IF YOU, LIKE MOST OF US, ARE ACCUSTOMED TO PURCHASING YOUR CHICKEN BREASTS BONELESS AND ENCASED IN PLASTIC WRAP, THEN YOUR INITIAL BATCH OF BROTH MAY INVOLVE A BIT OF A LEARNING CURVE.

But it’s an exponential curve, we promise—the first batch is always the toughest. You’ll coast through every other batch you make from that point on. Before you know it you’ll have a nice big pot of broth simmering on your stovetop every week, and you’ll be cooking up new ideas for incorporating it into your meals every day.

Before you get started, let’s take a look at the tools you’ll need to make your broth. The great news is that you don’t need any highly specialized equipment—just a few basic items that you probably already own.

EQUIPMENT

   Stockpot or slow cooker (10 quart or smaller)

   Soup ladle

   Strainer

   Freezer-safe storage containers

STOCKPOTS

Because your broth is going to simmer for long periods of time, your stockpot should be stainless steel or enamel. We like these materials because in a cooking environment they are generally safer than metals such as copper and aluminum. The size of the stockpot doesn’t matter that much—as long as it fits comfortably on your stovetop—but we recommend a 10-quart pot or smaller for home use. When we first started making broth for our friends, we were simmering a 100-quart pot on our home kitchen stove, and it took up all four burners. We do not recommend this. We’re pretty sure our burners were permanently bent after that.

You want a pot that allows plenty of room for the bones and veggies, and for a substantial amount of water to surround them. You also want a large surface area for the water in your broth to evaporate during the simmer, leaving all the good stuff behind in a rich, concentrated liquid.

If you don’t have a large stockpot, don’t let that stop you. Just make a smaller batch of broth. You basically want the volume of bones to take up no more than half of the volume of the pot. This is a good rule of thumb, because you want to have plenty of room left in the pot for the water to cover the bones.

SLOW COOKERS

One of the benefits of making broth in a slow cooker is that you can plug it in and walk away—you don’t have to think about it while it cooks, and there is no open flame to which you must attend. If you opt to use a slow cooker, we recommend using one with a ceramic insert and a removable lid. But if all you have is a convertible rice cooker you bought at Costco three years ago, that will work, too. Just make sure it has a low cook setting, because you don’t want to overcook—or worse, burn—your broth. Yes, broth can burn. See our FAQ (chapter 3) to learn more about that.

SOUP LADLES

Once you’ve selected a vessel for cooking your broth, you’ll need to secure a basic soup ladle. Other types of spoons will work, but few can handle the multitude of jobs that a soup ladle can. You see, this ladle is not simply used for serving your bone broth. If that were the case, you could opt for any old serving spoon. A proper ladle has the singular ability to double as a fat skimmer. Skimming the fat is an important step in creating the clear, gelatinous broth chefs like to brag about and that will take your food to new heights.

Some people opt for the fancy fat-skimming ladles with a spout on the rear made for this very purpose, but you don’t need to purchase such a specialized device. There really is only one rule here: Select a ladle that you can easily dip just below the surface of your broth to skim off its fat without taking away the liquid goodness underneath.

This is a personal preference, but we steer clear of serving ladles and prefer to use a simple stainless steel soup ladle.

STRAINERS

Once your broth is ready to serve or store, you’re going to need a strainer to separate the liquid from the now-spent bones and vegetable mush. Any medium-size, fine-mesh strainer should work. We like the types that have handles, allowing them to nest nicely inside other containers while we pour.

STEP BY STEP

Like with most cooking, the secret to making great bone broth boils down to technique. A list of ingredients is nothing without proper method. So before we get into the recipes, let’s look at the big picture—the technique we use to make our broths (we will elaborate more on the “why?” and the “how much?” in the recipes):

   Roast meat bones before making broth for added depth of flavor. Do not roast fish bones. Fish bones are too fragile, and roasting would ruin their delicate essence.

