Bone Broth is an advanced GAPS food. What that means is it is an advanced food for the gut. The gut should have nice tight junctions (not leaky) to ensure you get all the wonderful benefits out of a bone broth. If the gut is still porous and leaky you want to start with meat stock. Both foods are beneficial for the gut but at different times.
If you need a simple meat stock recipe I have one here on my recipes page.
If you want to read the differences between meat stock and bone broth you can here on my Instagram.
Bone broth is made from picked-over bones. I tend to like to make mine in the Instant pot, though there are those out there who would scoff at this method. There are multiple ways to make broth: stove top, oven, slow cooker. I tend to like the slow cooker because I’m really not a fan of smelling it cook or leaving the stove on over night.
Broth is a long simmer. It can go anywhere from 12-72 hours. I usually let mine go for about 20-40 hours. I do two rounds on the slow cooker function which counts down from 20 hours.
Here is my basic bone broth recipe:
- Lots of bones! After roasting a whole chicken, grilling wings, thighs, legs, or making a meat stock and saving the bones from that I toss the bones into a storage container in the freezer. Once I have a big collection of bones I will make a big batch of bone broth. I will also toss in necks, backs and feet if and when I have them. Feet help give your broth a lot of that wonderful gut-healing gelatin. That sexy jiggle!
- Vegetable discards or herbs. I typically have a bag in the freezer for vegetable discards like the stalks of broccoli, celery, carrots, onions, etc. I will add in a handful of these if I can make them fit. I also like adding any fresh herbs I may have like parsley or cilantro. You can easily add dried herbs as well.
- Apple Cider Vinegar. You need some sort of acidic medium to help pull minerals from the bones. I use 1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the pot.
- Filtered water. The type of water you use is vastly important. Tap water is essentially poison. The water you cook with and drink should be from a high quality filter like this one or a good spring water.
- Peppercorns. I always toss in a small handful of peppercorns to each batch of broth. Peppercorns aid in digestion.
- Turmeric and Ginger. These are two of my favorites to toss in as well. I typically have fresh ginger root on hand so I will trim off a piece the size of my thumb and toss it in. If I have fresh turmeric I will do the same. Or I will use dried turmeric. I just sprinkle in about 1-2 tsp. It doesn’t affect the flavor but both of these roots add so many beneficial things for the body.
And that is it! I cover everything with water. If I have plenty of bones I feel comfortable adding water to the top line of my Instant pot. If you are doing a smaller batch be sure to use less water so you get some nice gelatin from the batch.
I do not tend to add salt to my broth because I use it in things that I will want to salt later. So to avoid over salting, beyond what we like, I do not add salt to my broth.
I tend to use bone broth in place of water in things like cooking rice, steaming vegetables, adding to recipes that require some liquid, and even giving some to our dog. It’s good for his gut, too!
