Dr Bec’s Bone Broth Recipe

STEP 1
Get 1kg of beef bones from your local butcher and put them on a tray.  Place them in a preheated oven at around 180°C for around half an hour, or until the meat and fat left on the bones goes crispy and brown.  They should smell pretty awesome by now, but there will be a thin (?) layer of fat covering the bottom of the tray, so be careful not to pull it out of the oven too quickly or it will go everywhere.  Drain the fat off once you’ve taken it out of the oven.

Make it yourself.

STEP 2

Put the baked bones in a 10Lt pot with the following:

1 whole onion, peeled 1 whole carrot (tip removed) 2 sticks celery

½ tsp rosemary leaves 1-2 stalks fresh thyme 1 tsp fresh sage leaves 2 bay leaves  8 peppercorns

5-6 litres of cold water

Salt to taste – remember that as liquid cooks it will condense and the flavour will increase and get saltier, so go easy at the beginning.  You can always add more at the end.

Tip: Bear in mind that whilst you CAN use dried herbs, fresh is ALWAYS better.  You never know how long dried herbs have been sitting there for, and the longer they sit, the more volatile oils they lose.

STEP 3

On high heat, bring it all to a steady boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Put the lid on the pot, then cook it on a very low heat for around 8 hours.  I do this overnight, but it’s up to you whether or not you think this is safe to do at your place with your kitchen setup.  I take no responsibility for your decisions if you burn your house down, so if you think that it might not be a good idea, best to just do it during the day when you’ve got some time off.

Tip: A watched pot never boils.

STEP 4

After 8 hours, turn the heat off, drain liquid into a bowl, straining the bones and veggies out.   Discard the bones and veggies, and retain the liquid in a jug.

Allow to cool, then refrigerate.

After it’s been in the fridge for at least 5 hours, the liquid will form a jelly.  This is how you know you’ve done it right.  If it doesn’t form a jelly, something has gone wrong and it’s best to just start again.  The jelly usually has a layer of solidified fat on top, that has floated, and hardened along with the jelly.

Scrape off the fat and discard it.  My grandmother used to keep it and use it on bread, but dripping was a WW2/Great Depression thing and it’s kind of gross in this day and age, so I for one just piff it.  If you know something fantastic that can be done with it, please feel free to leave comments at the bottom of the page and let us know!

2-3 tablespoons of the jelly can be warmed up and form a soup or stew stock, or just a nourishing drink.

Super Tip: And this is the kicker – For added awesomeness, and possibly even the difference between getting grossed out and really excited by bone broth, mince 1 clove of garlic into the jelly before warming.  Add chopped veggies, meat or herbs to make a delicious lunch.  I like to make French Onion soup with it by sauteeing sliced onions and mixing them through.  Great with some bread or croutons, if you can eat them, and topped with parmesan cheese, again, if you can eat it.  If not, crackers are a great idea, or soy/goat/vegan cheese for the dairy free folks.

Hop over to the blog entry, Awesome Things to do with Bone Broth, or see this fantastic list for some additional recipes that you can make with it, for a bit of variety. If you are feeling a bit off kilter and you think your system might need a bit of a tweak, book a time online to see Dr Rebecca Tolhurst, our Chinese medicine practitioner, whose areas of interest include food medicine.