Friday, November 20, 2015

Beauty of Bone Broth ~ Some Stock Talk, Tips and Canning Too!


"Science validates what our grandmothers knew. Rich homemade chicken broths help cure colds. 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."
~ Sally Fallon Morell, Author of Nourishing Traditions

One of the most healthiest and frugalest ways you can feed your family this fall and winter is to prepare large batches of bone broth. The stock is also a way you can use up all those veggies and scraps you have sitting in the crisper drawer (a veggie saved is a meal earned!). This rich broth can be the base of all your winter soups giving all your meals a nutritional boost! It can be the golden liquid used in place of water to make all your rice dishes spectacular and healthier. It can be the base for that simmering pot of beans. It can be cooked down into thick and flavorful gravies. It can also be ladled as-is into a thermos to keep your husband warm and nourished during those frigid winter days (beef tea if you will)!

“Good broth will resurrect the dead.”
~ South American Proverb



Bones and Your Budget {and Second "Stock Tip"}

You can either collect every single bone (the good, the bad and the ugly) when butchering like we do, you can buy the bones rather inexpensively at the local butcher shop and/or, you can save them from your regular "meat" meals (yes, even after you have cooked up a roast or turkey, you can still re-use those bones! I will actually collect the bones after a meal of oven-fried chicken... from the plates (yes!). There are so many health benefits to these bones that I can't control my frugal self). Also, you can make a few batches of broth with the same set of bones. It is called "second stock".

"SECOND STOCK is made from the meat and the bones that remain after the first stock is strained off. More water is added to the remaining material, and this is then cooked with vegetables, which supply the needed flavor. Such stock serves very well for adding flavor to a nutritious soup made from vegetables or cereal foods."
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 3 by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences



Homemaking Hints

Something you can do along the way is label a freezer container with the words "broth scraps". Every time you have an end piece/peelings of vegetable or something that is about to expire, add them to the freezer scrap bag. You will have a nice collection of flavor and vitamins when you are ready to boil those bones!

Another step which adds richness and depth to the broth is to roast your bones first (unless these are bones you have saved up from already-made meats/poultry which have already been roasted). I line a large roasting pan with parchment paper for easy clean up and lay out the bones in a single layer for best results. Put them in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. Now, they are ready to be simmered into a sensational stock! 


Three Ways to Prepare

To prepare, fill up your stock pot about 1/3-1/2 of the way full of prepared bones (we use beef, lamb, turkey and chicken) and your choice of vegetablesI added onions, garlic, carrots, celery, peppercorns, Italian seasoning, pink salt and a bay leaf this time. You will also want to add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar*. Next, fill the remaining of your pot with fresh, cold water. Let this sit for one hour. The vinegar (and sitting) will help to pull the minerals from the bones. Now, bring this to a boil and let it simmer on your lowest setting for at least 8 hours or more (the longer the better and up to 24 hours). 

You can also place everything in the crock pot and let it go all day and all night if you choose. What I have been doing recently for instant gratification is using my pressure cooker. Being we have a propane stove, fuel is something I try to conserve. The pressure cooker will make a beautiful broth without comprising its nutrients in 45-60 minutes (depending on how "strong" you want the stock).

*Note: Our stock pot is 16 quarts. If yours is smaller, use half the amount of vinegar and so on.
As you simmer the stock, skim the broth when you see undesirable foam appear. You don't want to eat that. When the simmering time is up, simply strain the stock so it is nice and clean.


Removing and Recycling the Fat

Place the pot of strained broth in the fridge overnight and skim the fat the next day (it will rise to the top and harden making it easy to remove). The fat, also called suet will make your birds very happy this winter (perhaps that will be a future post)!



Ready to Eat, Freeze and/or Can

Your bone broth or stock is now ready! You can either use it up right away, freeze it in freezer-safe containers or you may want to can it in your pressure canner (it is unsafe to can stock in a regular, water bath canner).


