I realize that “bone broth” might not sound to you like the most appetizing thing in the world, but I can assure you that it is one of the most wonderful, healing substances you can put in your body.
Bone broth is made simply by simmering animal bones in water with a bit of cider vinegar for anywhere from 36-72 hours. (I store my bones in zipper bags in the freezer, until I have enough for a batch of bone broth. I keep chicken bones separate from beef bones.) While the bones are simmering, all of the minerals in the bones are infused into the liquid with the help of that vinegar.
The broth you’re left with is a potent healing concoction that can improve your gut health, provide relief from joint pain, and can give you stronger teeth and bones.
It’s super easy to make bone broth. And if you employ the help of your slow cooker, you’ll make the job much easier on yourself.
How to make bone broth in your slow cooker
Put your bones (preferably they will be bones from grass-fed animals) in the slow cooker with some onion, organic celery, carrots, herbs, and a few cloves of garlic. Add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the works to help leech the minerals and nutrients out of the bones.
Cook on low for up to 8 hours, but preferably for up to 72 hours (longer is better, that’s what I do). As the bone broth simmers, you may need to replace the water. Keep the water level at about 3/4 full.
Strain the broth when you’ve cooked it as long as you’re going to.
If you’ve done it just right with the chicken bones (not the beef ones as much), the broth will gelatinize when you refrigerate it overnight. This gelatin tells you the broth is so nutritious!
One taste and you’ll see that our grandmothers really did have it right. Bones do make the best soup!
Besides drinking it straight, I use bone broth in place of stock in all of my soup recipes. You can also use bone broth as a liquid for braising.