"When you ingest bone broth, it feeds the body with collagen, which is the building block of cells to bones, ligaments, cartilage and the brain. Gelatin, a form of collagen used in food, is used (among other benefits) to help digestion because the liquid gets absorbed into the body quickly and without much effort. Making bone broth excellent for people with food sensitivities and gastrointestinal disorders because it is usually very safe and tolerable for the body." (http://doctorauer.com/benefits-of-bone-broth/)
You'll need:
A crockpot
Beef Bones from your local butcher or meat section of your local market.
(I got a pack of 6 bones with marrow, each about 1.5 inches thick for less than $2)
vegetable scraps (whenever I prepare carrots, onions or celery, I throw the scraps into a bag in my freezer just for this reason. Just make sure to wash well first. You're going to be putting this directly into your broth)
Whole peppercorns and Bay leaves (optional, but they give a lot of flavor)
Tap water
Directions:
Prepare your bones by placing them in a baking dish and roasting at 400F for about 20 minutes. You can add your vegetable scraps after about 10 minutes, or just add them directly to the crockpot.
Place the roasted bones in your crockpot. Dump in your vegetable scraps. Pour in enough tap water to just cover everything;probably a quart to a quart and a half. Add your peppercorns and bay leaves, if using. Cover and turn your crockpot on. (either high or low setting works, use your own judgement) Then, just leave it alone for 24 hours.
After 24 hours:
Ladle out a some of the broth, replace that amount with an equal amount of water. Your beef broth is ready to use in your recipe right now, or you can set aside for later.
Once a day, you can take out about a few cups of broth and replace with water. After about 5-7 days, all of the nutrients will have been boiled out of the bones. They won't crumble like chicken bones do, but they will soften. (Note: If you have a dog, set these aside for a safe, healthy treat). At this point, pour what is left in the crockpot through a strainer and discard the solid bits (I throw these scraps in the compost)
Straining your broth:
The broth that you remove from the crockpot will likely have a lot of fat in it. Put it in the refrigerator, the fat will rise to the top and solidify, leaving a thick white layer at the top. When you're ready to use, just remove this layer with a spoon. You can pour the remaining broth through a coffee filter to remove any tiny fat particle you may have missed. (I put this fat aside to be used later, but that's a story for another day)
Reducing your broth:
I like to make a lot of broth at one time and then reduce it to store for later use.
Just pour the broth into a large stockpot and bring to a boil. I like to reduce it to 1/4 of the original volume. This is the easiest way I've found to do this. Once you've poured your broth into the pot, put the handle of a wooden spoon into it to measure the depth (kind of like checking your oil)
1/4 cup frozen broth reduction = 1 cup broth
1 cup frozen broth reduction = 1 quart broth
1 quart frozen broth reduction = 1 gallon broth
Just add that water back in when you're making your soup, or used in this reduced form for sauces
I like to freeze it in icecube trays. This way, I know that 2 cubes can be reconstituted to 1 cup of broth.
These are photos from when I made chicken stock, but it's the same idea.
The flavor of this broth is better than anything you can buy at the store. Just remember that it doesn't have any added salt, so you'll need to adjust your recipes accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment