Bone broth is essentially cooked down animal bones and connective tissue. Bones are cooked in water for several hours in which collagen, protein, fat, and antioxidants from the bones is extracted creating a gelatin-like substance when cool. Although bone broth has been marketed as a “superfood” with “tons of health benefits”, it’s essentially nothing more than a soup base finally being praised rather than shamed for it’s nutrient composition.

Harsh. I know, but you know I pride myself on being fully transparent. The reason why I describe bone broth in those terms is because although it has beneficial properties, that doesn’t mean it’s the magic bullet that everyone treats it as. No food or supplement is a magic bullet. Plus, many of it’s beneficial properties are also found in meat!

-Bones. (or was that too obvious? :] )

-Water.

Many people recommend using a variety of bones to create a balanced flavor profile. Some types with more marrow may create a harsher taste. In addition, many people also add vegetable trimmings such as onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and herbs. You can totally do that, but for all my rookies out there, I’m going to keep it simple.

Where do you buy bones?

With your meat silly! Whenever I buy cuts of meat, I’ll cut the bones off of the meat and throw it in a freezer bag until I have enough to make broth.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 450 F. On a baking sheet, lay out your cleaned bones and roast for 20 minutes.

2. Add bones to stock pot and fill with water until bones are submerged by about 4 inches. Cook for at least 16 hours. Yes, 16. If you don’t have the ability to cook it straight, I’d recommend cooking it for a 8 hour blocks, as long as you’re properly cooling it in between.

3. While broth is cooking, skim the fat off the top every so often. If bones become exposed, continue to add water to the pot.

4. When the broth is done, remove whatever is leftover of the bones, transfer broth to another container, and let cool. At room temperature, the broth should be gelatinous.

That’s it! Making bone broth is that easy! Which is why I think everyone should start making it. So many bones from meat get thrown out in the garbage, when we can really just use them for broth at home!

1. “Ask the Expert: Collagen Peptides for Bones and Joints – Today’s Dietitian Magazine.” Today’s Dietitian, http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/1117p10.shtml.

2. Sato, Kenji. “The Presence of Food-Derived Collagen Peptides in Human Body-Structure and Biological Activity.” Food & Function, vol. 8, no. 12, 2017, pp. 4325–4330., doi:10.1039/c7fo01275f.

3.  Yazaki, Misato, et al. “Oral Ingestion of Collagen Hydrolysate Leads to the Transportation of Highly Concentrated Gly-Pro-Hyp and Its Hydrolyzed Form of Pro-Hyp into the Bloodstream and Skin.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 65, no. 11, Aug. 2017, pp. 2315–2322., doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.6b05679.