When I first started making bone broth, I used a slow cooker. For beef broth I would cook for 36 - 48 hours. It was a pain in the butt and the broth did not taste great and the entire house stank. I drank it because I was certain it was saving my life and improving every possible defect in my body, health. and personality. But, it NEVER gelled. Occasionally, I'd get a clump or two, but never solid gellatiny perfection. (One of the biggest bone broth benefits comes from the gelatin content of your broth.)
So I googled and read and googled again. Maybe the crock pot was too hot (never a slow burble, always a slight boil), maybe I didn't use enough bones, or the right kind of bone or I needed to add chicken feet. There were, oh so many options and potential for failure.
Then I got the nom nom paleo cook book. She is all about the pressure cooker. She cooks her broth for an hour in the pressure cooker and comes up with tasty gelatiny goodness. So, I instantly bought a pressure cooker and whipped up a batch, thinking this would solve my problems. And it was good (ie tasty), but NO GEL.
So again, I googled and tested until I came up with the perfect recipe for no fail perfectly gelling broth. And so I share with you, my little corner of the world, my recipe for success.
- Bones: I use lots of bones. And I try to use as many joint bones as possible. If I've eaten any chicken (I eat a lot of 'bone in thighs') I save those bones and throw them in. And I use the mixture of old and new bones (ie I save my old bones from broth and use them a couple times). Sure I have no room in my freezer, but it's worth the sacrifice.
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| LOTS OF BONES |
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| Joint bones |
- Double cook: When I am preparing broth, I throw the bones in my pressure cooker, add 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and some water then I let them sit for an hour. Then it's the double cook. First, 1 hour under pressure with ONLY bones. Then allow to unpressurize and start again, another hour under pressure with bones and veggies.
- Veggies: I use the nom nom paleo recipe without the mushrooms (mostly because I rarely have mushrooms), but the actual recipe doesn't matter, just add some onions, garlic, carrots, pepper corns, ginger, celery, broccoli stems, whatever you have around.
- Finally, separate the broth from the veggies and the bones (save the bones that aren't falling apart) and cool to let the fat solidify and remove the fat: It you try to eat it before you take the fat out, it probably won't be very tasty. On the plus side, I keep the fat and use it for cooking and to keep my caste iron pans seasoned.
That's it! This process takes a bit longer than I would like, but it produces tasty broth with so much gelatin than you could stand the container upside down after it's cooled and it won't drip out. Not to mention, how healthy I am!
Watch the video to see gellatiny perfection!
I leave you with a picture of Hazelly perfection!
