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Bone broth in a white bowl over a cutting board. Surrounding the bowl starting from the left side to the right, are, 3 celery stalks, baby carrots, a red onion, and a red onion's outer peel.

How to Make Bone Broth

Chantal
Bone broth is a nutrient dense super food. It is high in collagen and many other vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. Homemade bone broth is easy to make and can be canned, frozen, dehydrated, or freeze dried. Making your own bone broth allows you to adjust the flavors to your liking, add different types of nutrients by adding different animal bones and varying animal body parts, and create a variety of broth for you and your loved ones.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cooking time 12 hours
Course Drinks, Snacks

Equipment

  • Slow cooker, pressure cooker, instant pot, or a stock pot (they all work great)
  • Fine large sieve
  • Ladle
  • Glass jars to store your broth in

Ingredients
  

  • Any type of animal bones that you have on hand such as chicken, beef, lamb, or pork. Make sure to include parts that contain high collagen such feet, neck bones, back bones, cartilage, and ligaments.
  • 1 whole onion including skin
  • Seasoning such as salt, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, sage, bay leaf, or anything you like.
  • Celery and carrots are also optional.
  • 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions
 

Using a slow cooker.

  • You can choose to slightly roast your animal bones of choice over medium heat, in a large pan over the stove. This step will give you an extra depth of flavor, however, it is not necessary.
    However, if you are using raw bones, I highly advise that you would do this step. This will remove the need of slightly pre boiling the bones to remove any off-putting taste and smell.
  • If you are using raw bones and choose to not roast them, you will need to preboil them for just a few minutes, dump the water you boiled them in, rinse them, and then place them into your slow cooker.
  • Add in a whole onion, a bay leaf, some salt and seasoning. You can also add in some celery and carrots if you choose to. Cover the bones with a couple inches of water, add a couple splashes of apple cider vinegar, place the lid on, and turn your slow cooker on. Allow the broth to slowly cook overnight for 6 to 12 hours. Some even suggest to cook it for 48 hours. I think that's a bit excessive, but to each their own.

Using a Stockpot

  • The process for making bone broth in a stockpot over the stove is pretty much the same as making it in a slow cooker. You don't need an extra pan if you are planning on roasting your bones. You can simply roast them in the same pot.
  • When cooking the broth over the stove top, make sure to lower the heat to either medium low or to the lowest point you can get it to. Allow your broth to simmer on low heat for 6 to 12 hours as you would in a slow cooker. You can start this process early in the morning so that you do not have to stay up at night watching your broth simmer.
  • Once your bone broth is done, you can allow it to cool slightly, strain it using a fine sieve either directly into your jars, or into a large pot or bowl where you can easily ladle it into your jars.