To pressure can your broth, bring your strained stock back to a boil and ladle into sterilized jars leaving 1" headspace. Place lids and rings on jars and pressure can pints for 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure and quart jars for 25 minutes at 10 pounds pressure (do make sure to check your altitude to see if longer canning times are recommended for your location). While the finished jars are cooling, it is important to keep them away from cold drafts or the jars may break.


Homemaking Hint

Our large stock pot is 16 quarts. We filled it with approximately 1/3-1/2 high of beef bones and veggie scraps. By the time we were finished simmering, straining the broth and removing the fat, our yield was approximately half of the stock pot. This produced 7 quarts of canned broth. Therefore, If you have a 14 quart capacity pressure canner like we do, you may want to make two batches of broth each time in order to pressure can a full batch.



Just think that many are throwing away their bones and veggie scraps. They are missing out on a pantry or freezer full of valuable, golden, nutrient-dense stock! What the old you would have tossed in the trash, the new you sees as a food possibility and your family will be tremendously blessed by it (via the budget and health to the body)!

"Properly prepared meat stocks are extremely nutritious and contain minerals, cartilage, collagen, and electrolytes all in an easily absorbable form. Also, meat, fish, and chicken stocks contain generous amounts of natural gelatin, which aids digestion and helps heal many intestinal disorders, including heartburn, IBS, disease, and anemia. Science has confirmed that broth helps prevent and mitigate infectious diseases. "
~ Jordan S. Rubin, The Maker's Diet


Some "Stock" Talk {For Further Reading}

Broth is Beautiful by The Weston A. Price Foundation

Broth and Stock from the Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther


How to (Pressure Can) Homemade Broth by The Prairie Homestead

"The Maker's Diet" by Jordan S. Rubin

"Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon Morell

36 comments:

  1. I have never added apple cider vinegar in my broths... Thanks for the tip Jess.

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    1. You are welcome! Have a wonderful weekend! :)

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  2. My blessed JES
    your advices are always so very precious to me ...
    I've never tried to preserve broth more than for a few days in the fridge, just to remove fat, thank you for suggesting to preserve it in the freezer !

    Sending love, hugs and blessings on the end of your week
    Dany

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    1. It is so worth it to have a surplus in the freezer! :) Have a lovely weekend Dany!

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  3. The last time I made chicken stock (with 4 carcasses) I purposefully reduced it so it would fit in a quart jar then froze it. I was certain I'd remember to use it when we had company and needed extra stock. Well, by the time I was ready to use it I'd forgotten how strong it was and poured the whole jar of stock into a pot of Italian Sausage soup for just Goodman and myself. My was it extra tasty!

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    1. Great story! Glad I am not the only one with the "good" memory! These things seem to have to me often! :)

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  4. Homemade broth is so nutritious and just plain good too. Great idea about having a broth scrap bag for the freezer Jes. I have always cooked my broth on the stove top and simmered but next time I think I will try your suggestion of using my pressure cooker.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to visit! I think you will like the quickness of the pressure cooker broth! :) Have a lovely weekend!

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  5. Jes, wonderful ideas! Thanks so much for sharing, Lynn

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment. Have a lovely weekend! :)

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  6. I have been putting apple cider vinegar in my broth, but I didn't know I was supposed to wait an hour before cooking. Thanks for this information! When I am making stock, I save the fat that hardens on top to make soap! Of course, I process the fat once more to get it really clean, but if you make lots of stock, you will get lots of fat and can therefore make lots of soap. :-)

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    1. Excellent tip Vickie! Thank you for sharing! Soap has been on my list for some time and I hope to try it VERY soon! :)

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  7. I just started making bone broth during the summer, so this is a helpful post for me, JES. I haven't ever tried canning yet, but it is something I would like to do. Thank you for sharing your knowledge :-)

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    1. While the freezer is great, we often run out of space so the canning can be a real blessing! Thank you for taking the time to visit here today :)

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  8. This is such a good post on this; I have never canned it before, but I do freeze mine. But the canned version looks so pretty. I can attest to the health benefits of homemade broth. I need to remember to make a turkey broth for soup as we are getting a fresh organic one this year!
    Hugs, Roxy

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    1. Oh yes! You will want to get every benefit from that lovely bird! Thank you for taking the time to share here today. Have a lovely weekend! :)

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  9. Well hello there, Jes!

