Bone Broth

So, this recipe is not fancy, nor is it gourmet. This is a long post, and I apologize. I want to share my thoughts on why I decided to make this broth. First, Josh and I bought 1/4 grass fed cow and along with some delicious steaks, roasts, and ground beef, came several packages of bones. Kinda weird, was my initial thought. Into the freezer they went, and I contemplated what I would ever do with them.

I have been struggling with some joint pain recently and I was remembering some stuff I learned from reading the book "Deep Nutrition" http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Nutrition-Your-Genes-Traditional/dp/0615228380/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338686931&sr=1-1. This is a great book, that I highly recommend.

Basically, the authors break down the benefits of making stocks and broth from bones, cartilage and ligaments. Here are some of the authors' thoughts. I will give you the long and the short version, and then give you the easy recipe that I used to make this surprisingly delicious stuff. Cheers to trying new and healthy things to promote wellness!

Long version
From the book:
How does having additional parts (skin, legaments, etc) create additional nutrition? Water molecules tug apart the connective tissue in skin, ligaments, cartilage, and even bone, releasing a special family of molecules called glycosaminoglycans. You will find the three most famous members of this family in nutritional supplements for joints: glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid. But these processed supplements don't hold a candle to gelatinous stews, rich with the entire extended family of joint building molecules. ...... Mineral salts are released from bone and cartilage durinig stewing, as well as from the meat itself. 

The author of Deep Nutrition goes on to talk about the science behind why grass fed and finished beef, chicken, or pork is so much better for you. Basically, to summarize, it is that there is a higher concentration of vitamins, minerals and all the other goodies in the grass then there is in the dirt in which it is grown, and animals who feed on nutrient dense organic grass for their whole lives have an even higher concentration of all this "good for us stuff" in their meat, cartiledge, ligaments, organs and bones. 

Short version
The short simple answer is that all the "stuff" that you rush to your local health food store and buy in glucosamine and chronditin and other joint health combinations is all present in bone broth.

Recipe

large handful of baby carrots

1 medium onion, chopped up

7 garlic cloves, smashed

3.5 lb of beef bones

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

water

Place the carrots, onions, and garlic into the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the beef bones, vinegar and enough water to cover everything- I think I ended up using about 8 cups of water. Length of cooking time varies. I read up on cooking time, and basically, the longer you cook it, the more stuff you get out of the bones. I turned the slow cooker on low and cooked it for 24 hours. In reading, some people decided to cook their broth up to 48 hours. When you are done, strain the broth, discard the solids, and place in a large container in the fridge overnight. There will be a fat layer that seperates above the broth, which will have a Jello-like quality. I placed the broth into several small Tupperware containers (I read that some people freeze it in ice cube trays too) and then put them into the freezer, so I could microwave it when I was ready to drink it.

A word on the fat layer... its basically homemade beef tallow, which is a great fat to cook or fry with, high in good omega 3s and CLA-"the good, natural trans fat".

For more info on bone broth, check out Mark's Daily Apple's post on this topic. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cooking-with-bones/#axzz1wgw2N4FU