Basic Bone Broth

Ingredients:

  1. Bunch of bones (maybe one chicken’s bones, a package of chicken drumsticks, or a package of beef soup bones, pork bones, etc.) They should be organic. Non-organic chicken bones have been found to have lead sometimes.
  2. About a gallon of water, or just enough to cover the bones.
  3. About 1 tablespoon of natural salt per gallon of water (or if you are new to this, start with a teaspoon and add more later as needed).  Try to use pink salt or some other natural and pure salt, not table salt.
  4. About 1 teaspoon of black pepper per gallon of water (or if you are new to this, start with a third-teaspoon and add more later as needed)
  5. 1-2 tablespoons vinegar (Optional). Ideally, use natural unfiltered apple cider vinegar.  If you don't have that, you can use white wine vinegar or white vinegar.  The vinegar helps extract nutrition from the bones.
  6. A few bay leaves (optional)
  7. Some onions or garlic (optional)
  8. Optional: herbs appropriate to the meat being used.  But this can also be done later when the broth is used.  For chicken, I use whatever I have of parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and celery seed.  For beef, oregano, basil, marjoram, rosemary, sage, and thyme are good. But the herbs used usually depends on the use and recipe. You can google “herbs for _____ (name of meat used)” to get ideas.  If you use rosemary be careful not to put too much.  A quarter teaspoon or less is probably safe.

Instructions:

  1. Combine chicken and water in a pot.
  2. Brig to a boil.  Then immediately reduce to low-heat.
  3. Skim off and discard any foam that has risen to the top.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients.
  5. Simmer as low as you can, covered, for 6-24 hours. For chicken, suggestions are to simmer 4-6 hours or more.  I usually do it overnight.  For beef, simmer 12-24 hours. For other bones and meats, I suggest individual research (that is, Google it) to find suggestions and then see what works for you. 
  6. If broth is too strong or boils down, add water.  If broth is too weak, remove lid to boil off more water.
  7. When the broth is done, it should be golden and taste good.  It should not taste watery.  If it does not have enough salt, it will taste bland like dishwater.  If it has not cooked enough or tastes thin, there is too much water.
  8. Once you are happy with the broth, strain it through a strainer.  
  9. Remove the solids and discard them, compost them, or feed them to pets or stray cats. 
  10. Store the liquid in a glass containers in the fridge if you will use the broth soon.  If you will use it later, cool it down first and then freeze it in a container in the freezer.  If you expect to need it in small quantities, you can freeze it in ice cube trays and then put the cubes in a plastic freezer bag for later.  Or you can drink the broth right away of course.
  11. The broth can also be used for many things: soups, sauces, cooking vegetables, and so on.  

Tips:

  1. If you are going to use the broth for a sauce I recommend not adding the salt and pepper until later after the sauce has boiled down, so you can have more control of the amount of salt in the sauce.
  2. The bones can have meat on them, and the meat will add flavor, but it is not required.
  3. If you roast the bones and meat in the over before making broth, it will improve the flavor, especially for beef.
  4. Every single ingredient in this list is optional except the following three:
  • Bones
  • Water
  • Salt

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