   Place the bones in a stockpot or slow cooker. Add cold water just to cover. The cold water and gradual temperature increase aids in pulling the scum and other impurities to the surface.

   Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, keeping uncovered. If using a slow cooker, set it on high and check periodically. Lower the setting once your water is boiling.

   Skim, skim, and skim some more. Once your water begins to simmer, scum and other impurities will rise to the surface. Skim and keep simmering. This scum can give your broth an off-flavor and make it cloudy.

   Continue skimming until there is no longer any scum rising to the surface.

   Add any acid—such as neutral-flavored vinegar like white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to help draw nutrients from the bones.

   Add water as necessary to cover the bones throughout the cooking process.

   As fat rises to the surface, you can skim and discard it, or you can pass it through a fine-mesh strainer and reserve it for use as a cooking fat.

   Prep your vegetables by roughly chopping them into uniform sizes. Peel onions, because the outer peel can easily burn, imparting a burnt flavor.

   If you plan to make a broth as described above, go ahead and add the vegetables and herbs as soon as you are done skimming. If you plan to simmer the broth for 1 or 2 days, do not add your vegetables or herbs until the final 8 hours or so. If using parsley or any other herbs with fine leaves, wait until the final hour to add these, as they can burn quickly, imparting a burnt flavor.

   Return the broth to a simmer for the remainder of the desired cooking time. At this point you do not need to add any more water. The purpose of the last leg of the simmer is to pull the flavors from the vegetables and herbs as well as concentrate the gelatin and nutrients through some evaporation.

   Add parsley, celery, or any other delicate greens, if desired. Let simmer for another hour.

   That’s it. Time to strain! Prepare an ice bath in your kitchen sink with cold water and ice cubes. Pass the broth though a fine-mesh strainer into another pot or container, preferably metal, since it’s a better temperature conductor, then place in the ice bath.

Before the broth cools, be sure to grab a nice big mugful to sip on, or use it right away to make a recipe from this book! After your broth has cooled completely, its time to transfer it to storage containers. Because broth is a real food, it can spoil easily if you don’t store it properly. Depending on how quickly you plan to use it, you can either refrigerate or freeze your broth:

Refrigerating: We like to store refrigerated broth in wide-mouthed jars, such as Mason jars, so we can scoop out the broth with a spoon or spatula when it’s gelled. Broth will keep in the fridge for 7 to 10 days.

Freezing: Transfer your cooled broth to freezer-safe containers and be sure to seal properly. Pour any extra broth into ice cube trays so you can pop them out and use as needed—like bouillon cubes, but way better. Short on freezer space? Try simmering your finished broth to reduce its volume by half. This will concentrate the liquid, which can easily be reconstituted by adding water when you are ready to use it. Your broth will last in the freezer for up to 1 year.

A NOTE ON VEGETABLE AND FISH BROTHS

While vegetable broths may not contain gelatin or the same nutrients as broths made by simmering bones for multiple days, we felt it necessary to include recipes for vegetable-based broths. They can be made from just about any vegetable or combination of vegetables, and are a great way to add flavor and micronutrients to an array of dishes. Fish broths such as Japanese dashi, made from dried seaweed and dried fish, or shrimp stock, made from the shells of shrimp, can also be used a number of ways to bring flavor and nutrients to your cooking. We’ve included a few of these types of broths and their applications throughout this book.

There’s one more caveat to consider before embarking on your own broth adventure: No two batches of broth will be identical. The exact ratios of the various nutrients in your end product will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to the age of the animal when it was slaughtered, the amount of time you simmer your broth, and the ratio of bones to water that you use. The flavor will vary from batch to batch as well—and that’s part of the fun. Each time you make a pot, you will discover your own new secrets for improving, refining, and adding more deliciousness to your broth.

BONE BROTH FAQS

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions we receive from bone broth newbies:

What’s the difference between stock and bone broth?

