Bone broth
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Bone broth
I made my first batch of bone broth. After reading posts from so many paleo people about how their broth didn't gel I was a bit apprehensive. But woo hoo, no worries here. My broth looked like a bowlful of Jell-o after it cooled. I only used turkey bones and I made it in the crockpot. It really could not have been any easier!
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
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brendaragland
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:21 am
Hi Brenda,
I cooke my (biological) chicken bone broth for about 8 hours and it's always gel. Not immediately, but after I did it in portions in the fridge. Most of the times I just cooke the bones with rests of meat and skin, only with a little bit salt and sometimes some herbs.
I did it once (and at the moment again) with lamb, but that was less gel and I like the taste of the chicken more.
Succes!
Sonja
I cooke my (biological) chicken bone broth for about 8 hours and it's always gel. Not immediately, but after I did it in portions in the fridge. Most of the times I just cooke the bones with rests of meat and skin, only with a little bit salt and sometimes some herbs.
I did it once (and at the moment again) with lamb, but that was less gel and I like the taste of the chicken more.
Succes!
Sonja
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christinafriberg
- Adélie Penguin
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:13 pm
- Location: oregon
In order to reduce the histamines, I cook it in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes. The turkey and lamb broths always gel. I cool the broth in the refrigerator overnight to remove the fat. In the morning, I pour it into ice cube trays. Once frozen, I put the cubes in a bag.
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
I don't claim to be a cook, but I think I can explain why bone broth or stock doesn't always gel as it cools. Gelatin is made from collagen. IOW it's the cooked collagen in connective tissue that turns into gelatin and allows/causes bone broth or stock to gel. If the ratio of collagen to water is inadequate, the end product is not going to gel properly. Bones contain collagen, but not nearly as much as gristle, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, joints, etc. So the more of those items you have in the batch, the more likely it is to gel. Chicken or animal feet are loaded with collagen, and so is skin (chicken, pork, or beef). Chicken heads are a good source of collagen and if you want to add some testosterone to the end product, add a rooster head that includes the comb. 
Too much dilution (too much water in the mix) can prevent gelling. I looked this up, to make sure of the correct amount, and according to The Healthy Home Economist, for chicken, 4 quarts of water should be used for every 3–4 pounds of bones. For beef broth, 4 quarts of water should be used for every 7 pounds of bones. And cooking at too high a temperature can break down and destroy collagen. It should simmer, not boil. And it has to simmer long enough in order to draw the collagen/gelatin out of the bones.
According to the aforementioned authority, chicken stock should simmer for 6–24 hours and beef stock should simmer for 12–50 hours. And she claims that chicken raised in cages provide little to no gelatin. I would venture a guess that she is right on target there because the more exercise any organism gets in its daily routine, the more robust it's muscles and also connective tissue (such as tendons, ligaments, cartilage in joints, etc.) is likely to be. IOW, free range chickens (and other animals) should have much more collagen in their carcasses than caged or feedlot birds an animals.
5 Reasons Why Your Stock Won’t Gel
I hope this clarifies the issue.
Tex
Too much dilution (too much water in the mix) can prevent gelling. I looked this up, to make sure of the correct amount, and according to The Healthy Home Economist, for chicken, 4 quarts of water should be used for every 3–4 pounds of bones. For beef broth, 4 quarts of water should be used for every 7 pounds of bones. And cooking at too high a temperature can break down and destroy collagen. It should simmer, not boil. And it has to simmer long enough in order to draw the collagen/gelatin out of the bones.
According to the aforementioned authority, chicken stock should simmer for 6–24 hours and beef stock should simmer for 12–50 hours. And she claims that chicken raised in cages provide little to no gelatin. I would venture a guess that she is right on target there because the more exercise any organism gets in its daily routine, the more robust it's muscles and also connective tissue (such as tendons, ligaments, cartilage in joints, etc.) is likely to be. IOW, free range chickens (and other animals) should have much more collagen in their carcasses than caged or feedlot birds an animals.
5 Reasons Why Your Stock Won’t Gel
I hope this clarifies the issue.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
This makes sense. Commercial chickens raised for the food supply "broilers" have not been caged for decades. They are slaughtered at the age of 6 weeks and nowadays are grown in chicken houses that can hold up to 30,000 chicks. As the chicks get bigger the houses are so packed with chickens that the chickens can't move around even though they are not caged. Average life span for a chicken that is not grown for food is 7-10 years.And she claims that chicken raised in cages provide little to no gelatin. I would venture a guess that she is right on target there because the more exercise any organism gets in its daily routine, the more robust it's muscles and also connective tissue (such as tendons, ligaments, cartilage in joints, etc.) is likely to be. IOW, free range chickens (and other animals) should have much more collagen in their carcasses than caged or feedlot birds an animals.
Commercial chickens raised for food today are genetically modified to grow large breasts in the 6 week period. I think chicken breasts are about 4 times the size of what they were when I was a kid in the 1960's.
Commercial chickens that are slaughtered at 6 weeks are still essentially babies even though they have the large breasts. i.e. They don't have the muscles and connective tissues developed.
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Hi, Brenda. I cooked it for about 20 hours on low in the crockpot. I used enough water to just cover the bones and added 2tbsp of apple cider vinegar & 1 tsp sea salt. It probably didn't need to cook that long but I googled and that was the recommended time so I went by that. I used bones from a whole turkey that I roasted along with turkey leg bones that I saved in the freezer.
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
That's probably the best way to go about it (using a pressure cooker) because any way that we can reduce histamine levels is a huge plus for many of us.Gloria wrote:In order to reduce the histamines, I cook it in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes. The turkey and lamb broths always gel. I cool the broth in the refrigerator overnight to remove the fat. In the morning, I pour it into ice cube trays. Once frozen, I put the cubes in a bag.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I agree, Tex. I bought a pressure cooker and need to learn how to use it. I believe it should be frozen right away, too to reduce histamine levels.
Marcia
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
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My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor and some style. - M. Angelou
I make bone broth in the Instant Pot pressure cooker, with chicken bones. Most pressure cooker recipes I've seen call for cook time of 2 hours, which is what I've been doing. It has always gelled that way. It never gelled for me before the pressure cooker. When I used to make it on the stove, I only cooked for 4 hours, to keep the histamine level lower.
Lisa
Lisa