If you haven’t eaten homemade bone stock or broth before, you and your family will soon discover the wonders of this delicious and healing nectar. Homemade bone stock or bone broth should become a staple for anyone keen to keep their family healthy as it is soothing on the gut and great for the immune system.
You can easily incorporate bone stock or broth into your diet, adding it to soups, tomato sauces, miso, risotto, lentil dishes, stews, casseroles, slow cooker recipes, curries and bolognaise as well as drinking it on its own. Bone stock and broth gives everything you cook a gorgeous comforting taste, without the need for stock cubes or other flavour enhancers. Keep some in your fridge or freezer at all times and use as often as you can.
You can make meat stock or bone broth from virtually any kind of bones including those from chicken, beef, venison, duck lamb, and fish. Most people start with chicken due to its mild taste and when more confident slowly start to build in other more meaty options. You can source bones from organic or grass-fed animals from your local butcher and will cost you pennies.
What is the difference between bone stock and bone broth? A stock is made from animal bones which have been roasted and then simmered gently with water, vegetables and herbs. This is usually for 2-6 hours. A bone broth is made in exactly the same way but you simmer the bones for much longer, at least overnight and sometimes for 24 hours. A stock is light and adds protein to a meal. The broth is more nutritious with a deeper taste. The apple cider vinegar/lemon juice will help to draw the mighty minerals from the bones in both the stock and broth, but this will be more effective when the bones are simmered for longer. You are aiming for the broth to be jelly-like when it cools. The more jellified the bone broth is, the more collagen is in the bone broth.
Bone broth over stock contains two very important amino acids, glycine and proline as well as healthy minerals and collagen. Glycine is a very calming amino acid and also helps to support detoxification. It helps the body synthesise collagen, so is particularly good for those people with low muscle tone. It can aid wound healing and supports the release of growth hormones, so good for those who need help growing tall and strong. Proline tightens and strengthens cell structure which in turn may help heal a leaky gut as well as improving the strength of skin and vein walls.
If you are sensitive to histamine or glutamate then reduce the cooking time to a maximum of four hours and keep it as a stock. Another tip to reduce the histamine is to cool down the stock quickly and store it in the fridge or freezer. You can defrost stock directly into a saucepan so store in small amounts.
- 1 Chicken Carcass
- 1 Carrot
- 1 stick Celery
- 1 Onion
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Parsley
- 8 Peppercorns Use white if you want to make this recpe low oxalate
- 2 litres Water Filtered
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice
- De-bone a roasted chicken. (It is good to do this after Sunday lunch).
- Place the carcass and bones into a large saucepan and place in a 180-200 degree oven for 20-30 minutes to brown the bones.
- Halve the onion retaining the skin, halve the carrot and cut the celery into three of four pieces.
- Add the carrot, celery, onion, herbs, apple cider vinegar/lemon juice and then at least 2 litres of filtered water to the saucepan. Heat on the hob until you reach a fast simmer then turn down the heat
- Place on the lowest heat on the hob or in your oven (approx 90 degrees) for at least six hours and ideally for twelve hours.
- During the first two hours skim off any impurities lying on top of the water.
- Sieve well and cool. Store in the fridge so you can add the bone broth to food during the week. You can also store the broth in the freezer in soup bags or ice-lolly/ jelly moulds.
Hi Lucinda, do you cook the bone broth with the lid on or off? If off do you continue to add water as it evaporates during the 6 -12 hrs?
Thanks
Hi Aimee, I keep the lid on to retain the liquid. Yes I do add water sometimes, but I usually start with 2 litres and put it on a low heat so this is not so much of a problem. Always check your bone broth from time to time to check it has not dried out.
Hi Lucinda
I have been making bone broth for my son. I have been using bone marrows and some veggies and I leave it to cook in my slow cooker overnight. I have found that he can be stimming a lot when he is fed the broth. He is autistic and I have heard that the broth may cause issues for such children if cooked for long hours due to the glutamine content. Please do let me know if this is the case.
Hi Radhi. Many kids on the autistic spectrum do have significant problems with tolerance to glutamate which is high in many foods that have been concentrated such as broths, gravies and ketchups. You may want to have him tested to see whether this is the case for him. In the meantime you may want to try to reducing the cook time for the broths to 2-4 hours and see if he is less stimmy when consuming these. Many best wishes Lucinda
Hi Lucinda, after baking the bones and the simmering would it be ok to put the ingredients in a slow cooker?
Hi Ann. Yes this is a very good option and many people use a slow cooker to make broth. Happy broth making!
Hi Lucinda, how long after baking the bones and simmering would the broth need to go in the slow cooker?
You can put it in straight away or wait, it doesn’t matter too much!
Hi
I want to try this for my son (he is being flagged as possibly on the ASD spectrum but not yet diagnosed) just a little concerned about the glutamate issues, how do I test for this and should I try the bone broth or wait for the test to be carried out?
Thanks
Hi Sav. The best way to check for glutamate levels is through a Genova ONE Test, which a practitioner can organise for you. Some people start with chicken stock cooked for 4 hours which has less natural glutamate. Many thanks Lucinda
Hi Lucinda
I’ve been using a bone broth recipe which uses raw bones – is there any particular benefit to roasting or not roasting the bones before making the broth?
Hi Janet,
As far as I know there are no health benefits or disadvantages to roasting the bones first. It’s just that it improves the flavour through something called the maillard reaction. It’s the same reason you brown meat before putting it into a stew or sauce. Have a look at this if you want to know more. Lucinda x
Afternoon! After a consultation with Helen we are making this bine broth to hopefully contribute to improving our babies ezchma. What are your ideas for using bone broth in a bf baby who’s weaning but of course tough to get food in to! 🙂
Hi Charlotte – I would freeze the bone broth in small ice cubes and use one in a meal by using it as the liquid to puree up the vegetables. You can progress this onto soups and stews that are pureed or mashed up – also consider cooking lentils/rice/root veg in chicken stock.