Stock and broth are both made by simmering the bones, joints, and feet of animals; the major difference between the two is cooking time. There are plenty of exhausting explanations highlighting the minutia in difference between these terms, but few of them really offer much insight because they are often compared instead of contrasted. Here are some key differences:

Stock:

Stocks are a great base for sauces and soups and are also used for braising meats and vegetables. They’re typically made with bones containing little to no meat or joints. Depending on the desired result, bones may be roasted for added richness and color. A mirepoix of basic aromatics (a 2:1:1 ratio of onions, carrots, and celery) is traditionally used in stocks, and the vegetables may also be roasted for added color and flavor. Stocks are simmered anywhere from a few hours (for fish) up to 8 hours (for beef or veal) and contain some gelatin, resulting in a heavy flavor and body. Because of the shorter cooking time, stock contains fewer nutrients than bone broth.

And some stocks can contain less nutrient value than others if they’re made from bones that have already been boiled once. For example, when making a veal stock as a base for sauces, chefs will often create what’s called a remouillage. The French term for “rewetting,” a remouillage is stock made by reusing the bones left from making another stock along with fresh vegetables. This is usually a multiday process designed to extract as much gelatin from the bones as possible. It is finished by combining the two stocks and reducing them by half to concentrate the gelatin and flavor.

Bone Broth:

Bone broths also make a great base for soups, stews, and myriad other dishes. They are simmered for at least 24 hours and up to several days. This allows as many nutrients as possible to be pulled from the bones, creating a liquid containing a highly concentrated amount of protein, minerals, and nutrients. Bones, vegetables, and other aromatics can be used, sometimes roasted, for added flavor and depth—similar to stocks. However, these vegetables and aromatics are added much later in the cooking process to prevent them from burning.

The difference between the 8-hour simmer and a 24- to 48-hour simmer is really where you find bone broth. Think about it. If you took two pots, added the same amount of bones and feet to each, and then simmered one for 8 hours and the other for 24 hours, which resultant broth would taste richer and contain more nutrients? So, while a bone broth can be a stock, a stock cannot be a bone broth.

Can I use a pressure cooker?

Yes. While we prefer cooking broth on the stovetop, a pressure cooker is a great option for those who are busy and do not have the time to monitor an open flame.

Where can I get bones?

Most meat markets and butcher shops will have a variety of bones. Many supermarkets will also have a small selection of bones in the meat area of the store—sometimes you just have to ask. If you can’t find bones at your local butcher or grocery store, there are a number of online suppliers that will ship quality bones to your door.

Which bones should I use?

You should use any bones you can get your hands on! Joints and feet will contain the most collagen and will yield a broth with higher gelatin content. Femurs, knuckles, necks, and spines will also produce some awesome bone broth.

But do I have to use bones from grass-fed animals? Pastured? Organic?

You don’t have to do anything, but if your ultimate goal is to drink and eat broth for health, you probably want to use only grass-fed, pastured, or organic bones. Just as animals harbor a whole host of life-giving nutrients in their bones, they also harbor many of the toxins they’ve ingested throughout their lives. And because you’re extracting as much as possible from those bones when making broth, you don’t want to be using the frames of sick animals that were raised on a diet of antibiotics and questionable feed. If you want to eat clean, a good rule of thumb is to consume only the animals (and their parts) that ate equally clean.

Can you reuse bones to make more broth?

Absolutely. Some people will even use the same bones to make a “perpetual broth” by continually simmering the bones for as long as a week and adding more water as broth is taken out. But it’s important to be aware that you’re probably getting less nutritive value from the bones the more times—or the longer—you simmer them.

Does the ratio of vegetables to bones matter?

Yes. This is a personal preference, however. A good rule of thumb is to use half the volume of vegetables as you have bones. So, if you have 6 pounds of bones, you would use 3 pounds of vegetables.

Why should I use vinegar?

The acid in vinegar helps pull the nutrients from the bones into the liquid. Use 1 tablespoon of any neutral-flavored vinegar such as white or apple cider for every pound of bones.

