Though it’s something of a trend now, bone broth has been a staple in traditional diets for ages. Bone broth is a stock made from simmering chicken, turkey, lamb or beef bones with vegetables such as celery, onions, tomatoes, garlic and herbs for hours – often overnight. The long simmer purportedly releases nutrients that can help the body fight disease and reverse damage. Of those who have added bone broth to their daily diets, some report a decrease in arthritis pain, improved digestion, clear skin and healthier hair, and more. Though there isn’t much science yet around the health benefits of drinking bone broth, health experts say that even if you’re just replacing junk food with a cup of bone broth to fight the afternoon slump, you’re certainly going to look and feel better.
The recipe for bone broth is simple:
- Six lbs. of chicken, turkey, lamb, or beef bones
- 2 onions, quartered
- 4 carrots, large dice
- 4 stalks celery, large dice
- A fist-size portion of parsley
- Fresh thyme
- 12 oz. tomatoes, quartered
- 1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 1 tsp. black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
Bring bones and about 6 quarts of water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer about 1 hour. Skim off surface fat. Add vegetables and herbs and simmer for 2 hours, skimming surface. Strain the broth through a fine strainer or cheese cloth and let cool. Store for up to a week.
This recipe makes about 2 quarts of broth, so if you’re drinking it every day you’ll need to take time to make the recipe about once a week. With such a long cooking time, it’s no wonder that commercial freeze dried bone broth products became available. However, with a home freeze dryer you can make your own bone broth in bulk, store it long term, and have the peace of mind that your bone broth is free of preservatives and chemicals.
To freeze dry bone broth, pour the strained liquid onto freeze dryer trays and process. Use a food processor to grind the freeze dried broth into a powder. When you’re ready to use it, add the powder to hot water. Experiment with the ratios according to how strong you like your broth to taste.
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True bone broth is slow cooked for at least 72 hours with an addition of a bit of vinegar to leach the minerals from the bones. In the old days, they kept perpetual soup on the back of the stove, and added the bits from each meal to it as they went. The fact that it simmered for days was what made it nutritious, and why Grandma’s chicken soup was so healing. A good bone broth will actually heal the lining of the stomach and intestines which in our generation has been cited for many auto-immune problems brought on by leaky gut. 🙂 Loved this article!
As a former Chef’s Assistant whom was educated in French Culinary School.. We kept a huge pot on the back of the commercial stove and everything went in there.. From onion roots to skins.. bones.. every vegetable scrap. Cooked for how long I can not remember, but 72 hours sounds good..
Can you provide the name of a company that slow-simmers their bone broth for 72 hours, and is low sodium?
Yes! I’ve been making bone broth for many years now. A couple of years ago I started cooking down my bone broth from about 12 quarts to about 6 cups and dehydrating it. I recently got a freeze dryer. When the veggie harvesting season is over and we harvest our chickens, I’m going to try freeze drying bone broth!
How long does it take to process bone broth and other liquids in freeze dryer? Would this be a 40 hour processing time or ? And do bone brotha keep 20-25 years or 10-15 ?
40 hours sounds about right.. If you have all liquids.. Which generally run shorter than nonliquids for some reason.. The more fat, the less likely the storage duration.. You can put your broth in the fridge and scoop off the fat.. Would suggest it.. I’ll try anything once, if I don’t like it not twice.. Did some raw bacon about a annum ago.. Have yet to test it.. Suspect it will be fine as long as it was fully dried.. maybe 5 years. Would suggest cooking first in oven on a screen to remove fat and pat with paper towel.. Double and or triple storage time.. Who is going to store up food for 25 years anyway.. Think you’ll need it before then.. If you don’t, you’ve waisted your money, time.. and paranoia.
If I want to cook my broth down some, how much liquid should I cook out of it? Do I cook it down to it becomes thick?
Can you freeze dry marrow bone?
I am going to pre-freeze my broth into ice cubes and see how that processes. Has anyone tried this yet? I am also trying freeze-dried marinated tofu and I have a peanut curry going into the dryer today.
How did this turn out
How did these work for you???
I am experiencing an issue freeze drying our vegetable stock. It puffs up and becomes similar in texture to Floam from the 90s-00s.
Is there something special about the gelatin released from the bones that makes the freeze drying possible or does anyone have tips?
Is it ok to use up carrots that have started to get slimy?
I wouldn’t. It’s suggested to only use food at it’s peak when freeze drying (or really any processing like canning, drying, and freezing.)
FYI: Cooking bone broth in a stovetop or electric pressure cooker only takes 2 hours (126 minutes for my altitude) for chicken bone broth and 4 hours (352 minutes for my altitude) for beef bone broth at HIGH pressure (cooking time must be adjusted for altitude, of course). I use an 8QT Instant Pot. I generally use Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken carcasses for my chicken bone broth. Chicken bone broth takes 1 carcass plus 12 C pure water. Beef bone broth takes 2LB bones plus 12 C pure water. Most of my soup recipes are sized to take 6 C broth.