Favorite way to prepare bone broth at home which saves you time and money
Bone Broth has gotten quite the popular press lately. I feel like I see another article about the benefits of bone broth every other day.
I certainly don't disagree -- bone broth is fantabulous! {I basically love all broth}
First and foremost, homemade bone broth is delicious! Seriously, it's incredible. Soups made with homemade broth are infinitely better than those from store bought broth. Even just the broth by itself is delish.
Plus, you know what you're putting in there so you control your ingredients, which leads me to the next topic in bone broth: bones.
Ok, so you have to get bones to make bone broth. Might seem obvious but it is a little strange to have bones in your grocery cart that aren't for your four-legged friends.
I usually just walk up to the butcher counter and ask them for some bones. If you're the only one over there and you have a chance to become friends with your butcher, you can get specific. Ask for some knuckles and joints. That's where the collagen is and that's part of the magic of bone broth.
So you might be wondering why is bone broth so good for you? Great question. Glad you asked...
Bone broth is made from boiling the bones with veggies for a really long time, like 10-24 hours long time. This helps release minerals {think calcium, phosphorus, magnesium}, collagen {a protein that helps give your skin and muscles structure}, and gelatin {a type of collagen that helps support your skin and muscular system}.
When you consume the bone broth, you are ingesting all these wonderful things that have been released from the bones.
Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think bone broth is a magical potion that is going to cure every disease and erase your wrinkles. However, I do think it's worth adding to your life.
It's easy to consume. You can sip it by itself or use it as a base for soups and to cook pasta, rice, quinoa, or other grains. Whenever I feel sick, bone broth is usually one of the only things that I can stomach in my not-so-ideal moments. Plus, it's warming and comforting. Whether or not the proposed health benefits of bone broth are real or have a placebo affect, you should still consider making your own bone broth if only for its delicious taste.
If you do a search for bone broth recipes, you'll find a plethora of different methods. Roasting the bones. Not roasting the bones. Adding veggies. Adding vinegar. Not adding vinegar. the list goes on.
I decided that I'd try three different methods and do a side by side taste test. It was so much fun! {Food science nerd alert}
The general consensus I found through all the recipes was a few things: vinegar helps to break down the bones and bring out the minerals & ingredients you want to leach into the broth, cooking for at least 12 hours was necessary but 24 hours seemed to yield the best results, and adding veggies to the process was beneficial -- it adds nutrients and flavor, a win-win.
Based on that, I decided to try three methods to pick my favorite. The methods I tried were...
- (A) Roasting the bones then cooking them in a pot on the stove for 24 hours
- (B) Roasting the bones with tomato paste on the bones then cooking them in a pot on the stove for 24 hours
- (C) Not roasting the bones and simply tossing everything into a crock-pot for 24 hours
Drumroll please...
My favorite: Roasting the bones with tomato paste on the bones then cooking them in a pot for 24 hours. This resulted in a more full-bodied broth. However {and this is a big however}, throwing everything into a crockpot without any prep work was almost just as delicious.
Honestly, I'll probably just make my bone broth in the crock-pot without bothering to roast the bones before hand. One less pan to wash. Less worrying {it's a little disconcerting to go to sleep with the stove on or to leave your house while it's cooking}. And less time {you skip the 45-60 minute roasting process}.
After tasting everything, I tried adding a little tomato paste to the crock-pot and found that I could hardly tell the difference between the roasted version (A) and the basic crock-pot version (C).
In a nutshell, don't bother with the roasting. It doesn't add enough flavor and honestly tasted a little dirty compared to the un-roasted version. Depending on how I was using my broth, I'd potentially add a few tablespoons of tomato paste to the crock-pot to add an extra dimension of flavor.
And with that I give you my recipe for bone broth -- the one I liked the most and the runner up {no need to waste your time with me least favorite, right?}. Just a little note: after making bone broth, chicken broth, and vegetable broth, I've decided that I'll pretty much always just use my crock-pot. It's easier, less stress/worry, and taste the best.
Roasted Tomato Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 3-5 pounds bones
- 4-6 TBSP tomato paste
- 2 TBSP vinegar
- 16 cups filtered water
- 1 cup vegetable scraps like onion peels, chopped onion, garlic peels, chopped garlic, carrots, celery
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 1 handful herbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F.
- Put the bones on a baking sheet and spread tomato paste on the bones. Roast for 45-60 minutes until tomato paste has caramelized and bones are browned.
- Transfer bones with tomato paste and vinegar to a large stock pot and fill with water and vegetable scraps, chopped vegetables, peppercorns, herbs, etc.
- Cook on low/medium-low for 12-24 hours, refilling with filtered water as needed.
- Remove from heat and skim off any white foam. Strain and transfer to containers. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Notes
*The vegetable scraps/chopped vegetables, peppercorns, herbs, etc. are completely optional. I usually just save vegetable peels and scraps, freeze them and keep them for the next time I make broth.
Ingredients
- 3-5 pounds bones
- 16 cups filtered water
- 2 tablespoon vinegar white vinegar or cider vinegar
- 1 cup vegetable scraps like onion peels, chopped onion, garlic peels, chopped garlic, carrots peels, celery leaves
- 1 tablespoon peppercorns
- 1 handful herbs like rosemary, thyme, parsley
Instructions
- Add bones & vinegar to a crock-pot and fill with water and vegetable scraps, chopped vegetables, peppercorns, herbs, etc.
- Cook on low/medium-low for 12-24 hours, refilling with filtered water as needed.
- Remove from heat and skim off any white foam. Strain and transfer to containers. Refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
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