not just calcium but also magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and trace minerals. It contains the broken down material from cartilage and tendons–stuff like chondroitin sulphates and glucosamine, now sold as expensive supplements for arthritis and joint pain. (source: wapf.org)