    I have never thought about doing a bone broth before. And to think I have been missing out on all the nutrients this broth provides.... Thank you for all the wonderful tips. I must try a batch soon!

    I hope you have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
    Hugs, Amy

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    1. Thank you for stopping by Amy! This broth is a wonderful (and frugal way) to bring healthy properties to our bodies! I do hope you give it a try :)

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  10. Dear Jes,
    This is wonderful, I started on this kind of thing when my girls were babies. I would use bones cut through to make marrow bone broth as a base of vegetable purees for baby food. I knew there was a lot of goondenss in this. Now I am making stocks and I use the crockpot and let it go even overnight. I think saving suitable scraps in the freezer is such a good idea. The valuable nutrition of all of this is so good. many people have never eaten basic healthy food, vegetables etc anymore, everything comes out of a packet. Getting back to sensible nutrition would be a cure for many things.
    My Dad is still in intensive care but may be moved out tomorrow into another room which is amazing progress. Thank you for your prayers. It has been a long few days! with love, Annabel.xxx

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    1. Thank you for the update! Praying for continued progress!

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  11. I haven't made any bone broth for ages. I think I'll have to start up again. I like drinking beef bone broth tea and using chicken broth for cooking. I find it helpful to freeze some in ice cube trays and then keep in a zip lock bag. It's easy to pop the required amount of cubes into a stir fry etc.

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    1. Great idea about the ice cube trays! Thank you for sharing this today! :)

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  12. Jes,
    I make broth using chicken and turkey!
    Thanks so much for stopping by!!

    Hugs,
    Deb

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    1. Both delicious! :) Thank you for taking the time to visit Deb! :)

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  13. I wanted to do this this year for the first time, thank you for the tips and how to!

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    1. You are most welcome! I hope you found it helpful! :)

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  14. Thank you for this excellent post. I enjoy making stock for my family in the crockpot. I freeze it by the quarts. It's quick and easy. We not only make soups and stews with ours but it makes rice and grains so yummy! Trust me, if you use broth to cook your rice, you'll never go back to water again.

    Blessings,
    Leslie

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    1. I completely agree Leslie! Thank you for sharing! :)

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  15. Can you mix bones (say chicken and beef) or would that be too gross? :)

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    1. Hi there, I suppose you could... but it kind of creeps me out a bit. It would be up to you :)

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    2. Ha! Me too...I figured it sounded kind of icky, but I figured I'd ask if anyone ever did, just in case :)

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    3. I figured you were feeling the same but couldn't resist putting it out there... just in case! :)

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  16. Thank you for this excellent post. I have only recently been reading about bone broth and just this past weekend made a pot with marrow bones from my local grocery. Unfortunately they did not have grass-fed, so I bought what they had. But now I have found a place to buy grass-fed, organic. I have been drinking the broth as a warm beverage in the mornings and it is so warming. I am considering bringing it to work to drink throughout the day instead of tea - so much healthier for me! My Mother gifted me with her pressure canner so I am thinking of canning rather than freezing my surplus because I have so little freezer space.

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    1. Canned broth is a blessing if you are low on freezer space! My favorite time of year to can it is autumn and winter when the climate helps you to appreciate the heat of the simmering broth and canner! :) Glad you found a good meat/bone source!

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  17. I usually just peel off the "bad" parts of veggies—discolored or what's looking like it's going bad.
    You don't use that do you?

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    1. Hi Laura, As long as it is not rotting and moldy, I use it. If it is discolored or limp, it is fine for this... Hope this helps! :)

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