Can I use wine instead of vinegar?

Definitely! Wine is also an acid that acts in much the same way vinegar does to extract minerals and other good stuff from the bones. Most cooks recommend using red wine for beef broth and veal broth, and white wine for chicken, pork, fish, and shrimp broth.

Do I have to skim the fat?

It’s totally up to you. Although some people (Kate included) like a little healthy animal fat in their bone broth, most folks prefer the pure, clarified broth that comes from skimming. If your broth is coming out cloudy, chances are you didn’t skim enough and the fat got emulsified into the broth.

What do I do with all the fat I’ve skimmed off?

Save it! Seriously. It’s great for cooking, and you will regret it if you don’t have some on hand when you get to the recipe for Yucca Root Fries (chapter 10). We like to collect our broth fat in a container that we then strain (with that fine-mesh strainer) into a bowl or pot and refrigerate it. Once the fat has hardened, take the container out of the fridge, run a small knife around the edges, and gently remove the fat in one piece. On the underside, you may find some gelatinous broth that escaped with the fat. Use a spatula to scrape the broth off your tallow, then cut the fat into pie-shaped pieces. Wrap and freeze what you won’t be using right away.

NOTE: This works best with the fat from beef and chicken broth.

How long should I cook my bone broth?

If you are going for ultimate nutrient content, then we suggest at least 24 hours. You don’t really need much more than this for chicken. Beef, veal, and pork bones are a bit larger and denser, so we recommend cooking these for 30 to 48 hours to extract as much flavor and nutrition from the bones as possible.

48 hours!?

Worst-case scenario when making broth at home is simmering all of your water away, causing the solids in the pot to begin to burn. We have, regrettably, done this on more than one occasion, but have yet to burn our house down. If you are worried about leaving an open flame on all day or night, use a slow cooker. The slow cooker is the easiest piece of cooking equipment to use and is especially great if you’re new to cooking. You can always split up the process into multiple days; however, this will require you to cool and refrigerate the broth, which will require sufficient space in your refrigerator. It is much less work to make your broth in one session. We suggest making as much broth in one go as possible and storing for future use—a single day lazing around the house with an eye on the pot will leave you with months’ worth of nutritious broth at your disposal.

Why isn’t my broth “gelling”?

This is probably the most common question we get asked, since the “jiggle factor” is widely viewed as a marker of a successful bone broth. A number of things can influence this, the most common being the bone type and cooking time. If you don’t cook the broth long enough, you won’t extract enough of the collagen. If you use only beef femur bones, chances are your broth will not gel because there isn’t much collagen in femur bones. Even just using chicken carcasses and no feet will probably produce a broth that doesn’t gel. Try to use a good mix of bones and a 1:1 ratio of bones to joints, feet, and other parts of the animal that contain collagen and connective tissue. At the end of the day, if you cooked your broth for 24 hours and it doesn’t gel, you have still succeeded. All too often, we hear and read about bone broth failures because there’s no gel. It’s not always about the gel. What’s more important is that you’re using the whole animal. We promise, your bone broth will still be packed full of nutrients even if it doesn’t jiggle.

What else can I add to my broth to make it taste better?

Most people include a mirepoix of 2 parts chopped onions, 1 part chopped carrots, and 1 part chopped celery. The mirepoix, especially when paired with a splash of wine or vinegar, is not only a fragrant and flavorful addition, but it also helps to acidify the water. Whether you opt to use a mirepoix or not, you can also include herbs and spices such as ginger, turmeric, parsley, and thyme to improve your broth’s flavor. Other flavor enhancers include lemon, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms, red pepper, and black pepper. Basically, anything you would use to season your meat you can use to season bone broth.

What do I do with my broth?

The short answer is, whatever you want. You can sip it like a tea, make juices and smoothies with it, use it as a base for stews, and cook all manner of other foods with it. We’ll get to that soon enough . . .